欧美文化概论论文

对外经济贸易大学

University of International Business and Economics

欧美文化概论论文Comparisons between two shining stars in philosophy

Comparisons between two shining stars in philosophy

Abstract

As we all know, philosophy is the origin of all subjects. So, telling the differences between two philosophic thinking is the key to compare different cultures. This thesis is generally about the introductions and the comparisons between the philosophy of the Greek mythology and the

middlebrow from the Confucius, two shining stars of their own culture. Firstly, the thesis will give a brief introduction about the middlebrow philosophy and its social background. Tell the readers why does the middlebrow philosophy come into being and give a detailed expression about it from Confucius’s saying. Then introduce the philosophy of the ancient Greek, its stories, and show how the philosophy come into being and develops, analyzing the embodiment of its value . At the same time, do comparisons between the philosophy of the Greek mythology and the middlebrow from the Confucius which comes from the different times, areas, and civilizations.

Confucius and his philosophy

Although Confucianism is often followed in a religious manner by the Chinese, arguments continue over whether it is a religion. Confucianism lacks an afterlife, its texts express complex and ambivalent views concerning deities, and it is relatively unconcerned with some spiritual matters often considered essential to religious thought, such as the nature of the soul.

Confucius' principles gained wide acceptance primarily because of their basis in common Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong familial loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders by their children (and, according to later interpreters, of husbands by their wives),

and the family as a basis for an ideal government . He expressed the well-known principle, "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself" (similar to the Golden Rule). He also looked nostalgically upon earlier days, and urged the Chinese, particularly those with political power, to model themselves on earlier examples.

The Confucian theory of ethics as exemplified in Lǐis based on three important conceptual aspects of life: Ceremonies associated with sacrifice to ancestors and deities of various types, social and political institutions, and the etiquette of daily behavior. It was believed by some that lǐoriginated from the heavens. Confucius's view was more nuanced. His approach stressed the development of lǐthrough the actions of sage leaders in human history, with less emphasis on its connection with heaven. His discussions of lǐseem to redefine the term to refer to all actions committed by a person to build the ideal society, rather than those simply conforming with canonical standards of ceremony. In the early Confucian tradition, lǐ, though still linked to traditional forms of action, came to point towards the balance between maintaining these norms so as to perpetuate an ethical social fabric, and violating them in order to accomplish ethical good. These concepts are about doing the proper thing at the proper time, and are connected to the belief that training in the lǐthat past sages have devised cultivates in people virtues that include ethical judgment about when lǐmust be