A Critique of Confucianism

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces the philosophy of Confucianism and looks at the founder of Confucianism and the impact that Confucianism has had on Chinese civilization and character. The paper also presents a short history of China and analyzes the affect that Confucianism may have had on China's politics and political systems throughout the ages.

Introduction
Who was Confucius? What is Confucianism?
How Has Confucianism Affected Chinese Civilization
Confucianism and the Chinese Character
Has Confucianism Been the Downfall of China?
A Short History of China
Theories of Democratization
Understanding Political Developments
Political Institution Thesis
Western Philosophy and Western Character
Puritans, Total Reformation for the Glory of God
The Attack of Confucianism

From the Paper:

"The political history of China is interesting in that most new dynasties were created by militaristic totalitarian dictators who conquered and ruled with the backing of an army of some type. These primary revolutionary regimes usually fell back on philosophical legalism as an excuse for their totalitarian excesses. If we examine the evolution each dynasty, including that of Mao Tse Tung, we can observe that the first emperor usually was an aggressive military leader, and each succeeding emperor became more scholarly and intellectual, thereby conforming more and more to the Confucian ideal of the perfect ruler. After the fall of the Chin empire and the reestablishment of the ancient schools of thought the Emperor ruled the country with the assistance of an Academic Army of Chinese Scholars dubbed "The Literati". As with any regime, there were times that the ruling emperor and the literati were in agreement and other times when there was tremendous disagreement. The Song period was one era where the Emperor and the Literati held dichotomous views of both philosophy and government. "

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