PHI 1102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Filial Piety, Paternalism, Authoritarianism
15 Mar 2016
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Virtue has to be voluntarily undertaken or it can fail. If you look at the confucian virtue of filial piety in the sense of obeying your father and mother, you should not be. Principles of ren ground and constrain principles of filial piety of the child to the parent (p. 36) incomplete. Averse to authoritarianism (rule unsanctioned by the people, and which is wielded through coercion and threats, i. e. domination on the basis of strength and power. ) Governance role of paternal care and concern, with its accompanying authoritative influence over its charges, can run the risk of sliding into coercion (paternalism). Paternalism has been part of the practice of historical and existing confucian governments, however, confucius himself was against paternalism, since he was against coercion. There is this understanding of where the power lies. Appeal to the rights would turn social relationships from harmonious to conflictual or litigious . A virtuous confucian is one preoccupied with self-overcoming and yielding incomplete.
