Confucius: the Virtues of Man and His Laws Term Paper

This paper discusses the virtues that Confucius believed to be fundamentally important to society, and his idea that laws have no value in improving society. The writer explains that the rules governing filial piety, which Confucius saw as the basis of all other virtues, are not described by Confucius, since they were already a tradition in his time, but can be found to some extent in the earlier 'Classic of Rights'. The idea that the state is nothing else but the large family determines Confucius' views on the key problems of society and his view of law, and also highlights a contradiction in his philosophy. On the one hand, the ruler is to be obeyed as the head of the state and therefore of the family, but on the other hand, Confucius held that the Head of the State must be a man of exceptional moral integrity, and if not, it was the duty of a virtuous man to disobey him. The paper concludes with the writer's own views on Confucius' philosophy.