This essay discusses the areas of concern when comparing the ethics of Confucius and Aristotle. Aristotelian ethics encourage achieving an excellent character to help in becoming happier. If a person achieves this, he builds a virtuous character. Most Greek philosophers agreed that virtue is a form of knowledge. They generally thought that self-examination leads to self-knowledge, which in turn leads to a good life. Confucius’s virtue ethics provide a starting point for understanding how to live a good life. This way, Confucius helps us to escape the potential circularity of virtue ethics. We find that the differences between Aristotle and Confucius ethics lay underneath the details of building virtuous characters.
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COMPARING THE ETHICS OF CONFUCIUS AND ARISTOTLE, CONFUCIAN VIRTUE ETHICS- THE JUNZI
Confucius’s virtue ethics have different meanings to various scholars. For some scholars, his Confucian ethics are evident, uncontroversial truth. For others, it is a misconstrue that imposes contentious Western assumptions on Confucianism. Confucius enhanced Aristotelian ethics by discussing ethics in terms of virtues corresponding with the ideals of a person. In light of this, Confucius’s teachings argue that for one to be happy, they require more than virtues. The differences between Aristotle and Confucius include the areas of viewing virtue from individual and collective perspectives. Finally, confucius is more open to situational considerations that might warrant the apparent contradiction of universal principles.
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SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CONFUCIUS AND ARISTOTLE ON VIRTUE
Aristotelian ethics and Confucius’s virtue ethics are similar, but with some different aspects, ideas, and outlooks on virtue. The word “virtue” is a transliteration of the Latin virtus (from vir, literally “manhood”). Latin authors employed the term to translate the Greek arête, initially referring to ‘excellence on manly qualities.’ Both Aristotle and Confucius’s virtue ethics pointed out about morality and ethical conduct. Aristotle widely links the concept of virtue with happiness. Confucius argues that people need more than virtues to be happy. Both Aristotle and Confucius touch on the Doctrine of mean, which compares deficiency and excess intending to perfect oneself. Lastly, there are limited differences between Aristotle and Confucius in analyzing virtues and how we relate to them.
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