ethics of civilization

Attitudes of Confucius
by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

Often what a person does is not as significant as how they do it. If Confucius exemplified wisdom to those around him, much of it must have come across in the way he went about things, how he was affected inwardly, his state of mind, and in what manner he handled various situations. What characteristics enabled him to make wise decisions, and how did he relate to people so as to encourage them to become wiser? In the Analects Confucius' disciples described his manner. "Confucius was completely free from four things: He had no forgone conclusions, no dogmatism, no obstinacy, and no egotism."1 Here we find four attributes the disciples were probably glad that he did not have because each of them may block wisdom. Forgone conclusions and dogmatism may prevent a person from making new discoveries and insights. Thus the mind must remain open to become continually wiser. Obstinacy makes correction difficult and a person more difficult to deal with as things change. Egotism tends to prevent others from developing themselves and focuses attention on the limitations of personality rather than a more universal consciousness. This tells us characteristics he was able to avoid.

How, then, did Confucius behave? We are told, "Confucius' manner was affable yet firm, commanding but not harsh, polite but completely at ease."2 This shows that he was easy to get along with, but he was not pushed around because of weakness. His inner strength seemed to give him poise and a free-flowing manner. Ziqin observed that when his master arrived in a country, he always managed to find out about its policy. He wondered whether he was able to do this by asking questions or whether people just told him. Zigong replied, "Our master gets information by being cordial, frank, courteous, temperate, and deferential."3 Zigong went on to point out that this is quite different from the manner in which inquiries were usually made. This indicates that Confucius' manner was successful and probably the wisest way to proceed.

"In his leisure hours Confucius' manner was very free-and-easy, and his expression alert and cheerful."4 Continually we shall find that Confucius was a very positive person. He had a good sense of humor and used it often. Once when he arrived in a town where Ziyu was in command, he heard string instruments and singing. Smiling, he commented, "To kill a chicken one does not use an ox-cleaver," implying that this music was beyond the people.

Ziyu quoted a saying he had heard from the master: "A better person who has studied the Way will be all the more loving towards one's fellow people; a common person who has studied the Way will be all the easier to employ."

Confucius responded, "My disciples, what he says is quite true. What I said just now was only meant as a joke."5 This also shows how easily he could be corrected by one of his students.

Of humanity's great teachers, Confucius was probably one of the most polite. "When in Confucius' presence anyone sang a song that he liked, he did not join in at once but asked for it to be repeated and then joined in."6 Proper human relations were most important to Confucius, and even in the smallest matters he showed his respect for people.

Whenever he was visited by anyone
dressed in the robes of mourning
or wearing ceremonial headdress, with gown and skirt,
or a blind man, even if such a one were younger than himself,
Confucius on seeing him invariably rose to his feet,
and if compelled to walk past him always quickened his step.7

He was particularly respectful in matters of mourning.8 His duty to parents still allowed him to point out where they could benefit from correction, but he did it in a most respectful way.

In serving his father and mother
a man may gently remonstrate with them.
But if he sees that he has failed to change their opinion,
he should resume an attitude of deference
and not thwart them;
may feel discouraged, but not resentful.9

We see here that the attempt to educate even one's parents toward greater wisdom is not to be blocked by filial obedience, though the manner and attitude remains highly important as the personification of one's own wisdom.


Confucius may have been the first great humanist in recorded history, for his greatest concerns were for humanity and good human relations. When he heard that the stables had burned down, he asked if any person had been hurt; but he did not ask about the horses.10 In a feudal and aristocratic age he recognized the freedom of every individual. He said, "You may rob the Three Armies of their commander-in-chief, but you cannot deprive the humblest peasant of his opinion."11 Confucius believed in allowing everyone the opportunity to make something of themselves, but once they have had that chance he did not necessarily treat everyone equally.

Respect the young.
How do you know that they will not one day
be all that you are now?
But if a man has reached forty of fifty
and nothing has been heard of him,
then I grant there is no need to respect him12

This attitude implies a faith in the possibilities of education and is contrary to the stereotype of Confucian tradition that one must respect elders just because of their age. Here we see that Confucius recommended respecting the young even more.

Confucius believed in the positive influence of human goodness for social and cultural improvement. When he expressed a desire to live among the nine barbarous tribes of the East, someone said they are rude and asked how he could do it. Confucius replied, "If a truly better person lived among them, what rudeness would there be?"13 The power of moral goodness is attractive to people. "Virtue never dwells in solitude; it will always bring neighbors."14

Confucius' love for the common people was demonstrated by his efforts to lower taxes and cut down on the luxuries of the aristocracy. After giving such advice he once said, "A better person helps out the needy; one does not make the rich richer still."15 When Yuan Si was appointed governor, he was allowed nine hundred measures of grain; but he declined it. Confucius criticized him for his lack of concern for the poor. "Surely you could find people who would be glad of it among your neighbors or in your village."16

He had a reputation for perseverance even among his critics. Upon encountering one of his disciples, a gate-keeper commented on Confucius, "He's the one who knows it's no use, but keeps on doing it; is that not so?"17 Yet Confucius felt he was being of service to humanity even though he was not in the government. When asked why he was not in public service, he responded,

The Book of History says: "Be filial;
only be filial and friendly towards your brothers,
and you will be contributing to government."
There are other sorts of service
quite different from what you mean by service.18

Confucius recognized human limitations and did not expect to find a perfectly wise man ("Divine Sage"). The greatest ideal that he could hope for was a "truly better person."19 Even so he was not very optimistic. He said,

A faultless man I cannot hope ever to meet;
the most I can hope for is to meet a man of fixed principles.
Yet where all around I see
Nothing pretending to be Something,
Emptiness pretending to be Fullness,
Penury pretending to be Affluence,
even a man of fixed principles
will be none too easy to find.20

It was not the actual situation which bothered him so much as the sham and deceit. "Impetuous, but tricky! Ingenuous, but dishonest! Simple-minded, but capable of breaking promises! To such men I can give no recognition."21

What Confucius did not countenance in others, he did not allow in himself. He declared that he could not stoop to "clever talk, a pretentious manner and a reverence that is only of the feet" nor to "having to conceal one's indignation and keep on friendly terms with the people against whom one feels it."22 The latter he demonstrated once even though he had to lie.

Ru Bei wanted to see Confucius,
but Confucius excused himself on the ground of ill-health.
When the man who had brought the message
was going out through the door,
he took up his zither and sang,
making sure that the messenger should hear.23

Although he lied on the verbal level, his letting the messenger know that he was actually well was indicating his true feelings; thus he was not intending to deceive at all, but he was making a frank but polite refusal to see this person.

Confucius was often critical of the attitudes and behavior of his time. He contrasted the naiveté of the ancients to the more cynical behavior which had developed. He said,

In antiquity the impetuous were
merely impatient of small restraints;
now they are utterly insubordinate.
In antiquity the proud were stiff and formal;
now they are touchy and quarrelsome.
In antiquity simpletons were at any rate straightforward;
but now 'simple-mindedness' exists only
as a device of the imposter.24

Confucius felt that his country was in a state of decay, for even the "barbarians of the East and North have retained their princes," whereas in the more "civilized" states many royal families had been overthrown by usurpers.25

Confucius had his dislikes and was not afraid to declare them. He said,

High office filled by men of narrow views,
ceremonies performed without reverence,
the forms of mourning observed without grief-
these are things I cannot bear to see!26

How else could he bring reform except to start by pointing out what is wrong and needs correction. He considered the misuse of language one of the greatest dangers. "I hate to see sharp mouths overturning kingdoms and clans."27 Why did Confucius express these criticisms as hatreds? Actually it is the most honest procedure to subjectively speak only for oneself. To say something is bad is to make a judgment one may not be capable of making correctly, and to demand change in others can be an infliction upon their freedom of choice. Thus it is proper for even the better person to have hatreds. Notice how Confucius treated Zigong as an equal in this discussion.

Zigong said, "Surely even the better person must have hatreds?

Confucius said, "He has hatreds.
He hates those who point out what is evil in others.
He hates those who dwelling in low estate
revile all who are above them.
He hates those who love deeds of daring but neglect propriety.
He hates those who are active and venturesome,
but are violent in temper.
I suppose you also have your hatreds?"

Zigong said, "I hate those who mistake cunning for wisdom.
I hate those who mistake insubordination for courage.
I hate those who mistake tale-bearing for honesty."28

Even though Confucius placed his emphasis on the human level, he did also relate to the divine or spiritual. This emphasis is most clearly expressed by his most celebrated humanistic declaration: "A person can make the Way great, but the Way cannot make a person great."29 The reference, of course, is to the Dao (Way). This does not mean that Confucius did not believe in a greater reality, but that it is up to us to make it manifest. One of Confucius' rare mystical statements was, "In the morning, hear the Way; in the evening, die content!"30

Confucius' faith in a higher power was usually expressed in terms of the "will of Heaven" (tian ming), which he claimed he knew from the age of fifty. This idea of the will of Heaven goes back to the beginning of the Zhou dynasty, who used this as the reason for taking over the government from the corrupt Shang rulers. According to the tradition the true ruler is the one who has this divine support. Thus what even appears like a revolution could be merely this shifting of Heaven's will from one dynasty to another or from one person to another as with the legendary emperors Shun and Yu, who waited to see if Heaven had selected them before they began to rule. When the people came to them for decisions, they realized that they had the mandate of Heaven. Thus China has had a long tradition of revolution.

Confucius related especially to the early Zhou rulers such as King Wen. He felt it was his destiny to spread their culture. When his life appeared to be in danger during the incident at Kuang, he said confidently,

Since the death of King Wen,
is not the course of culture in my keeping?
If it had been the will of Heaven to destroy this culture,
it would not have been given to a mortal.
But if it is the will of Heaven
that this culture should not perish,
what can the people of Kuang do to me?31

Confucius apparently believed that one way this divine mission was communicated to him was through dreams; for he became quite upset when the dreams stopped. "How utterly have things gone to the bad with me! It is long now indeed since I dreamed that I saw the Duke of Zhou."32

Confucius certainly believed in the importance of prayer. When the commander-in-chief in the state of Wei asked about the proverb that one is better off courting the favor of the kitchen god than the religious shrine, he replied, "It is not true. He who turns away from Heaven has no one to pray to."33

While not really recognized among people, Confucius consoled himself that he must be recognized in Heaven. Once when he expressed his sadness that no one knew him, Zigong asked why he was not known. The master replied that he did not "accuse Heaven nor blame people. But the studies of humans here below are felt on high, and perhaps after all I am known; not here, but in Heaven!"34 His belief in Heaven seemed to give Confucius a greater inner strength and security. He did not worry about what one renegade such as Gongbo Liao might do.

If it is the will of Heaven that the Way shall prevail,
then the Way will prevail.
But if it is the will of Heaven that the Way should perish,
then it must needs perish.
What can Gongbo Liao do against Heaven's will?35

Here we see that in Confucius' terminology the will of Heaven was placed above the Way, which would be its proper manifestation among people. Confucius was able to accept Heaven's will. Even when he saw a good man dying of a horrible disease, he said, "It is all over with him! Heaven has so ordained it-but that such a man should have such an illness!"36 When Confucius himself was ill and his disciples dressed themselves up as official retainers, he came to and said,

How like Yu, to go in for this sort of imposture!
In pretending to have retainers when I have none,
whom do I deceive? Do I deceive Heaven?
Not only would I far rather die in the arms of you disciples
than in the arms of retainers,
but also as regards my funeral-
even if I am not accorded a State Burial,
it is not as though I were dying by the roadside.37

As usual, Confucius cut through pretense and used the situation to teach the truth of the moment that Heaven knows the reality, and at the same time he expressed his love and loyalty to his disciples.

One of Confucius' most distinguishing qualities was his zeal to learn. He recognized his pursuit of knowledge as the key thing which made him different from most people. "In every hamlet of ten families, there are always some people as loyal and honest as myself, but none who love learning as much as I do."38 He continually strove to improve his own character and took every opportunity to do so.

Even when walking in a party of no more than three
I can always be certain of learning from those I am with.
There will be good qualities that I can select for emulation
and bad ones that will teach me
what requires correction in myself.39

Thus anyone and everyone could be his teacher. Perhaps this attitude of openness to learn enabled Confucius to reach very near to his full potential. He believed in the value of education as the most important factor in what a person becomes-not necessarily book learning, but practical development. He summarized this concisely when he said, "By nature, near together; by practice, far apart."40

Confucius did not claim to have been born wise, but he did work as hard as he could at both learning and teaching.

As to being a Divine Sage or even a man of perfect virtue,
far be it from me to make any such claim.
As for unwearying effort to learn
and unflagging patience in teaching others,
those are merits that I do not hesitate to claim.41

In fact he felt that he got so caught up in these endeavors that he forgot even basic things. When the Duke of She asked Zilu about Confucius, Zilu did not reply. Confucius asked him why he did not say:

This is the character of the man:
so intent upon enlightening the eager
that he forgets his hunger,
and so happy in doing so
that he forgets the bitterness of his lot
and does not realize that old age is at hand.42

Another personal quality which seemed to help Confucius to learn and teach more effectively was his humility. He did not have difficulty accepting the ideas of his students even when they were correcting him. Once when asked his opinion about a man's qualifications as a ruler, he gave a brief approval. Yet when Yong elaborated and showed how the man might not do well, Confucius quickly replied, "Yong's words are right."43 In fact, Confucius did not consider himself to be equal to Hui.44

When Confucius discussed propriety with the Minister of Crime in Chen, this man trapped Confucius by asking him if the Duke of Lu knew propriety. Out of loyalty to his duke, Confucius felt that he should say that he did, which enabled the Minister of Crime to point out his faults to one of the disciples and scornfully conclude, "If his Highness knew propriety, then who does not?" When Confucius heard about it, he took it in stride: "I am a fortunate man. If by any chance I make a mistake, people are certain to hear of it!"45 Although he was probably being ironic, he might also have been sincere about the truth in the statement. Certainly, criticism did not appear to bother him.

Finally, Confucius was discriminating in his associations depending upon the nature of the activity.

There are some whom one can join in study
but whom one cannot join in progress along the Way;
others whom one can join in progress along the Way,
but beside whom one cannot take one's stand;
and others again beside whom one can take one's stand,
but whom one cannot join in counsel.46

Consequently knowledge of human nature and the uniqueness of each person was necessary to Confucius if he was to be able to act wisely in these situations.

We have examined briefly Confucius' life and character to see what kind of a person he was. When dealing with something as complex and comprehensive as wisdom can be, what someone is and how one behaves on one's own behalf may be more important than what one says or does in order to teach or assist others. Now that we have some idea as to Confucius' way of life, personal manner, and attitudes towards himself and others, we can turn toward the actual methods and techniques which he used to teach his students and to encourage them in the pursuit of wisdom.

                                       How Confucius Taught
by Sanderson Beck
Effort in Learning
Individualized Instruction
Questions and Answers
Correct Use of Language
Metaphors and Poetry
Human Examples
Cogent Sayings
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

As we have seen, Confucius considered himself a teacher and worked as diligently as he could to instruct his students. How did he relate to them? The main requirement to study with Confucius was a desire to learn, although he did accept pay or gifts. "From the very poorest upwards-beginning even with the man who could bring no better present than a bundle of dried meat-none has ever come to me without receiving instruction."1 Confucius did not set himself up as a man of wisdom, and no matter how humble the student may have been, he was ready and willing to discuss the issue on its own terms; thus anyone in the world could become a fellow learner with him because of his openness.

Do I regard myself as a possessor of wisdom? Far from it?
But if even a simple peasant comes in all sincerity
and asks me a question, I am ready to thrash the matter out,
with all its pros and cons, to the very end.2

Although he was willing to instruct anyone, he did not necessarily agree to take on responsibility for all of the person's future actions. Once while in a village where the people were not very receptive to his teachings, an "uncapped boy" (not yet initiated into manhood) asked to be admitted. The disciples were in doubt whether to bring him in before the master, but Confucius clarified the point:

In sanctioning his entry here
I am sanctioning nothing he may do when he retires.
We must not be too particular.
If anyone purifies himself in order to come to us,
let us accept this purification.
We are not responsible for what he does when he goes away.3

There is no definite indication of what age his students were, but this did appear to be an exceptional case because of the lack of interest among the adults of the community. Probably most of Confucius' students and disciples were adults, some of them even in his own age group. Two other incidents concern boys or young men. When he found Yuan Rang waiting for him in a sprawling position, Confucius said, "Those who when young show no respect to their elders achieve nothing worth mentioning when they grow up. And merely to live on, getting older and older, is to be a useless pest." With this he struck him across the shins with his staff.4 This is the only known case where Confucius used anything like physical punishment. Perhaps it was used because what needed correction had to do with physical posture and respect. Another time someone asked him about the progress of a youth who gained entrance to Confucius' house as a messenger. With insightful observation Confucius said, "Judging by the way he sits in grown-up people's places and walks alongside of people older than himself, I should say he was bent upon growing up quickly rather than upon improving himself."5 After all, learning was the important thing, not mere association.

Effort in Learning
The most important characteristic which Confucius asked from his students, then, was that they make the effort to learn. He encouraged them to make this effort by allowing them room to think for themselves.

I do not enlighten those who are not eager to learn,
nor arouse those who are not anxious
to give an explanation themselves.
If I have presented one corner of the square
and they cannot come back to me with the other three,
I should not go over the points again.6

Naturally it is helpful if the student is intelligent and can grasp things easily. Yet he emphasized that as long as the student was making the effort he would continue to help him.

The case is like that of someone raising a mound.
If he stops working,
the fact that it perhaps needed only one more basketful
makes no difference; I stay where I am.
Whereas even if he has not got beyond leveling the ground,
but is still at work,
the fact that he has only tilted one basketful of earth
makes no difference. I go to help him.7

Here Confucius also indicated that how far a person had advanced in his studies did not determine how much help he would receive from his teacher, but again what mattered was whether he was working to continue to improve himself.

When it came to the essential self-improvement of one's character, Confucius did not even allow his own limitations to hold back the student, but he encouraged them even through friendly rivalry. "When it comes to goodness, one need not avoid competing with one's teacher."8 However, he could not find too many who were willing to apply themselves to learning strictly for self-improvement rather than for extrinsic rewards such as career gain. He said, "One who will study for three years without thought of reward would be hard indeed to find."9

Ran Qiu was one of those who only stayed with Confucius until he was able to receive a good position in the government. Ran Qiu made this excuse: "It is not that your Way does not commend itself to me, but that it demands powers I do not possess."

Whereupon Confucius rebuked him for quitting, saying, "The one whose strength gives out collapses during the course of the way, but you deliberately draw the line."10 A keen student of human nature, Confucius was able to see that people tended to be lazy rather than work too hard. So he naturally pointed this out: "Those who err on the side of strictness are few indeed!"11 When he did find a student whose diligence exceeded what was expected, he showed his approval by a warm response. When Qidiao Kai was encouraged by the master to take office, he replied, "I have not yet sufficiently perfected myself in the virtue of good faith." Confucius was delighted.12

Not only did Confucius encourage his students to make effort in learning, but most important was that they put what they heard into practice through actual deeds. Can there be any wisdom without action? Self-improvement to this teacher meant actually changing oneself for the better.

The words of the Model Sayings
cannot fail to commend themselves to us;
but what matters is that we should carry them out.
For those who approve but do not carry out,
who are stirred, but do not change,
I can do nothing at all.13

Perhaps we need to revise the common notion that wisdom consists of proverbs and moral homilies or even appreciation of same. To Confucius, of ultimate importance was the improvement of character, and when he saw someone working to better oneself, he did all he could to assist him. In these ways, then, he encouraged his students to put forth positive effort.

How Confucius perceived that he himself learned naturally influenced greatly how he taught others. Although he did not rule out the possibility of acting correctly without having to think, Confucius' own experience was that he had to learn by observation and study what was best to do.

There are those who act without knowing why,
but I am not one of them.
To hear much and select what is good and follow it,
to see much and take note of it,
is the second type of knowledge.14

His feeling that he did not act best spontaneously and automatically was probably a major reason why he emphasized learning so much. Consequently this is the method he used in teaching. He had experimented one time with meditation, but he did not consider the results to be as good as from study. "I once spent a whole day without food and a whole night without sleep, in order to meditate. It was no use. It is better to learn."15 Confucius was not one to reject something without trying it. As a teacher he recommended to his students what he found to be most successful in his own experience.

What really did impress Confucius was the teaching of the ancients. In humility and perhaps also with the awareness that valuable wisdom is eternal and not original with any one individual, he claimed he was only a transmitter, not a creator of new ideas. "I have transmitted what was taught me without making up anything of my own. I believe in and love the ancients."16 Like a good transmitter he allowed the information to flow continually through without trying to hold anything back. His openness and honesty allowed his disciples to learn all that he knew, if they could.

My friends, I know you think that
there is something I am keeping from you.
There is nothing at all that I keep from you.
I take no steps about which I do not consult you, my friends.17

This does not necessarily mean that he told everyone everything, but the close disciples he was addressing here he had taken into his fullest confidence (cf. Analects 9:29 where he recommended taking counsel only with the most select people). Yet at the same time he did not waste his time by trying to teach advanced ideas to those who were not capable of understanding them.

To those who have risen above the middling sort,
one may talk of the higher things.
But to those who are below the middling sort
it is useless to talk of things that are above them.18

To be a good teacher Confucius believed he had to be a good student continually. Thus one of his most important methods of teaching was to be an attentive listener in order to learn from his students how to teach them. "To listen silently, to learn untiringly, and to teach others without being wearied-that is just natural with me."19 Patience and perseverance were qualities which apparently enabled Confucius to stay with his students until they finally saw the light. This continual striving to better himself and others must have given the master an enduring energy. If he was so vigilant and disciplined with himself, he must have been an ever-present model for his students, even if he did not expect as much from them as he required from himself.

The thought that I have not properly cultivated virtue,
that what is learned has not been thoroughly discussed,
that knowing what is right I have not moved toward it,
that what is wrong I have not been able to change-
these are the things which bother me.20

By examining himself so conscientiously he was inviting his listeners to work on improving their characters also, but he was doing it authentically without preaching or inflicting upon their freedom. By thinking out loud in this way he was showing them how to begin the work on oneself.

Although most of Confucius' teaching was through the conversational style, he once expressed the wish not to speak. One of his disciples immediately objected; they expected their teacher always to be talking with them so they could pass on his teachings. Confucius used the situation to call their attention to the silent teachings of Nature. "Does Heaven speak? Yet the four seasons run their course and all creatures are born according to it. Does Heaven speak?"21 Perhaps he was pointing out that there is a greater teacher which would remain even after he had gone.

Individualized Instruction
Confucius recognized that people learn in different ways with varying abilities, and the highest class was even beyond him. He said,

Highest are those who are born wise.
Next are those who become wise by learning.
After them come those who have to work hard
in order to acquire learning.
Finally, to the lowest class of the common people
belong those who work hard without ever managing to learn.22

The master carefully observed each of his students to study the strengths and weaknesses of their character. When Zigong asked Confucius who was better between Shi and Shang, he readily replied, "Shi goes too far and Shang does not go far enough." Zigong assumed that this meant that Shi excelled, but the master corrected him, "To go too far is as bad as not to go far enough."23

Once he understood the character of his students he was then able to individualize his teaching for the good of each person. Zilu and Ran Qiu both became important in government; yet Confucius knew that he had to handle them in opposite ways if each was to improve. Zilu once asked Confucius whether one should put a maxim into practice as soon as he heard it. Confucius pointed out that Zilu's father and elder brother were still alive, and he asked him how could he apply it immediately, probably hoping that he would take counsel before rushing off into action. Yet when Ran Qiu asked exactly the same question, Confucius told him that one should immediately put it into practice. A third student who had heard both conversations became confused and asked Confucius for an explanation. The master said, "Qiu is retiring and slow; so I urged him on. Yu tends to be fanatical; so I held him back."24

Zilu was well-known for his boldness and daring, and Confucius was aware of this. Another time when he was in a humorous mood, probably to overcome his discouragement, Confucius said, "The Way makes no progress. I shall get upon a raft and float out to sea. I am sure Yu (Zilu's nickname) would come with me." Hearing this, Zilu became enthusiastic, so that Confucius said, "That is Yu indeed! He sets far too much store by feats of physical daring, but he does not exercise his judgment."25 Thus Confucius labored to encourage him to do so.

When asked whether Zilu was good, Confucius said he did not know. When the question was repeated, he responded, "In a country of a thousand war-chariots Yu could be trusted to carry out the recruiting. But whether he is good I do not know." Then he was asked about Ran Qiu. The master believed that he could govern a clan of a hundred chariots, but he did not know whether he was good. A third student he said could take a place at court and converse, but again he did not know whether he was good.26 Although Confucius knew the practical abilities of his students, he still did not claim to know if they were truly virtuous, so high a value did he place on goodness itself.

Zigong, another important disciple, asked the master's opinion of him. Confucius called him a vessel. Zigong asked, "What sort of vessel?" Confucius replied, "A sacrificial vase of jade!"27 This implies again that the master would not call him good, though he was capable of being used on high occasions. On another occasion Zigong expressed Confucius' version of the golden rule: "What I do not want others to do to me, I do not want to do to them." Confucius was quick to point out that he had not lived up to that. "Ah Ci! You have not quite got to that point yet."28 Apparently Zigong was often criticizing other people. Confucius must have considered this a negative activity because he said, "It is fortunate for Ci that he is so perfect himself as to have time to spare for this. I myself have none."29 By giving his own positive example with a little irony, Confucius subtly attempted to move Zigong away from the fault-finding of others to the positive improvement of himself.

Confucius had a way of correcting a person without telling him directly that he was wrong. Ji Wen-zi thought three times before acting. Confucius heard of it and said that twice is quite enough.30 Continually we see the master focusing on and emphasizing what is right and proper; he did not say that three times is wrong, but merely that twice is sufficient. He did not want his students to be influenced by a poor example; so he had to correct it in a positive way.

Confucius was not afraid of correcting men in power if they asked for his advice. When Ji Kang-zi was upset about all the thieves, he asked Confucius what he should do. Confucius replied, "If only you were free from desire, they would not steal even if you paid them to."31 This was hardly the answer the ruler would have been expecting! Most people want to try and change others' behavior by external means, but here the master suggested changing one's internal state so that others will also adapt their internal condition; then conduct will improve in a natural way. If the ruler does not horde and covet all the luxurious items, then others will more likely be content with what they have, and stealing will be a dangerous and superfluous task.

Confucius was asked about the treatment of parents by four different men, and he gave four differing answers stressing obedience according to propriety,32 behavior which would not make parents anxious,33 sincere feeling of respect,34 and proper demeanor.35 Not only was each answer probably suited to the questioner, but also Confucius was able to examine the issue from several perspectives for the sake of the other listeners.

Questions and Answers
In using the conversational style, Confucius would often answer questions put to him by his students. However, he did not attempt to answer if it concerned something which someone else might know better than he. When he was asked about farming and gardening, he recommended that the inquirer go to an experienced farmer and to a skilled vegetable gardener.36 He also did not claim to know about such auspicious matters as the Ancestral Sacrifice, but in this case he did not know of anyone to recommend. "Anyone who knew the explanation could deal with everything under Heaven as easily as I lay this here." He laid his finger upon the palm of his hand.37

When a ruler asked him a question, Confucius was able to give an answer which could probably work if applied. Duke Ting asked him for a precept on how a ruler should use his ministers and how the ministers should serve the ruler. Confucius had a ready response: "A ruler should employ his ministers according to the rules of propriety; ministers should serve their ruler with faithfulness."38 Such an answer was simple to understand and easy to remember.

Many of the questions Confucius answered had to do with virtue, character and correct conduct. These questions he was eager to answer if he could help to clarify the understanding of students. Fan Chi asked first about wisdom and then about goodness. Confucius said,

Devote yourself earnestly to the duties due to people,
and respect spiritual beings but keep them at a distance;
this may be called wisdom....
The good person first considers what is difficult
and only then thinks of success.
Such a person may be called good.39

He extended his descriptions by using natural metaphors showing the quality and result of these virtues.

The wise person delights in water;
the good person delights in mountains.
For the wise are active, and the good are tranquil.
The wise enjoy happiness, and the good enjoy long life.40

On another occasion Fan Chi asked again about the good and the wise. Confucius said that the good person loves people and the wise person knows people. Fan Chi did not understand the second part; so Confucius told him, "By raising the straight and putting them on top of the crooked, one can make the crooked straight." Apparently Fan Chi still did not understand because he asked a disciple to explain what Confucius had said; Zixia gave an example from history to clarify the principle.41 In this way Confucius encouraged his students to think about his own enigmatic responses.

Confucius was always anxious to correct ideas and beliefs which could be improved. Here he used a rhetorical question to make his point. Someone had asked him about the principle of repaying injury with virtue. He responded, "In that case how will you repay virtue? Rather, repay injury with justice, and repay virtue with virtue."42 Confucius was practical and discriminating in his ethics so that his precepts could be easily followed and would prove successful. The following incident shows how seriously some of the students took the master's precepts. Zizhang asked how to get along with people, the fundamental humanistic question. Confucius said,

Be sincere and true to your word,
serious and careful in your actions;
and you will get along even among barbarians.
But if you are not sincere and untrustworthy in your speech,
frivolous and careless in your actions,
how will you get along even among your own neighbors?
When standing, see these principles in front of you;
in your carriage see them on the yoke.
Then you may be sure to get along. 43

So Zizhang inscribed these words upon his sash. Apparently the students often memorized the master's precepts, and Confucius apparently encouraged this practice. This is probably how these conversations were passed down until they were recorded in The Analects.

Often an enterprising student would ask follow-up questions in order to draw forth more information from his teacher. Zilu asked about the truly better person, and Confucius said, "One cultivates oneself carefully." Zilu asked if that was all, and Confucius said, "One cultivates oneself so as to help other people." Zilu asked again if that was all, and Confucius said, "One cultivates oneself so as to help all the people. Even Yao and Shun found that difficult."44 Confucius began with the primary step-improve yourself. If a person could do that, then one could help others. If one could help some, then one could strive to help all humanity. Thus he showed the successive stages. On another occasion Zilu asked about government, and Confucius said, "Lead by example; work hard for them." Again Zilu asked for further instruction, and Confucius said, "Untiringly."45

Zigong asked about the true knight and received an answer related to an officer in the court. When he asked the next rank, Confucius answered concerning one who acts well in his community. Then Zigong asked for the next rank, and Confucius referred to the individual level in regard to truthful words and successful accomplishment of one's tasks; these can be attained even by one in humble circumstances. Finally Zigong asked about those in the present government, whereupon Confucius grimaced and said they were not worth taking into account.46 Again we see how the questions enabled him to discuss the various levels of a situation.

Sometimes Confucius would ask his students questions. Often these were very open-ended and personal so that there was no single, right answer. Rather, each person was allowed to express one's personal preference, and they could learn from and about each other. When Confucius asked Zilu and Yen Hui their life's ambition, he was likely to receive opposite responses. Perhaps by the interplay of opposite temperaments, each man's character might be broadened. Zilu, as we have seen, was active and oriented toward the physical. Yen Hui, on the other hand, was quiet and sensitive. In fact Confucius said he was not very helpful in discussions because he agreed with everything the master said.47 Maybe he could draw Yen Hui out a little this way. Zilu said, "I wish to have horses, carriages, and fur clothes, to share them with my friends, and I should not be upset if they wore them all out." Yen Hui said, "I wish never to boast of my good qualities and never to mention the trouble I have taken for others." In the midst of the camaraderie of the group, Zilu said he wished to hear the master's ambition. Confucius said, "It is my ambition to comfort the old, to be faithful to friends, and to cherish the young."48

In another similar exercise, Confucius asked Zilu, Zeng Xi, Ran Qiu and Gongxi Hua to forget for a moment that they usually considered him as older than themselves and to say what office they would like to have. Zilu was the first to reply, and he did so characteristically as he said,

Give me a country of a thousand war-chariots,
hemmed in by powerful enemies,
or even invaded by hostile armies,
with drought and famine in addition;
within three years I could make the people courageous
and teach them in what direction right conduct lies.

Confucius smiled at him, and asked Qiu, who said,

Give me a domain of sixty or seventy li, or say fifty or sixty,
and within three years I could make
plenty abound among the common people.
As to the principles of propriety and music,
I shall have to wait for a really better person.

Chi then wished to be a junior assistant at the ceremonies of the Ancestral Temple. When Zeng Xi was asked, he stopped the music he was softly playing and said his wishes were not as select as the others. Confucius said that that did not matter, but he should speak his desire. Zeng Xi said,

At the end of spring
when the clothes of the season are all complete,
I would like to go with five or six newly-capped youths
and six or seven uncapped boys and wash in the River Yi,
enjoy the breeze at rain altars, and return home singing.

Confucius sighed and said he agreed with him. Then the other three men went away, and Confucius answered Zeng Xi's questions as to why the other three's wishes were not proper.49 Here we see Confucius only agreeing with the one whose ambition was practical and humble. If the other three left because offended, then they missed the special attention which Zeng Xi received.

Often Confucius encouraged his students to think and discuss the ideas on their own which he only tersely mentioned. For example, he said his Way had an all-pervading unity. After he left, they discussed the issue, and Zeng-zi said that it was sincerity and benevolence.50 In this way Confucius did not always hand-feed them, but he stimulated his students to think for themselves.

Correct Use of Language
Sincerity and trustworthiness were important to Confucius because words were often worthless if not backed up by equivalent deeds. Language has the peculiar attribute of being able to be true or false to actual situations, past or future actions. In good human relations Confucius believed that honesty was essential. "I do not know how a man without truthfulness is to get along. How can a wagon be made to go if it has no yoke-bar, or a carriage if it has no collarbar?"51 Confucius had learned that some men do not do what they say; therefore wisdom demands that he not only listen to people's words but watch their actions as well. Zai Yu used to sleep during the day. Not able to reform him, the master decided to make it an object lesson, saying,

Rotten wood cannot be carved,
nor a wall of dried dung be trowelled.
What use is there in my scolding him anymore?
There was a time when I merely listened attentively
to what people said, and took for granted
that they would carry out their words.
Now I am obliged not only to give ear to what they say,
but also to keep an eye on what they do.
It was my dealings with Zai Yu that brought about the change.52

If the students were to learn to be true to their word, then one way that Confucius could help them was to caution them on their speech. "Do not be too ready to speak of it, lest the doing of it should prove to be beyond your powers."53 The "it" could refer to anything, but it could have strongly implied goodness (ren) itself. Confucius demonstrated that he was especially careful about discussing this great ideal because its perfection was so difficult to attain. When Sima Niu asked about goodness, he used an appropriate pun. "The good (ren) person is careful (ren) in speech." Sima Niu wanted to know if this was the definition of goodness -"careful in speech." Confucius replied, "Seeing that the doing of it is so difficult, how can one be otherwise than careful in talking about it."54 Perhaps he was implying that no verbal definition would be sufficient because goodness can only be expressed through action.

Confucius hated the misuse of language because it could destroy communication and intellectual discussion. When Zilu got an uneducated man appointed governor of Bi, Confucius felt that he was injuring someone; for if he was not capable of the position, he could only come to harm. Zilu defended his judgment by saying that he would only be in charge of peasants and the ritual of the grain. Then he quoted a proverb which may have been from Confucius himself; "Learning consists of other things besides reading books." Since the maxim had been misappropriated and did not apply to this man who had not learned how to govern at all, Confucius severely criticized Zilu's sophistry. "It is remarks of that kind that make me hate glib people."55

A necessary part of communication through language is that both parties agree on the meaning of the words which they are using; otherwise confusion results. If Confucius thought that the word another man was using did not mean the same thing to him as to the other, he would ask him his definition of it. Zizhang asked about the knight who is to be called "influential." Confucius replied, "That depends on what you mean by 'influential.'" It turns out that Zizhang's idea of the word was really much closer to the common meaning of the word "famous." Whereupon Confucius proceeded to describe how the Chinese word for "influential" implies the effective use of virtue (moral power) while anyone with a cocky manner and a reputation, without necessarily any good conduct, might become famous.56 Confucius spent considerable time with his students describing what he meant by various key terms so that they could understand them and apply them in practice. This clarification of language was later to become the important Confucian doctrine known as the "rectification of names." Confucius was adamant that the mental communication correspond to the actual reality, even in small matters such as the name of a container. "A cornered vessel without any corners! Should it be called a cornered vessel? Should it?"57

Metaphors and Poetry
Confucius used commonplace things as metaphors to describe deeper truth. The following implies that pulling on the negative trait too much can ruin the wholeness of the character. "Whoever acts to work upon a loose strand destroys the whole fabric."58 In fact, some translate it metaphorically: "The study of strange doctrines is injurious indeed!"59

Much like Heraclitus, Confucius recognized the continuity of change as being like a river. Once when standing by a stream, he pondered, "It passes on like this, never ceasing day or night!"60 He liked to express philosophical ideas the way the Book of Changes did, through natural imagery. Here is a metaphor of the type of people who can endure hard times because they have lasting virtue: "Only when the year grows cold do we see that the pine and cypress are the last to fade."61 By relating his ideas to natural events, the students could see in actual experience what was to remind them of the higher ideals.

Confucius loved to discuss poetry and songs with his students and drew many lessons from them. This incident shows an enlightening discussion, as Confucius improved on Zigong's ideas and then is pleased by a suitable reference to poetry.

Zigong said, "What do you think of a man
who is poor and yet does not flatter,
and the rich man who is not proud?"

Confucius replied, "They will do,
but they are not as good as
the poor man who is happy with the Way,
and the rich man who loves the rules of propriety."

Zigong said, "It is said in the Book of Poetry:

As a thing is cut and filed,
As a thing is carved and polished ...

Does that not mean what you have just said?"

Confucius said, "Ah Ci!
Now I can begin to talk about the odes with you.
When I have told you what has gone before,
you know what is to follow."62

For Confucius, to be able to interpret poetry properly was an advanced study because he felt that very few of his disciples were ready to do so. Zixia (nicknamed Shang) was another disciple who could discuss poetry with the master. He asked Confucius the meaning of these lines:

Oh the sweet smile dimpling,
The lovely eyes so black and white!
Plain silk that would take the colors.

Confucius said, "The painting comes after the plain groundwork." Zixia correctly apprehended the symbolism that the ceremonies come after virtue. The master was pleased: "It is Shang who can bring out my meaning. Now I can begin to talk about the odes with him."63 A student must be prepared and demonstrate it before Confucius would consider going into an advance study with him.

Confucius apparently gave his own son no particular treatment. The son told one of the disciples that his father recommended to him that he study the Odes, or he would not do well in conversation. On another occasion Confucius asked him if he had studied the rules of propriety; again the son replied he had not. This was necessary in order to become established.64 Confucius here did not command even his son to study certain things, but he merely said what the results would be if he did or did not. The disciple was able to get this information by questioning the son. Apparently Confucius made no requirements; but students could not enter into the advanced studies until they knew the preliminary subjects such as poetry and propriety. Even so, these were secondary to virtue and character development.

Lines from poetry could be used as references to personal character. Confucius felt that he and Yen Hui fulfilled the maxim:

When in office, do your duty;
When not in office, stay out of sight.

Then Zilu impetuously asked him whom he would take to help him if he had command of the whole army. To soften the rejection, Confucius quoted a line from a poem.

Not the man who was ready to
'attack a tiger bare-handed or swim across a river'
not caring whether he lived or died,
but I should take someone
who approaches difficulties with due caution,
who likes to plan precisely and carry it out.65

By using poetic imagery as a mirror, the students of Confucius could see themselves more clearly.

Poetry and ceremonies were often formal activities, and it was in these cases that Confucius used the more universally correct pronunciation rather than his native dialect.66 Confucius as much as anyone knew the impressiveness and majesty of the ancient heritage. This is why he criticized the Three Families' use of the Yong Ode which was only appropriate for the Emperor's Court.67

Confucius did not revere the poems to the point that he could not correct their ideas if it would help his students' understanding. In the following lines he showed the shallowness of the feeling, inspiring the listener to a deeper and more actualized love.

The flowery branch of the wild cherry,
How swiftly it flies back!
It is not that I do not love you;
But your house is far away.

Confucius said, "He did not really love her. Had he done so, he would not have worried about the distance."68 Another poem which begins with the cry of the ospreys tells of a lover grieved by separation from his lady, but it concludes with their happy union. In this poem Confucius elucidated the proper handling of the two emotional extremes. "The ospreys! Pleasures not carried to the point of debauch; grief not carried to the point self-injury."69 Thus by interpreting poetry well-known to his students, Confucius could help them to refine their feelings.

Human Examples
Confucius used many human examples to illustrate various lessons. He was especially fond of referring to the legendary emperors of the ancient golden age (before 2000 BC). Because of their great antiquity he could use them as models of perfection, and no one could deny it. Yet if they were the greatest individuals over a period of thousands of years, then maybe they were great indeed! Confucius said,

Greatest as sovereign was Yao. How majestic was he.
'There is no greatness like the greatness of Heaven,'
yet Yao could emulate it.
So boundless was it that the people could find no name for it;
yet how majestic were his achievements,
how brilliant the expression of his culture!70

Here he pointed out how the best ruler follows the Way of Heaven. Nearly as great were the other two emperors of early antiquity whom Confucius loved to mention. "How majestic was the manner of Shun and Yu! Everything under Heaven was theirs; yet they remained aloof from it."71 These were the two who did not begin to rule until the people came to them and they were assured that they had the mandate of Heaven. In this way Confucius used them as models of perfect detachment. Yu was known as a great engineer, who drained the land so that it could be used for farming; then he was chosen as emperor because of his ability.

Nangong Guo once pointed out to Confucius, "Yi was a mighty archer, and Ao overturned a boat; yet both of them came to a bad end. Whereas Yu and Ji, who devoted themselves to agriculture, came into possession of everything under Heaven." Confucius did not respond until Nangong had left; then he praised him as a truly better person who knew how to value the power of virtue.72 This way the master could make clear the lesson to the students without making Nangong egotistical by praising him to his face.

Humility could accompany detachment as in the case of Tai Bo, a legendary ancestor of the Zhou sovereigns. "Of Tai Bo it may indeed be said that he attained to the very highest pitch of virtue. No less than three times he renounced the sovereignty of everything under Heaven, without letting the people praise his actions."73 When the last Shang ruler's actions became too corrupt, the Zhou clan attacked him. Two brothers were famous for renouncing violence despite their sufferings. Confucius cited them as worthy examples, "Bo Yi and Qi never bore old wrongs in mind and had but the faintest feelings of resentment."74

Confucius used historical examples to contrast two kinds of behavior, each insufficient. "Duke Wen of Jin could rise to an emergency, but failed to carry out the rules of propriety. Duke Huan of Qi carried out the rules of propriety but failed when it came to an emergency."75

The history lesson went on. Zilu said, "When Duke Huan put to death Prince Jiu (his brother), Shao Hu gave his life in an attempt to save the prince; but Guan Zhong did not. Must one not say that he fell short of goodness?"

However, Confucius suggested they look at other considerations even though one may not exemplify perfect goodness, saying, "That Duke Huan was able to convene the rulers of all the states without resorting to the use of his war-chariots was due to Guan Zhong. But as to his goodness, as to his goodness!?"76 Zigong felt that he was not good, so Confucius made even more clear the benefits he gave to their culture.

Through having Guan Zhong as his minister,
Duke Huan became leader of the feudal princes,
uniting and bringing order to everything under Heaven;
so that even today the people are benefiting
by what he then did for them.
Were it not for Guan Zhong
we might now be wearing our hair loose
and folding our clothes to the left (as the barbarians).
We must not expect from him
what ordinary men and women regard as fidelity-
to go off and strangle oneself in some ditch or drain,
and no one the wiser."77

In this way Confucius showed them how to take into consideration the overall situation.

Confucius did not accept blindly every legend, and he examined the famed paragon of truthfulness. "How can we call even the great Weisheng Kao upright? When someone asked him for vinegar he went and begged it from people next door and then gave it as though it were his own gift."78 Each of these examples from legend and history gave the students ethical questions to consider and discuss so that they themselves would know better how to behave.

Confucius also discussed contemporary issues. He suggested the possibility that the neighboring state and his own state could be improved. "A single change could bring Qi to the level to Lu; and a single change would bring Lu to the Way."79 Such a vague statement would probably stimulate the disciples to think how this could be done. Is it necessary for everyone to be educated in order to realize the Way in a state? Actually most people are followers. He said, "The common people may be made to follow the Way, but may not be made to understand it."80 Understanding requires making an effort to learn, and who can force anyone to do that? However, the actions of good people tend to influence others.

Confucius often pointed to certain human qualities as object lessons for his students. He cited Zijian, one of his disciples, to illustrate the mutual influence of people upon each other. "A better person indeed is such a one! If the land of Lu were indeed without better people, how could he have developed his character?"81 The master might even use himself as an example if it was appropriate. After Confucius had gone into the Grand Temple and asked questions about everything there, someone wondered if he really was an expert in the rules of propriety. When the master heard this, he said, "Just so! Such is a rule of propriety."82 He did not go out of his way to use himself as an example, but he quickly made the point when it came up spontaneously.

Confucius could be skeptical about what someone said if he had reason to be. When Zang Wu Zhong went into exile for conspiracy to revolt, he seized the fief of Fang. Then he sent a message to the duke that he would go into exile if Fang was given to his brother; the request was granted. Confucius, perceiving manipulation, commented, "It is said that he applied no pressure upon his prince; but I do not believe it."83 Here was a subtle political lesson for his students.

We have seen how Confucius pointed out areas in which the bold Zilu (Yu) could improve, but he also used his positive qualities as an example. It was said that the impetuous Zilu "never slept over a promise," and Confucius said of him, "It is Yu who could settle a lawsuit with half a word."84 Having shown where he needed improving by a quote from literature, he also used the same means to set forth his good points.

"Wearing a shabby hemp-quilted gown,
yet capable of standing unabashed
with those who wore fox and badger."
That would apply quite well to Yu, would it not?

Who harmed none, was foe to none,
Did nothing that was not right.

So taken up with this praise was Zilu that he kept on continually chanting those lines to himself until finally Confucius had to awaken him again to higher wisdom. "Come now, the wisdom contained in them is not the full extent of excellence."85

Confucius mentioned a Qi minister (d. 500 BC), who was famous as a wise advisor, in order to illustrate friendly behavior. "Yen Ping Zhong was a good example of what one's intercourse with one's fellowmen should be. However long he knew anyone, he always maintained the same scrupulous courtesy."86 He pointed to a Zheng minister, who died in 522 BC, as an exemplar of four of the virtues which belong to the Way of the truly better person: in his private conduct he was humble; in serving his superiors he was respectful; in nourishing the people he was kind; in ordering the people he was just.87 Yet there were some qualities which no one seemed to fulfill completely. Confucius said, "I have never yet seen a person who was truly steadfast." Someone suggested Shen Cheng. The master replied, "Cheng! He is at the mercy of his desires. How can he be called steadfast?"88 By this oblique reference, the students could learn to become more steadfast by watching their desires.

Cogent Sayings
Perhaps Confucius is most famous for his aphoristic sayings, many of which became well-known proverbs of the master. He seemed to have a way of making a moral statement which could inspire one to virtue without it seeming like he was preaching or telling them what to do. He expressed his wisdom as instruction for anyone who wished to take advantage of it rather than as direct commandments. Let us look at some of the statements he made to inspire and enlighten his listeners toward a better life. On the steadiness of governing virtuously, he used a natural metaphor. "A ruler who governs his state by the power of virtue is like the north polar star, which remains in its place while all the other stars revolve around it."89 How is this done as compared to how rulers usually attempt it? He said,

Lead the people by governmental measures
and keep order by laws and punishments,
and they will try to avoid them,
and will lose all self-respect.
Lead them by virtue
and keep order by the rules of propriety,
and they will keep their self-respect
and set themselves right.90

Strong laws and harsh punishments had not worked well in the long run. Confucius believed in and recommended the influence of moral goodness; for once a person attained it, one could regulate oneself.

In human relations, if one tries to take advantage of another, what will be the result? Confucius said "If one's acts are motivated by profit, one will have many enemies."91 He did not say "Do this" or "Do not do this," but rather he elucidated the consequence of various actions, negative and especially positive. He described how a truly better person behaves, inspiring others to freely decide to become what seems so admirable. What about competition, as in sports, for example?

Better people never compete.
You will say that in archery they do so.
But even then they bow and make way for one another
when they are going up to the archery-ground,
when they are coming down
and at the subsequent drinking bout.
Thus even when competing, they still remain better people.92

Is not good sportsmanship a sign of a cultured person? In these situations it is often the motive which indicates the person's character. "In ancient times people studied for the sake of self-improvement; nowadays people study in order to impress other people."93 Such a statement might bring an inner realization to a student and lead one to change one's attitude for the better.

Confucius encouraged his students to consider long-range problems, which some try to ignore. Why? Because it was practical. "Whoever is not concerned about what is far off will soon find something worse nearby."94 Although courage is not one of the highest Confucian virtues, it is still essential in action. "To see what is right and not do it is cowardice."95 Once an action has taken place, however, what good does it do to cast blame? When one of his disciples brought such a charge against Duke Ai's ancestors while talking with the duke, Confucius made the following suggestion: "What is over and done, one need not discuss. What has already taken its course, one need not criticize; what already belongs to the past, one need not censure."96 Wisdom often involves discernment of when to speak and when not to. Confucius told us one reason why.

When a man may be spoken with,
not to speak to him is to waste a man.
When a man may not be spoken with,
to speak to him is to waste one's words.
The truly wise never wastes a man;
but on the other hand, he never wastes his words either.97

The reference here is probably to the discussion of the Way, which everyone is not ready to hear.

As a teacher Confucius was always encouraging his students to learn. Here he used an everyday metaphor. "Learn as if you were following someone you could not catch up to, as though it were someone you were frightened of losing."98 No matter how much one knows, there is always more to learn; and no matter how advanced one becomes, there is always room for improvement. Yet for Confucius it was a joyful process to know that one was doing one's best.

Is it not pleasant to learn continually
and put it into practice?
Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar?
Is one not a better person if one does not feel hurt
even though one is not recognized?99

Regardless of how the world treated him, Confucius could still maintain a positive attitude and go on learning and teaching.

From the material that is available to us, we have examined several of the techniques which Confucius used in order to lead others toward greater wisdom. Before we look at whether they were successful or not in terms of actual results among his students, we need to investigate the subject matter which Confucius emphasized.

                           CONFUCIUS   Content and Topics
Subjects of Study
The Classics
Poetry and Music
Propriety
Politics
Religion
Virtue
Character Development and Self-improvement
Goodness
The Better Person
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

Subjects of Study
Because Confucius was perhaps the first professional teacher of adults, or what we call higher education, there probably was no organized curriculum in his time. Although Confucius did discourse on definite subjects repeatedly and also recommended that his students study specific pursuits, it appears unlikely that these subjects were categorized or isolated from each other anywhere near like they are today. The continual purpose of Confucius' teaching was practical and designed to help each person improve one's character and conduct, and perhaps become prepared for an official position in the government.

Although Confucius encouraged his students to learn about many things, he suggested that they be very selective and careful in what they said and did. Since Zizhang was studying to attain an official salary, the master recommended,

Hear much and put aside what is doubtful
while you speak cautiously of the rest.
Then few will blame you.
See much and put aside what seems perilous
while you are cautious in carrying the rest into practice.
Then you will have few occasions for regret.
When one's words give few occasions for blame
and one's acts give few occasions for repentance,
one is on the way to receiving a salary.1

Actually Confucius was not as concerned about the quantity of one's knowledge, but he emphasized what he considered to be the essence of it all. Once when talking with Zigong, Confucius perceived that his student was getting the wrong impression and said to him to clarify the situation, "I believe you look upon me as one whose aim is simply to learn and remember as many things as possible." Zigong replied that this is what he thought, and he asked the master if it was so. Confucius responded, "No; I have one thread which runs through them all."2 We hope to discover this underlying unity which pervaded Confucius' teachings as we examine their content. However, the golden rule does stand out as the most important rule of conduct. When Zigong asked if there was a single saying which one could practice all the time, Confucius said, "Perhaps the saying about consideration: 'Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.'"3 Stated in the negative this way, the golden rule allows each person more freedom. Instead of telling a person how to act toward others, which could be an infliction of one's personal values or tastes upon the other, it says only not to do those things which one feels would be an infliction, leaving the other choices of conduct free.

Before we catalog the various topics of Confucius' teaching, there is one pre-requisite he emphasized for there to be any clear communication, and that was the correct use of language. When Zilu asked Confucius what would be his first measure in administering the government for the prince of Wei, he answered with certainty that it would be to correct language. Zilu could not believe it and scoffed at such an idea. So Confucius explained why:

Yu! How uncultivated you are!
A better person, in regard to things one does not know,
maintains a cautious reserve.
If language is incorrect, then what is said
is not in accordance with the truth of things.
If language is not in accordance with the truth of things,
affairs cannot be carried on to success.
When affairs cannot be carried on to success,
proprieties and music will not flourish.
When proprieties and music do not flourish,
punishments will go astray.
When punishments go astray,
the people do not know how to move hand or foot.
Therefore the better person uses
only such language as is proper to speak,
and only speaks of what it would be proper to carry out.
The better person, in what one says,
leaves nothing to mere chance.4

We see here the importance of a close correlation between reality and knowledge, between knowledge and words, and between words and deeds. The correct understanding of language, then, plays a key intermediary function. The final quote in The Analects emphasizes this for human understanding. Confucius said,

Whoever does not understand the will of Heaven
cannot be regarded as a better person.
Whoever does not know the rules of propriety
cannot establish one's character.
Whoever does not understand words,
cannot understand people.5

According to one passage in The Analects, Confucius taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and truthfulness.6 Culture consisted of literature, music, and perhaps propriety, though it is also a part of conduct. Confucius indicated the value of each: "Let a person be stimulated by poetry, established in character by the rules of propriety, and perfected by music."7 These pursuits were means by which one may achieve the higher ideal of following the Way. "The better person extensively studies literature and restrains oneself with the rules of propriety. Thus one will not violate the Way."8 Although these may be aids to the Way, the higher ideals came before the arts of culture in importance.

Set your heart upon the Way.
Support yourself by its virtue.
Rely on goodness.
Find recreation in the arts.9

Actually the moral duties were considered essential and came before the arts, which were almost like extra-curricular activities.

A young person's duty is to behave well
to one's parents at home and to one's elders abroad,
to be cautious in giving promises and punctual in keeping them,
to overflow in love to all,
and to cultivate the friendship of the good.
If, when all that is done, one has any energy to spare,
then let one study the cultural arts.10

The Classics
What was the literature? Even in Confucius' time there existed six classics on poetry, history, music, changes, propriety, and the annals. These were all studied in depth by the master, as he often referred to them. Although it is not as early a text as The Analects, the following selection from Chapter 26 of the Liki describes and illustrates the use of the six ancient classics.

Confucius said, "When I enter a country,
I can easily tell its type of culture.
When the people are gentle and kind and simple-hearted,
that shows the teaching of poetry.
When people are broad-minded and acquainted with the past,
that shows the teaching of history.
When the people are generous and show a good disposition,
that shows the teaching of music.
When the people are quiet and thoughtful,
and show a sharp power of observation,
that shows the teaching of the philosophy of change.
When the people are humble and respectful
and frugal in their habits,
that shows the teaching of propriety.
When the people are cultivated in their speech,
ready with expressions and analogies,
that shows the teaching of prose, or Spring and Autumn Annals.
The danger in the teaching of poetry is that
people remain ignorant, or too simple-hearted.
The danger in the teaching of history is that
people may be filled with incorrect legends and stories of events.
The danger in the teaching of music is that
the people grow extravagant.
The danger in the teaching of philosophy is that
the people become crooked.
The danger in the teaching of propriety is that
the rituals become too elaborate.
And the danger in the teaching of Spring and Autumn Annals
is that the people get a sense of the prevailing moral chaos.
When a person is kind and gentle and simple-hearted,
and yet not ignorant,
we may be sure that one is deep in the study of poetry.
When a person is broad-minded and acquainted with the past,
and yet not filled with incorrect legends or stories of events,
we may be sure that one is deep in the study of history.
When a person is generous and shows a good disposition
and yet not extravagant in one's personal habits,
we may be sure that one is deep in the study of music.
When a person is quiet and thoughtful
and shows a sharp power of observation, and yet is not crooked,
we may be sure that one is deep in the study of philosophy.
When a person is humble and polite
and frugal in one's personal habits
and yet not full of elaborate ceremonies,
we may be sure that one is deep in the study of propriety.
And when a person is cultivated in one's speech,
ready with expressions and analogies
and yet is not influenced by the picture of the prevailing moral chaos,
we may be sure that one is deep
in the study of Spring and Autumn Annals."11

We see from this that more than a mere acquaintance with the classics was recommended, but rather the quality of study and practice which went beyond the superficialities.

Confucius was often quoted in The Great Treatise on the Yi Jing. In one passage he explained why the book was devised in the first place. He said, "Writing cannot express thoughts completely." Someone then asked if they were then unable to see the thoughts of the holy sages. Confucius replied,

The holy sages set up the images
in order to express their thoughts completely;
they devised the hexagrams
in order to express the true and the false completely.
Then they appended judgments
and so could express their words completely.12

Confucius extensively used not only the Yi Jing but the other classics as well in his instruction of students. Sima Qian recorded that Confucius read the Yi Jing so frequently that the leather strap which held the bamboo "pages" together was worn out and replaced three times.13

As we have seen, Confucius was a traditionalist who claimed only to be a transmitter of the ancients, which explains his great reverence for the classics. He said he followed the traditions of the Zhou dynasty, particularly the Duke of Zhou, one of its founders. However, his ancestors were from the state of Song and were probably of the Shang nobility.14 This may explain why he followed the three-year mourning period which was a Shang custom. Also the legendary emperors he revered above all were from the earliest Xia dynasty. He explained that this eclectic approach was because of the Zhou's accumulation of culture from these previous dynasties. "Zhou could survey the two preceding dynasties. How great a wealth of culture! We follow upon Zhou."15 In the biography of Confucius by Sima Qian written about 100 BC we have a more elaborate description of how Confucius related to the three dynasties.

In the time of Confucius,
the power of the Zhou Emperors had declined,
the forms of worship and social intercourse had degenerated,
and learning and scholarship had fallen into decay.
Confucius studied the religious or ceremonial order
and historical records of the three dynasties,
and he traced the events from the times
of the Emperors Yao and Shun
down to the times of Duke Mu of Qin
and arranged them in chronological order.
And he once said,
"I should be able to talk about the feudal order of Xia,
but there are not enough surviving customs in the city of Ji.
I should be able to discuss the feudal order of the Shang dynasty
but there are not enough surviving customs in the city of Song.
If there were enough surviving customs,
I should be able to reconstruct them with evidence."
And he surveyed the changes of customs
between the Xia and Shang dynasties,
and after noting how these customs ran on
into the Zhou period with modifications, he said,
"I can even predict how the future historical development
will be for a hundred generations."
He noted how one dynasty represented a culture
with a wealth of ceremonial forms,
and how the other dynasty represented a culture of the simple life,
and how the Zhou dynasty had combined
and merged the two previous cultures
into a perfect, beautiful pattern,
and he therefore decided that
he would choose the Zhou culture as the ideal.
Therefore, Confucius handed down a tradition
of historic records of the various ancient customs.16

Although there is probably some later projection here, and we can see why Sima Qian is called the father of Chinese historians, using already Hegel's dialectic. Still the tradition of Confucius as a transmitter of historical tradition was probably not unfounded.

We mentioned earlier how Confucius practiced archery; although it may not have been taught by Confucius himself, the better person's education was probably expected to include athletics, especially this skill of the bow.


Poetry and Music
Poetry, of course, was an important subject of study. Confucius particularly used it to stress moral values. "All three hundred odes can be covered by one of their sentences, 'Let there be no evil in your thoughts.'"17 However, poetry had broader humanistic value for understanding oneself and other people, and it even increased one's awareness of the natural world.

My children, why do you not study the Book of Poetry?
The Odes serve to stimulate the mind.
They may be used for purposes of self-contemplation.
They teach the art of sociability.
They show how to regulate feelings of resentment.
From them you learn
the more immediate duty of serving one's father,
and the remoter one of serving one's prince.
From them we become largely acquainted
with the names of birds, beasts, and plants.18

Confucius was also a great lover of music and played some himself. However, the teaching of this art was apparently handed over to the grand music master to whom Confucius gave his ideas on how music should follow the ideal of the ancient pattern and then allow for some improvisation while still maintaining harmony. "Their music in so far as one can find out about it began with a strict unison. Soon the musicians were given more liberty; but the tone remained harmonious, brilliant, consistent, right on till the close."19 Sima Qian quoted this exact passage, but then went on to give more information in regard to Confucius' use of poetry and music.

He once also said, "After my return to Lu from Wei,
I have been able to restore the musical tradition
and classify the music of song and ya
and restore the songs to their respective original music."
In the ancient times, there were over three thousand songs,
but Confucius took out the duplicates
and selected those that were suited to good form.
The collection began with the songs of Qi and Houchi,
covered the great period of the Shang and Zhou kings
and carried it down to the times of the tyrants Yu and Li.
It begins with a song of marital love, and therefore it is said
"the song Guanchi heads the collection of Feng;
Luming heads the collection of the 'Little ya';
and Qingmiao heads the collection of the Song."
Confucius personally sang all the three hundred and five songs
and played the music on a string instrument
to make sure that it fitted in
with the score of xiao, wu, ya, and song.
Through his efforts, the tradition of ancient rites and music
was therefore rescued from oblivion and handed down to posterity,
that they might help in the carrying out of this ideal
of a king's government and in the teaching of "the Six Arts."20

Lin Yutang wrote that "the six Arts" could refer not only to the six classics mentioned above but also to the six branches of study practiced during these times, namely propriety, music, archery, carriage-driving, reading, and mathematics.21 Also in considering these later accounts, we must be aware of the tendency to glorify and expand on what Confucius did. Although Sima Qian often went against orthodox Confucian beliefs, he was susceptible to exaggeration, as can be seen from this: "Confucius taught poetry, history, propriety, and music to 3,000 pupils of whom 72, like Yen Duzou, had mastered "the Six Arts."22

There is one more marvelous anecdote from Sima Qian concerning Confucius' playing of music.

Confucius was once learning to play on qin (a string instrument)
from the music master Xiang-zi,
and did not seem to make much progress for ten days.
The music master said to him,
"You may well learn something else now."

And Confucius replied, "I have already learned the melody,
but have not learned the beat and rhythm yet."

After some time, the music master said,
"You have now learned the beat and rhythm,
you must take the next step."

"I have not learned the expression," said Confucius.

After a while, the music master again said,
"Now you have learned the expression,
you must take the next step."
And Confucius replied, "I have not yet
got an image in my mind of the personality of the composer."

After some time the music master said,
"There's a man behind this music,
who is occupied in deep reflection
and who sometimes happily lifts his head
and looks far away, fixing his mind upon the eternal."

"I've got it now," said Confucius.
"He is a tall, dark man,
and his mind seems to be that of an empire builder.
Can it be any other person than King Wen himself?"

The music master rose from his seat
and bowed twice to Confucius and said,
"It is the composition of King Wen."23

Propriety
As moderns, Confucius' emphasis on ritual ceremonies according to the rules of propriety is probably more difficult for us to relate to than any other aspect of his teaching. However, in the ancient times when "civilized" culture was by no means universal, the danger of falling back into a primitive "barbarism" was probably very real. The rules of propriety offered a code of accepted conduct and behavior which they knew would work from past experience. These were the traditions and customs which demonstrated to themselves and others that they were cultured and proper people. For Confucius, the better person knew and behaved according to the rules of propriety. In the first chapter of The Analects, Yu Zi gave an account of their value.

Among the functions of propriety
the most valuable is that it establishes harmony.
The Way of the ancient kings from this harmony got its beauty.
It is the guiding principle of all things great and small.
If things go amiss,
and one who knows the harmony tries to achieve it
without regulating it by the rules of propriety,
they will still go amiss.24

Confucius himself explained what can happen if conduct is not guided by propriety.

Courtesy not bounded by the rules of propriety
becomes tiresome.
Caution not bounded by the rules of propriety
becomes timidity, daring becomes insubordination,
straightforwardness becomes rudeness.25

As much as he loved them, Confucius did not believe in over-indulging in ceremonies, and the feelings should be proper to the circumstances. "In ceremonies it is better to be sparing than extravagant. Funeral ceremonies should be observed in deep sorrow rather than in fear."26

Often what was appropriate was a golden mean.

When substance exceeds refinement, one becomes rude.
When refinement exceeds substance, one becomes pedantic.
When substance and refinement are properly blended,
then one is a better person.27

Confucius was aware that the ancient ways had been moderated in his own time, and that such moderation was politic. He said, "Were anyone today to serve his prince according to the full rules of propriety he would be thought a sycophant."28

Politics
As many of Confucius' students were anxious to obtain positions in the government and also as Confucius himself hoped for an opportunity to advise rulers, naturally the art of politics was a favorite topic of conversation. The goal for Confucius was not merely to be learned in many subjects, but to be able to put one's knowledge into practice. Otherwise, what good is it? He said,

A person may be able to recite the three hundred Odes;
but, if when given a post in the government,
one does not know how to act,
or when sent on a mission to far parts
one cannot answer specific questions,
however extensive one's knowledge may be,
of what use is it to that one?29

However, a person first must improve oneself and regulate one's own conduct before one could hope to rule over others. Thus self-improvement was pre-requisite to engaging in politics.

If a minister makes one's own conduct correct,
one will have no difficulty in assisting in government.
But if one cannot rectify oneself,
how can one possibly rectify others?30

Although Confucius described wisdom and goodness as essential to ruling, they still must be carried out with dignity and according to propriety. He explained why.

The one whose wisdom brings one into power,
needs goodness to secure that power.
Else, though one gets it, one will certainly lose it.
The one whose wisdom brings one into power
and who has goodness to secure that power,
if one has not dignity to approach the common people,
they will not respect that one.
The one whose wisdom has brought one into power,
who has goodness to secure that power,
and dignity to approach the common people,
if one handles them contrary to the rules of propriety,
full excellence is not reached.31

Confucius believed that one's political action should follow the Way as a higher ideal than whatever happened to be occurring in a particular government. One's actions, therefore, would vary depending on whether the government was following the Way or not. He gave this advice for the different circumstances:

Have sincere faith and love learning.
Be not afraid to die for pursuing the good Way.
Do not enter a state that pursues dangerous courses,
nor stay in a chaotic one.
When the Way prevails under Heaven, then show yourself;
when it does not prevail, then hide.
When the Way prevails in your own land
and you are poor and in a humble position,
be ashamed of yourself.
When the Way does not prevail in your land
and you are wealthy and in an honorable position,
be ashamed of yourself.32

Confucius showed here political acumen and flexibility without compromising moral principles. He expressed similar political wisdom in these statements: "When the Way prevails in the land, be bold in speech and bold in action. When the Way does not prevail, be bold in action but conciliatory in speech."33 Without giving up courage in action, Confucius still recommended verbal discretion. He knew how to hold his tongue, knowing not only when it was wise not to speak but also when it was not proper to speak. "Whoever holds no office in a state does not discuss its policies."34

There was always someone who might misunderstand how to put the Way into practice. Ji Kang-zi asked Confucius if it would be a good idea to kill those who had not the Way in order to help those who had the Way. The master used the opportunity to describe the influence of a good ruler on the common people. He said, "You are there to rule, not to kill. If you desire what is good, the people will be good. The essence of the better person is that of wind; the essence of lesser people is that of grass. And when a wind blows over the grass, then it bends."35

The proper relation between a ruler and one's minister or between a parent and child, while not being reciprocal as between equals, still benefited by the proper attitude and conduct in each case. The political and family situations were treated as being analogous. The ruler or parent should love one's people or children, while the minister or child should be loyal to the ruler or parent. Confucius explained the proper behavior of each. "How can one be said truly to love, who exacts no effort from the objects of one's love? How can one be said to be truly loyal, who refrains from admonishing the object of one's loyalty?"36

Confucius summarized the art of the ruler as follows:

A country of a thousand war-chariots cannot be administered
unless the ruler attends strictly to business,
punctually observes his promises,
is economical in expenditure, loves the people,
and uses the labor of the peasantry
only at the proper times of year.37

For a moralist Confucius was quite down-to-earth and practical, and in an age of aristocracy he showed a remarkable humaneness toward the common people. But maybe this should not be so surprising because humanity and goodness were at the heart of his philosophy.

Religion
Although Confucius himself was a religious man in that he followed the religious practices of his time, he did not dwell on those issues in his instruction. Several times The Analects noted that Confucius rarely discussed spiritual matters. Zigong said, "We can hear our master on culture and its manifestation, but we cannot hear his views on human nature and the Way of Heaven."38 One reason may be that the more sacred teachings were not for everyone's ears, and so they were kept esoteric among those who were ready to hear them. Or, perhaps Confucius did not consider rational discussion relevant or appropriate to transcendental and mystical questions. As we have seen, "destiny" as the will of Heaven was central in his personal beliefs, but The Analects stated, "Confucius seldom talked about profit, destiny, and goodness."39 Actually there were many sayings about goodness recorded in The Analects which we will discuss later in this chapter. We should keep in mind that The Analects certainly represents only a small selection of Confucius' conversations over a period of many years and that discussions about goodness were probably considered to be very important to the disciples; thus, though they may have occurred infrequently, many of them found their way into the written documents. It should be obvious why an ethical teacher like Confucius did not talk about profit as often as some of his listeners might have wished.

Confucius stayed away from mentioning supernatural phenomena. "Confucius never discussed strange phenomena, physical exploits, disorders of nature, or spirits."40 For Confucius, these issues were not to the point, but they tended to side-track people from knowing and improving their own characters. Since serving the spirits of the dead was the most important thing in the contemporary Chinese religion, the following statements show Confucius as a radical humanist. When Zilu asked how one should serve ghosts and spirits, Confucius replied, "Till you have learned to serve people, how can you serve ghosts?" Zilu then ventured to ask about the dead, and Confucius said, "Till you know about the living, how can you know about the dead?"41 Yet Confucius did practice the traditional religion with sincerity and reverence. In fact he considered his own attitude to be the most important factor in the sacrifices.

When Confucius offered sacrifice to his ancestors,
he felt as if his ancestral spirits were actually present.
When he offered sacrifice to other spiritual beings,
he felt as if they were actually present.
He said, "If I do not participate in the sacrifice,
it is as if I did not sacrifice at all."42

Perhaps the higher religion for Confucius was for a person to follow the Way. The following statement expresses an idea very similar to the philosophy of Lao-zi, who, according to Sima Qian, talked with Confucius one time. "Who expects to be able to go out of a house except by the door? How is it then that no one follows this Way of ours?"43 For Confucius the sure way was to follow the steps of the ancients. When asked about the Way of the good person, Confucius replied, "Whoever does not tread in the footprints cannot expect to find one's way into the Inner Room."44 Thus he felt that the goal of human perfection was found within oneself as symbolized here by the inner sanctuary.

The inner nature rather than the outward appearance of a person were what concerned Confucius. If these impoverished aristocrats so prevalent at the time were ashamed of their outer circumstances, then their inner attitude was not correct; thus their advice could not be trusted. "A knight whose heart is set upon the Way, but who is ashamed of wearing shabby clothes and eating coarse food, is not worth calling into counsel."45 Confucius felt that there were different levels of the Way as far as people are concerned. Knowing what the Way is was only the first step. If one loves the Way, one will also follow it; but this is not as good as following it enthusiastically. He said, "To know it is not as good as to love it, and to love it as not as good as to take delight in it."46 Are these stages of wisdom?

Virtue
One of the central concepts for both Lao-zi and Confucius was de, which is being translated here as "virtue" in the ancient sense of a power or ability for goodness. The Chinese term has the connotation of spiritual power or moral power which people can "build up" within themselves. Confucius saw that it took love and desire to build up this virtue, but he was also aware of the power of sexual attraction. "I have not seen one who loves virtue as much as beauty."47 Another translation reads: "I have never yet seen anyone whose desire to build up one's moral power was as strong as sexual desire."48 Virtue, for Confucius then, is developed through love or desire for goodness, but it must compete with the more powerful sexual urges. Thus becoming virtuous was no easy task.

Once Zizhang asked about a rhymed couplet mentioning "piling up virtue" and "deciding when in two minds." Confucius said,

By "piling up virtue" is meant
taking faithfulness and sincerity as one's guiding principles,
and moving continually to what is right.
Again, to love a things means wanting it to live;
to hate a thing means wanting it to perish.
But suppose one wants something to live
and at the same time wants it to perish;
that is "being in two minds."49

Confucius was able to give more than one answer to the same question to help explain it so that his students could understand. While the master was walking with Fan Chi under the trees at the Rain Dance altars, he was asked about the same two lines of verse plus another rhyming line on "repairing shortcomings." Confucius responded,

An excellent question!
"Doing the work first, and considering the reward afterwards;"
is that not piling up virtue?
"Attack the evil that is within yourself,
rather than attacking the evil that is in others;"
is this not repairing shortcomings?

Because of a morning's blind rage
To forget one's own safety
And even endanger one's kith and kind.

Is that not a case of a divided mind?50

We see here again the possibility of an inner conflict in motivation, with one being clearly a greater good than the other.

One key to the practice of virtue was the golden mean. The Doctrine of the Mean or Center of Harmony, one of the great Confucian classics which was written within a few generations of Confucius, is a beautiful treatise on this subject. Although the mean is not elaborated upon in The Analects, it is mentioned by Confucius: "How transcendent is the virtue of the middle conduct! Rare for a long time has been its practice among the people."51 Virtue, for Confucius, was action, something which was practiced. The greatest danger to it was incorrect speech. "Clever talk can confound the workings of virtue, just as small impatiences can confound great projects."52 The Way of Confucius was a way of virtue, of inner spiritual power expressed through deeds. How does one become virtuous, and how does a virtuous person act? These were the most important studies for Confucius' students. Let us examine character development and self-improvement in Confucius' teachings and then explore his descriptions of goodness and the truly better person.

Character Development and Self-improvement
The dominant subject matter in Confucius' teachings was how to become a good and virtuous person by improving one's own character. There are several Confucian virtues; here he indicated the results or criteria of goodness, wisdom, and courage. "Whoever is really good can never be unhappy. Whoever is really wise can never be perplexed. Whoever is really brave is never afraid."53 Although courage was a commonly valued virtue of the ancient times, Confucius believed it must be subordinate to justice, another cardinal virtue. When Zilu asked if courage was to be esteemed by the better person, Confucius qualified it, "The better person holds justice to be of highest importance. If a better person has courage but neglects justice, that one becomes insurgent. If a lesser person has courage but neglects justice, that one becomes a thief."54 Confucius also gave us a remarkably Socratic description of human wisdom. Again, Zilu (Yu), who excelled in courage and daring, needed to be reminded not only of justice but also of what wisdom or "meta-knowledge" is. Confucius said to him,

Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is?
When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it,
and when you do not know a thing,
to recognize that you do not know it.
That is knowledge.55

Thus this higher-level knowledge of recognition becomes a check on the everyday knowledge and ignorance.

Confucius' main method for attaining these virtues was, of course, learning. However, rote memorization was not at all sufficient; one must also be able to think. "Whoever learns but does not think is lost; whoever thinks but does not learn is in danger."56 What are the dangers when one does not learn? Confucius asked Yu if he had heard the Six Sayings about the Six Degenerations. Zilu had not, so Confucius explained what happens when love for each virtue is obscured because of lack of love for learning. Here again we see the role of love in the direction of motivation.

Love of goodness without love of learning
degenerates into simple-mindedness.
Love of knowledge without love of learning
degenerates into utter lack of principle.
Love of faithfulness without love of learning
degenerates into injurious disregard of consequences.
Love of uprightness without love of learning
degenerates into harshness.
Love of courage without love of learning
degenerates into insubordination.
Love of strong character without love of learning
degenerates into mere recklessness.57

The learning which Confucius implied seemed to be a holistic knowledge of human character. The main emphasis was to know oneself, but by studying key signs one could also evaluate the character of another. The indications include one's goals, motives, methods, and what gives one satisfaction. He said, "Look closely into one's aims, observe the means by which one pursues them, discover what brings one content-and can the person's real worth remain hidden from you?"58 However, the most advantageous use of studying others is to learn how to correct and improve ourselves; regardless of the person's character we can learn a lesson, positive or negative. Confucius said, "When we see people of worth, we should think how we may learn to equal them. When we see people of a contrary character, we should turn inward and examine ourselves."59

Even so, it is difficult to recognize one's own failings and accuse oneself, but this fact indicates that there is always room for improvement. He said, "In vain I have looked for a single person capable of seeing one's own faults and bringing the charge home against oneself."60 The important thing is at least to be working to improve oneself. The worst error is not to even make the attempt. Confucius said, "To have faults and to be making no effort to amend them is to have faults indeed!"61 He also mentioned this in connection with friendship and the virtues of faithfulness and sincerity.

First and foremost, be faithful to your superiors,
keep all promises,
refuse the friendship of all who are not like you;
and if you have made a mistake,
do not be afraid of admitting the fact
and amending your ways.62

Confucius pointed out to his students which kinds of friends are beneficial and which may prove harmful to one's character.

There are three sorts of friendships
which are advantageous, and three which are injurious.
Friendships with the upright, friendships with the sincere,
and friendships with the well informed are advantageous.
Friendships with those who flatter,
friendships with those of weak principles,
and friendships with those who talk cleverly are injurious.63

Likewise it is beneficial for one to be discriminating in one's choice of pleasures so as not to be harmed by dissipation.

There are three sorts of pleasures
which are advantageous, and three which are injurious.
Finding pleasure in the discriminating study
of ceremonies and music,
finding pleasure in discussing
the good points in the conduct of others,
and finding pleasure in having many wise friends,
these are advantageous.
But finding pleasure in profligate enjoyments,
finding pleasure in idle gadding about,
and finding pleasure in feasting, these are injurious.64

Confucius recommended a mean between extravagance and stinginess, though to err on the side of thrift was not the normal tendency and is less harmful. "Just as lavishness leads easily to presumption, so does frugality to meanness. But meanness is a far less serious fault than presumption."65 However, excessive pride and stinginess can overshadow and nullify many good attributes. Confucius illustrated this with the hypothetical example of the Duke of Zhou who represented an ideal. "Even if a person had abilities as admirable as those of the Duke of Zhou, if one is arrogant and mean, all the rest is of no account."66

In answering a question about what is enlightenment, Confucius described it as a detachment in the face of verbal attacks, probably a necessary virtue for one involved in politics! "Whoever is influenced neither by the soaking in of slander nor by the assault of denunciation may indeed be called enlightened."67 He went on to say that this could also be called "transcendence." We have seen how important words were to Confucius in the virtue of sincerity, or the keeping of promises. Here the enlightened person must be able to withstand false charges. In addition a person must live up to one's inherent honesty or uprightness if the continuation of one's life is to depend upon anything other than good fortune. "Man is born with uprightness. If one loses it, one will be lucky if one escapes with one's life."68

Goodness
Of all the qualities and virtues of people Confucius esteemed as greatest what he called ren, translated here as goodness but also may be interpreted as humanity, humaneness, human-heartedness, benevolence, etc. For Confucius this term represented the essence of being a good person. Although it was a noble ideal to the master and not easily realized, it still can be found very close at hand if not within oneself. "Is goodness far away? If we really wanted goodness, we should find that it is right here."69 Being good was the basis of character and pre-requisite to other subjects of study because of its importance. "If a person is not good, what has one to do with the rules of propriety? If one is not good, what has one to do with music?"70

Knowledge and wisdom are closely related to goodness. Also it is more important to increase one's own awareness than to be recognized by others. "A good person does not worry about not being known by others, but rather is concerned about not knowing them."71 One is also able to discern the qualities in people and act appropriately. "Only the good person knows how to like people or knows how to dislike people."72 This may be an old adage clarified by the statement which immediately followed it. "The one whose heart is set upon goodness will dislike no one."73 This latter idea appeals to the goodness of our hearts, yet Confucius indicated it is also necessary to have the wisdom to discern the good. "It is goodness that gives to a neighborhood its beauty. One who is free to choose, yet does not prefer to dwell among the good-how can that one be accorded the name of wise?"74 Goodness is also a stabilizing yet an adaptable quality within people, enabling them to overcome difficulties and sustain success; therefore it is wise to pursue goodness.

Without goodness a person cannot endure adversity for long,
nor can one enjoy prosperity for long.
The good person is naturally at ease with goodness.
The wise person cultivates goodness for its advantage.75

Confucius described how people lacking in goodness tend to respond to hardships. "One who is by nature daring and is suffering from poverty will not long be law-abiding. Indeed, any people, save those that are truly good, if their sufferings are very great, will be likely to rebel."76 Confucius explained logically that goodness includes courage, but courage does not include goodness; just as virtue includes eloquence, while eloquence does not include virtue. He said,

One who has accumulated virtue
will certainly also possess eloquence;
but whoever has eloquence does not necessarily possess virtue.
A good person will certainly also possess courage;
but a brave person is not necessarily good.77

The virtues are related to each other in an organized pattern, the goal of the whole being goodness. By analyzing individual faults and correcting them, one can approach closer to goodness. "Every person's faults belong to a set. If one looks for faults, it is only as a means of recognizing goodness."78

Confucius encouraged his students to strive toward goodness in the belief that everyone has the energy to do so. By directing one's energy toward the good, the negative will have no opportunity to corrupt the person.

I have never seen one who really loves goodness
or one who really hates wickedness.
One who really loves goodness will not place anything above it.
One who really hates wickedness
will practice goodness in such a way
that wickedness will have no chance to get at one.
Is there anyone who has devoted one's whole strength
to doing good for even as long as a single day?
I have not seen anyone give up such an attempt
because one had not the strength to go on.
Perhaps there is such a case, but I have never seen it.79

The caution in Confucius' speech can be seen in his not going beyond what he had observed while allowing for other possibilities.

The good person is trusting to a point but is wise enough not to be made a fool. Zai Yu tested Confucius on this point, asking him if a good person, if told there was a person in a well, would go in after that one. The master replied, "Why should he do so? A better person may go to it, but cannot be made to go down into it. One may be deceived, but cannot be led astray."80 It is one thing to believe someone's words, but quite another to enter into an unnecessary action.

Although a person who has accumulated virtue is also eloquent, as we saw above, Confucius did not consider clever speaking to be necessary to a good person. This is indicated by an incident when someone said Ran Yong was good, but that he was a poor talker. Confucius responded, "What need has he to be a good talker? Those who put down others with smartness of speech usually find themselves hated. I do not know if he is good, but I see no need for him to be a good talker."81 Confucius rarely called anyone good. In fact Confucius believed one might better approach goodness by being cautious in speech. "Imperturbable, enduring, simple, slow to speak-such a one is near to goodness."82


Above all, goodness was correct conduct and behavior, whether in private or public life. To express this Confucius mentioned familiar occasions of special behavior and stated again his golden rule.

Ran Rong asked about goodness.
Confucius said, "Behave when away from home
as though you were in the presence of an honored guest.
Employ the people
as though you were assisting at an important sacrifice.
Do not do to others what you would not like yourself.
Then there will be no feelings of opposition to you,
whether it is the affairs of a state that you are handling
or the affairs of a family."

Ran Rong said, "I know that I am not clever;
I will make it my business to practice this lesson."83

Confucius, of course, intended that his students should put his recommendations into practice. When Fan Chi asked about goodness, he gave a more abstract summary, but equally applicable. "In private life, be courteous; in public life, be diligent; in relationships, be loyal. Even if you are living amidst the barbarians of the east or north, these principles may not be set aside."84 His advice was usually universal enough to apply everywhere.

Ultimately goodness can go beyond improving oneself to actually helping others to improve themselves, but it must begin within oneself in order for one to know how to help others. The following conversation shows that Confucius could envision a level even beyond goodness-that of the divine sage.

Zigong asked, "If a ruler extensively confers benefits
on the people and can bring salvation to all,
what do you think of him?
Would you call him good?"

Confucius said, "Why only good?
He would without doubt be a divine sage.
Even Yao and Shun fell short of it.
A good person, wishing to establish one's own character,
also establishes the character of others,
and wishing to be successful oneself,
also helps others to be successful.
To be able to see others by what is within ourselves
may be called the art of realizing goodness."85

Here is a great key! By knowing what is within ourselves we can know others; knowing ourselves, we can improve ourselves and then benefit others also.

Before we move on to examine Confucius' concept of the better person, let us first note that he believed that goodness made a better person, but a better person was not necessarily good. "It is possible to be a better person and yet lack goodness, but there has never yet existed a good person who was not a better person."86 This is a strong statement indicating the priority of goodness. Although not necessarily all-inclusive of all positive values in every context in which Confucius used the term, goodness does, however, appear to be the supreme value and the one most emphasized in his instruction.

The Better Person
The term zhun-zi originally meant the "son of a ruler" and up to the time of Confucius was used to refer to a member of the upper class. Confucius may very well have been the first one to use this term extensively to mean a person of virtue and principle. Cho-yun Hsu in a history of ancient China wrote,

The Analects appears to be the earliest work in which
zhun-zi was used to imply high moral standards in a person;
here it denotes the ideal man
whom all men should cultivate their characters to imitate....
Such a man, noble in virtue,
was not necessarily a noble in social status.87

This is an indication of the tremendous influence Confucius must have had, that in his disciples' minds at least he could so change the meaning of this socially-laden term and liberate it from class notions to apply to one of moral principles. We are using the expression "better person" here as a non-sexist equivalent although the common translations "superior man" or "gentleman" are certainly valid.

Many of the same ideas about the good person are used to describe the better person as well. The following description indicates that the virtues enable the better person to command the respect of others:

If the better person is not serious,
one will not be respected,
and one's learning will not be on a firm foundation.
That one considers loyalty and faithfulness to be fundamental,
has no friends who are not like that one,
and when one has made mistakes,
one is not afraid of correcting them.88

Although the better person may not have attained goodness, one acts in such a way so that one might become good.

Sima Niu once asked Confucius what the term "better person" meant. Confucius said that a better person has no anxiety or fear. Sima Niu then asked rhetorically if this is what is meant by being a better person. The master then elaborated, "On looking within oneself one discovers nothing wrong. What is there for one to be anxious about or fear?"89 Here again self-examination and self-improvement are the keys. A better person is not worried by what others think of one, only that one correct oneself. "A better person is distressed by one's own lack of capacity; one is never distressed at the failure of others to recognize one's merits."90 However, eventually one should be able to bring one's good points to light; if one is never recognized at all, it may be an indication that one has not accomplished anything worthwhile. "A better person has reason to be distressed if he ends his days without making a reputation for himself."91

At three different stages of life, Confucius observed that the better person must watch out for certain prominent tendencies.

There are three things which a better person guards against.
In one's youth when one's physical powers are not yet settled,
one guards against lust.
In one's prime when one's physical powers are full of vigor,
one guards against strife.
In old age when one's physical powers are decaying,
one guards against avarice.92

A keen student of human nature, Confucius was able to admonish his students to be aware of certain propensities of the life process.
Confucius gave his students an elaborate catalog of the concerns of a better person as guidelines for their behavior.

The better person has nine cares.
In seeing one is careful to see clearly;
in hearing one is careful to hear distinctly;
in one's looks one is careful to be kind,
in one's manner to be respectful,
in one's words to be sincere,
in one's work to be diligent.
When in doubt one is careful to ask for information;
when angry one has a care for the consequences;
and when one sees a chance for gain,
one thinks carefully whether the pursuits of it would be right.93

These may seem like common sense, but how often are these basic fundamentals of conduct neglected or ignored? By delineating them Confucius at least made sure that his students had been made aware of them. If they were put into practice, how valuable they could be!

Confucius knew that wise words were not nearly as important as wise or good deeds. "The better person prefers to be slow in word but diligent in action."94 In fact the correlation between them was very important to the better person of Confucius' philosophy. "A better person is ashamed to let one's words outrun one's deeds."95 Such reminders were probably very helpful to one's students who must have spent much time in conversation. A better person should also have the wisdom not to evaluate a person solely on one's words, nor to reject a good idea because of who said it. "A better person does not promote a person on account of what one says; nor does one reject sayings because of what the speaker is."96

To make his points regarding better behavior and conduct, Confucius used to contrast the better person with the lesser person. In this way the students could recognize the mediocre or usual behavior and could seek to replace it with the higher ideal. For example, "The better person sets one's heart on virtue; the lesser person sets it on comfort. The better person thinks of sanctions; the lesser person thinks of favors."97 Confucius recommended a more universal perspective. "The better person can see a question from all sides without bias. The lesser person is biased and can see a question only from one side."98 The broader view enables one to be guided by the higher standard of justice. "A better person in dealing with the world is not for anything or against anything; one follows what is right."99 The higher viewpoint begins from neutrality in order to see objectively. What is it which leads most people away from justice? "The better person understands what is right; the lesser person understands profit."100

Confucius recommended a positive attitude toward others rather than negative fault-finding. "The better person calls attention to the good points in others; one does not call attention to their defects. The lesser person does just the reverse of this."101 Continually Confucius emphasized self-improvement and being responsible for oneself rather than inflicting on others. "The demands that a better person makes are upon oneself; those that a lesser person makes are upon others."102 The influence of a better person, however, is not limited by one's social position. "The better person can influence those who are above one; the lesser person can only influence those who are below one."103 The better person can also be distinguished by one's disposition. "The better person is calm and at ease."104 Some of this difference may be the result of whether the conscience is clear or not. The inner attitude also carries over into one's manner. "The better person is dignified but not proud; the lesser person is proud but not dignified."105

Confucius' better person is an idealist rather than one merely striving to make ends meet; besides, the economy may go up or down anyway.

A better person, in one's plans, thinks of the Way;
one does not think how one is going to make a living.
Even farming sometimes has a shortage;
and even learning may incidentally bring a salary.
A better person is concerned with the progress of the Way;
one is not anxious about poverty.106

For Confucius, ethics always came first. There is human value beyond being able to work, and Confucius would avoid dehumanization. "The better person is not an implement."107

The better person is a creative and active being who knows how to get things accomplished in the correct way.

A better person considers justice
to be essential in everything.
One practices it according to the principles of propriety.
One brings it forth in modesty and faithfully completes it.
This is indeed a better person.108

Thus we find the model which Confucius placed before his students for them to study and learn to emulate. His curriculum was wholly concerned with the subjective development of the human being. Although some humanities such as literature, history, and philosophy were used as aids, the overall emphasis was on the improvement of each person's character so that one may be a better person. If one were able to gain a political appointment as the result of one's education, as several did, this was only an incidental consequence as far as Confucius was concerned. His purpose was to help people to become good.

Example of Confucius
by Sanderson Beck
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

Although we examined the major events in Confucius' life in the first chapter, it may be useful to reflect briefly at this point on how well he lived up to what he taught. If wisdom is both knowledge and action, then words alone are not sufficient evidence that he was a wise man. Moreover if he was to be an effective teacher of wisdom, then his students certainly would have looked to see if he actually practiced what he preached. The first two chapters looked at Confucius as an exemplar of wisdom, and in this chapter we shall briefly explore whether he lived according to the specific precepts which he taught.

This idea of not allowing one's words to outrun one's deeds was actually one of Confucius' own fundamental principles. Confucius even in his time considered this to be an ancient axiom. "The reason why the ancients did not readily give utterance to their words, was that they were afraid that their actions might not come up to them."1 Confucius knew that words were cheap, and so he recommended the following method for keeping one's speech in line with one's deeds. Zigong had asked about the better person, and Confucius said, "He acts before he speaks and then speaks according to his action."2 This is a sure way of keeping the words accurate to the actual accomplishments. Confucius was aware of hypocrisy and warned against it. "A person with clever words and pretentious manner is seldom good."3 With Confucius we find that although he had many wise things to say, he rarely made claims about himself, especially in The Analects, the earliest source. Many later Confucians made extravagant claims on behalf of their master, changing history to legend and even myth.

Confucius was described in The Analects as having no egotism, and although he preached much, it usually was as an impersonal ideal which anyone could learn to follow. He did not say they should emulate him; he did not even tell them what to do. He merely pointed out what would be the consequences of various motivations and actions, and then let his listeners decide. At one point while reciting the Way of the better person, he admitted that he had not attained it. However, his disciples probably disagreed.

Confucius said, "The Way of the better person is threefold.
I myself have met with success in none of them.
For one who is really good is never unhappy,
one who is really wise is never perplexed,
and one who is really brave is never afraid."

Zigong said, "Master, that is what you yourself say."4

Confucius was aware of his own limitations and that he certainly could do better in each of these aspects. Yet these are all relative, and as compared to others Confucius exhibited a remarkable joy even though he was not recognized by many, showed courage and lack of fear in his travels, and rarely was he confused by any question put to him. He said "I am not concerned that I have no office; I am only concerned how I may make myself qualified for one. I am not concerned that I am not recognized; I seek to be worthy of recognition."5

Even though Confucius was not in office, he was ready at any time to put his principles into practice if he was given an ethical opportunity. There was a conversation in which Zigong described a precious jewel and asked whether he should wrap it up and keep it in a box or see if he could get a good price for it. Confucius replied, "Sell it! Most certainly sell it! I myself am one who is waiting for an offer."6

In his travels Confucius put forth great effort to put into practice his ideas, but he also showed by refusing to cooperate with unjust government that he lived up to his ethical ideals. He also showed his strength of character in enduring hardships. The following incident illustrates these points:

Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about military strategy.
Confucius replied, "About the ordering of ritual vessels
I have some knowledge, but I have not studied warfare."
The next day he resumed his travels.
In Chen supplies fell short,
and his followers became so weak
that they could not drag themselves on to their feet.

Zilu came to the master and said indignantly, "Is it right
that even better people should be reduced to such straits?"

Confucius said, "A better person can withstand want;
it is only the lesser person who is swept away by it."7

Confucius' definition of a great minister made clear why he was not often in political service. The following conversation also indicates his attitude toward two of his disciples' ability in government.

Ji Ziran asked whether Zilu and Ran Qiu
could be called great ministers.
Confucius said, "I thought you were going to ask
some really interesting question; and it is only about Yu and Qiu.
What I call a great minister is one who will only serve his prince
while he can do so without infringement of the Way,
and as soon as this is impossible, resigns.
But in this present case, so far as concerns Yu and Qiu,
I should merely call them stop-gap ministers."

Ziran said, "So you think they would merely do
what they were told?"

Confucius said, "If called upon to slay their father or their prince,
even they would refuse."8

In other words, Confucius did not tend to over-rate his own students nor think they were completely incapable either. Confucius believed the art of government was a skill of correcting people. Therefore it was fundamental for the leader to be correct. "To govern means to rectify. If you lead with correctness, who will dare not to be correct?"9 Therefore, he could not allow himself to participate in a government which was not correct.

From the evidence we have, Confucius appeared to have acted in harmony with the Way he preached. He said,

Wealth and honor are what every man desires.
But if they have been obtained in violation of the Way,
they must not be kept.
Poverty and humble station are what every man dislikes.
But if they can be avoided only in violation of the Way,
they must not be avoided.
If a better person departs from goodness,
how can one fulfill that name?
A better person never abandons goodness
even for the lapse of a single meal.
In moments of haste, one acts according to it.
In times of difficulty or confusion, one acts according to it.10

We find Confucius accepting humble circumstances gladly rather than give up his principles. He said, "With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and with a bent arm for a pillow, there is still joy. Wealth and honor obtained through injustice are as remote from me as the clouds that float above."11 Even so, Confucius did not find much joy in bodily pleasures but rather in loving learning and following the Way.

A better person does not seek
gratification of one's appetite nor comfort in one's lodging.
One is diligent in one's duties and careful in one's speech.
One associates with those who follow the Way
so that one may correct one's own faults.
Such a person may be said to love learning.12

Learning and teaching were the major pursuits of Confucius' life. His diligence in these activities indicates that he conscientiously followed what he recommended to others. Ran Qiu once asked Confucius what should be done next for a population which had multiplied. The master counted the next step to be to enrich them. Ran Qiu then asked for the step after that. Confucius said, "Instruct them."13 This was his role, though he knew that people must have the necessities of life first.

What are the qualifications for a teacher? Confucius felt he must have knowledge of the past and apply it in the present for the future. "Whoever can make the old come alive to gain knowledge of what is new is able to teach others."14 Due to his extensive knowledge of the classics and past history and traditions while constantly endeavoring to apply these ancient principles to contemporary situations, Confucius showed himself to meet this requirement as well as anyone we could name.

Although Confucius was capable of various actions, he was always striving for the best action possible. For example, he said, "I could try a civil suit as well as anyone, but it would be better still to bring it about so that there are no civil suits!"15

As a teacher of the principles of wisdom, Confucius made an easy target for criticism and satire, especially since he was not in a prestigious position of the government. In fact a couple of centuries later Confucius was extensively ridiculed by the Daoist mystic Zhuang-zi, who satirized him as a busy-body reformer. However, these were caricatures to show how the mystical transcends social ethics. There is an incident recorded in The Analects of a rustic who criticized Confucius for not having any specific accomplishments. The master faced the charge with a sense of humor.

A villager from Daxiang said, "Confucius is no doubt
a very great man and vastly learned.
But he does not bear out his reputation by any particular thing."

Confucius hearing of it, said to his disciples,
"What shall I take up? Shall I take up chariot-driving?
Or shall it be archery? I think I will take up driving!"16

Confucius was naturally concerned more with the development of the whole person than with one particular skill.

In one sense, maybe Confucius never really got the chance to demonstrate his wisdom and apply his principles. Yet this was not his fault but rather because of the moral conditions of the times. We can only examine how he faced the challenges of his life; although he never was successful in government, he did gain the respect of many disciples. As a final, pragmatic evaluation of his teaching, then, we must examine the effect he had on his students.

CONFUCIUS
Influence on Followers
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

Over the several decades in which Confucius taught it is very difficult to estimate how many students he had. Unlike the Buddha and Jesus, there is no indication that he ever spoke to large groups of people. In The Analects there are the names of about twenty men who might have been regular students or disciples. The character of all these discussions is of personal conversations among a few individuals. None of Confucius' personal students became famous philosophers or religious leaders, though Confucianism was eventually to become a dominant philosophy and even a religion. However, some of the disciples did write down the conversations they remembered, preserving and passing on the teachings of their master. The authorship of The Analects is unknown, and the later Confucian texts of Higher Education (The Great Learning) and The Center of Harmony (The Doctrine of the Mean), although attributed to Confucius' grandson Zisi, may have been written a couple of centuries later. Mencius, who became the greatest Confucian philosopher next to Confucius himself, was a student of Zisi's pupil and was born at least a century after Confucius' death. Before we attempt to evaluate the overall influence of Confucius, let us first examine his immediate disciples.

What were these disciples like? How did they see themselves? What did Confucius think of them? We remember how Confucius did not consider himself a sage or even good, but he did claim that he was untiring in his effort to teach others. To this, one student replied, "The trouble is that we disciples cannot learn!"1 Confucius also felt that his students had their limitations and therefore could benefit from his care. Once during his travels in Chen he said, "Let us go back; let us go back! The little ones at home are headstrong and careless. They are perfecting themselves in all the showy insignia of culture without any idea how to use them."2 Yet it appears from The Analects that the disciples were aware of the mission of Confucius and probably sensed the part they could play in improving the world. An incident is recorded about the border guard at Yi who asked to see Confucius because he was always allowed to see a truly better person whenever one passed by. After talking with Confucius he said to the disciples, "Sirs, why are you disheartened by your master's loss of office? The Way has not prevailed in the world for a long time. Heaven is going to use your master as a bell with a wooden tongue."3 Since Confucius was not accepted by the world, it was up to the disciples to set good examples in their conduct and spread the teachings.

The favorite student of Confucius appears to have been Yen Hui, for he often singled him out as excelling in learning and virtue. Confucius said of him,

Incomparable indeed was Hui!
A handful of rice to eat, a gourdful of water to drink,
living in a mean street-
others would have found it unendurably depressing,
but to Hui's cheerfulness it made no difference at all.
Incomparable indeed was Hui!4

Hui was humble and usually quiet, but Confucius felt that he far surpassed all the others in that most important quality of goodness. "About Hui, for three months there would be nothing in his mind contrary to goodness. The others could attain to this for a day or a month at the most."5 Actually Yen Hui was so quiet and obedient that some must have thought he was stupid. However, Confucius defended him from this charge, valuing good deeds more than clever words, saying,

I can talk to Yen Hui a whole day
without his ever differing from me.
One would think he was stupid.
But if I inquire into his private conduct
when he is not with me,
I find that it fully demonstrates
what I have taught him.
No, Hui is by no means stupid.6

Yen Hui could express himself though, as in this passage where he marveled at the comprehensiveness and yet elusiveness of Confucius' teachings.

Yen Hui said with a deep sigh,
"The more I strain my gaze up towards them,
the higher they soar.
The deeper I bore down into them,
the more solid they become.
I see them in front, but suddenly they are behind.
Step by step the master skillfully leads me on.
He has broadened me with culture
and taught me the restraints of propriety.
Even when I want to stop, I cannot.
Just when I feel I have exerted all my ability,
something seems to rise up, standing out sharp and clear.
Even though I long to pursue it,
I can find no way of getting to it at all."7

This statement indicates that Hui could have been a very subtle and earnest student. Apparently Confucius placed great faith in his development, but unfortunately the master was to lose him at a young age. "It was Hui whom I could count on always to listen attentively to anything I said.... Alas, I saw him go forward, but had no chance to see where this progress would have led him in the end."8 The untimely death of the disciple whom Confucius had placed above all the rest was a severe psychological blow to the master. Confucius expressed his regret to two noteworthy political leaders. When Duke Ai asked which of the disciples loved learning, he replied,

There was Yen Hui; he really loved to learn.
He never vented his anger upon the innocent
nor let others suffer for his faults.
Unfortunately the span of life allotted to him
by Heaven was short, and he died.
Now there are none, or at any rate
I have heard of none who are fond of learning.9

Confucius expressed the same idea to Kan-zi of the Ji family, "There was Yen Hui. He was fond of learning, but unfortunately his allotted span was a short one, and he died. Now there is none."10

Confucius never seemed to place a strong faith in any disciple after Yen Hui died. Even such a prominent disciple as Zigong did not consider himself in the same class with Yen Hui, as the following conversation shows:

Confucius said to Zigong,
"Which do you yourself think is better, you or Hui?"

Zigong answered, "I dare not compare myself with Hui.
For Hui has but to hear one part in ten,
in order to understand the whole ten.
Whereas if I hear one part, I understand no more than two parts."

Confucius said, "Not equal to him-you and I are not equal to him!"11

Of course Confucius and Zigong were expressing themselves with humility here. Ziqin, another disciple, once challenged this modesty of Zigong, saying to him, "This is an affectation of modesty. Zhong-ni (Confucius) is in no way your superior." Zigong reprimanded the man and expressed his belief that Confucius could never be surpassed.

You should be more careful about what you say.
A better person, though for a single word
may be deemed wise,
for a single word one may be deemed a fool.
It would be as hard to equal our master
as to climb up on a ladder to the sky.
Had our master ever been put in control
of a state or of a great family,
it would have been as is described in the words;
'He raised them, and they stood;
he led them, and they went.
He steadied them with happiness, and they came to him.
He stimulated them, and they moved harmoniously.
His life was glorious, his death lamented.'
How can such a one ever be equalled?12

Confucius did think enough of some of his disciples to recommend them for public office. When Ji Kang-zi, who became head of the administration of Lu in 492 BC, asked (perhaps at a time before that) whether Zilu, Zigong, and Ran Qiu were fit to be employed as officers in the government, Confucius said that each of them was capable of holding office.13 However, something which Zilu did must have led Confucius to throw him out of his house so that the other disciples no longer respected him. Confucius indicated his deficiency this way: "The truth about Yu is that he has got as far as the guest-hall, but has not yet entered the inner rooms."14 In other words, he understood the formal doctrines but not the inner teachings. Zilu excelled in courage and daring but was lacking in the more important qualities of goodness and wisdom. He finally died a heroic and violent death (predicted by Confucius15) as he loyally refused to abandon the Kong family in Wei, saying, "I have eaten their pay, and will not flee from their misfortunes." Attempting to save his prince, he was stabbed to death.16

Confucius also disowned Ran Qiu as a follower of his when Qiu collected too many taxes for the wealthy Ji family, saying, "My little ones, you may beat the drum and set upon him. I give you leave."17 Later he may have been allowed back into the circle of disciples; meanwhile he achieved great success in his service of the Ji family for many years.18

Zigong, who was noted for his eloquence, became a successful diplomat "as an aide to the Lu envoy on several missions to other states."19 Confucius indicated that Zigong (Si) became a wealthy man in contrast to Yen Hui who remained poor. "Hui comes very near to it. He is often empty. Si was discontented with his lot and has taken steps to enrich himself. Yet his judgments are often correct."20 Confucius seemed to praise him in spite of his money-making, which he frowned upon. After studying the ancient chronicles, the modern scholar Cho-yun Hsu concluded that Zigong was a noted diplomat "whose international reputation stemmed not from noble blood, for he was a commoner, but from his own competence."21 This is a highly significant change in Chinese culture for which Confucius was in no small way responsible. Zigong was one of those near to Confucius' own age who managed to outlive the master. Mencius wrote that Zigong went back to the religious sanctuary near Confucius' grave, built a house, and mourned for another three years.22 This indicates that Zigong was the most devoted disciple at this time.

Confucius once made the following criticisms of some of his disciples: "Chai is stupid. Shen is dull-witted. Shi is too formal. Yu is coarse."23 Shen is the familiar name of Zeng-zi, who is often quoted in The Analects and thus must have been influential after Confucius' death. However, the remark by Confucius calling him "dull-witted" indicates that he probably did not have control over the publication of The Analects. Mencius related how he ran away when his house was going to be attacked, ordering his steward not to allow any people to stay in his house because they might harm the plants and trees.24 Apparently Zeng-zi was not the humanist which Confucius was! Among his many quotes in The Analects he often emphasized the virtue of filial piety, more than Confucius ever did.25 He may have been one reason why this very conservative virtue came to be so important in Confucianism, as the Classic of Filial Piety was often attributed to him.26

Immediately after his discussion of the disciples' mourning for Confucius, Mencius mentioned an incident when the disciples "Zixia, Zizhang, and Ziyu thinking that Yu Ro resembled a sage, wished to render to him the same observances which they had rendered to Confucius. They tried to force the disciple Zeng to join with them, but he said, 'This may not be done.'"27 Yu like Zeng and Confucius was referred to as a master in The Analects, and he was quoted four times in the first chapter. The Tso Chuan chronicle mentions him under the year 487 as a foot-soldier.28 Thus his education would have been his only claim to fame, since he obviously had no social status.

Confucius cataloged the abilities of some of his major disciples this way:

Those who worked by virtue were
Yen Hui, Min Ziqian, Ran Geng, and Ran Yong.
Those who spoke well were Zai Yu and Zigong.
Those who surpassed in handling public business
were Ran Qiu and Zilu;
in culture and learning, Ziyu and Zixia.29

Ziyu is the one we found teaching music in Wu when Confucius criticized him jokingly. When Ziyu explained the advantages of educating both better people and common people, Confucius retracted the criticism.30 This could indicate that Ziyu had a regular school similar to that of Confucius, which was very unusual in those times. In another passage Ziyu criticized Zixia's method of educating, implying a possible competition between their schools.

Ziyu said, "Zixia's disciples and scholars,
so long as it is only a matter of sprinkling and sweeping the ground,
answering summonses and replying to questions,
coming forward and retiring, are all right.
But these are minor matters.
Set them to anything important,
and they would be quite at a loss."

Zixia, hearing of this, said, "Alas,
Yen Yu is wholly mistaken.
Of the Way of the better person it is said:

If it is transmitted to one before one is ripe
By the time one is ripe, one will weary of it.

Disciples may indeed be compared to plants and trees.
They have to be separately treated according to their kinds.
In the Way of the better person there can be no bluff.
It is only the Divine Sage who embraces in oneself
both the first step and the last."31

In another quotation in The Analects, Zixia gave his description of an "educated person."32

Apparently there was no single recognized leader after the death of Confucius, but rather several prominent disciples who gathered followings of students who wished to pursue the teachings brought forward by Confucius. Eventually someone must have gathered together from the oral traditions the various conversations which are included in The Analects. Later other books on such subjects as education, the mean, propriety, music, filial piety, etc. were written to enlarge and elaborate the Confucian tradition which continued to grow and flourish. Confucius, more than any other person we know of, gave the impetus and basic philosophy for men of any class to better themselves through learning. Soon Mo-zi was to develop his own philosophy and gather disciples around him, and of course many teachers followed the philosophy of Confucius. Xu quoted from a document written in the third century BC which named six men who improved their lives notably through education.

Zizhang was from a humble family of Lu;
Yen Zhuozhu was a robber in Liangfu.
Both studied with Confucius.
Duangan Mu was a market broker in Jin;
he studied with Zixia.
Gao He and Xian-zi Shi were both ruffians in Qi
and both were objects of reproach to their neighbors.
They studied with Mo-zi.
So Lu Sheh, a man of the east, was a great dissembler.
He studied with Qin Hua Li.
All of these six should have been
the victims of punishment and humiliation,
but they escaped these hardships
and even became dignitaries who enjoyed good reputations,
lived out their years, and were respected by rulers,
all because they changed their lives through education.33

It is impossible to measure the overall influence of a man who developed a philosophy which became one of the major religions of the world, touching the fundamental beliefs and principles of a hundred generations of people. Because his conversations were written down, the spirit of Confucius' teachings was passed along from father to child and from teacher to student. The impact of these ideals is such an intangible process that it is very difficult to evaluate how much they influenced people's lives. Yet their endurance through history and their dominance in Chinese culture for two dozen centuries gives us an indication of how much they were valued and used.

What were the major innovations which Confucius introduced to Chinese culture? Frederick Mote in his Intellectual Foundations of China summarized what we have thus far described in detail under three chief points. First, Confucius created the role of the professional teacher for adults. Second, he developed not only the content of education but also its methods and ideals. Third, he welcomed students from any social background, thus opening the way for social mobility through education in China.34

Although he may not have magically made every person he contacted immediately wise, there is evidence that in some way his teaching did help some of his students to be more successful in life and to strive for higher ideals of goodness. Not only that, but he set forth guidelines and demonstrated by his own actions and teaching style, what kind of methods might be employed in pursuing wisdom through education. Now that we have presented in as much detail as possible what he did, we must analyze and synthesize these in order to discover the methods we could use today for the learning of wisdom. However, our purpose is to do this by comparing Confucius as an educator to Socrates. Therefore we must next turn to a description of Socrates before we begin our comparative analysis.

The Socratic Problem
by Sanderson Beck
Aristophanes
Xenophon
Plato
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

In studying Socrates as an educator, we must first come to grips with the sources of our information about Socrates and their methodological complexities, which are known as the "Socratic problem." Because we have no writing whatsoever by Socrates himself, we must rely on the extant literature of other people who wrote about him. The problem is to differentiate the views of Socrates from those of the authors who describe him and his teachings. This was a problem even during the classical period, and in the last century or two modern scholars have been debating the issues in numerous books and papers. In spite of careful scholarship and reasoned arguments, many of the issues still lack consensus and are controversial.

The four major sources (Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, and Aristophanes) have each had their champions.1 In the classical world the influence of the Academy and the Platonists gave most prominence to the writings of Plato, who founded the Academy which lasted from the fourth century BC until the submersion of the classical culture in the sixth century CE. After the re-discovery of classical literature in the Renaissance, for a long time Xenophon was generally held to be the most authentic to the real Socrates. Then in the early nineteenth century Schleiermacher pointed out that Xenophon was not enough of a philosopher to understand the depth of a man like Socrates who had had such great influence on the intellectuals of his time; therefore he argued that those parts of Plato which do not contradict Xenophon should be accepted.2 For a while Aristotle's word became authoritative to many as that of an objective observer without a special case to plead.

Early in this century the Scottish school represented by J. Burnet and A. E. Taylor threw out Aristotle's testimony and declared that only Plato could really understand and describe Socrates adequately.3 Taylor argued that Plato's presentation of Socrates must have been historically accurate because he would not try to perpetrate a deliberate mystification which would certainly be detected by eyewitnesses present at the occasions described, such as the day of Socrates' death.4 However, the Scottish school has failed to convince many modern scholars. The most common view now may be represented by Gregory Vlastos, who has edited a collection of essays by various people on the philosophy of Socrates; he limited the Socrates of this book to "the Socrates of Plato's early dialogs."5 The unique significance of Aristophanes' writing is that it is the only extant work describing Socrates that is known to have been written while Socrates was still alive. Fragments of dialogs by Aeschines and casual references by Isocrates are of limited value. Later sources, such as Cicero, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, and Athenaeus have been rejected by most scholars as being second-hand or third-hand information subject to rumors and legends.

In presenting this comprehensive study of Socrates, my responsibility is to explain my use of these various sources and to give reasons why I have taken the positions I have on these controversial issues. Although I cannot respond to every argument that has been made by scholars on the Socratic problem, I will discuss some of the principal points that have been presented in recent literature. This will be done with each source in turn. Generally my approach is to consider each source on its own merits rather than completely disregard some of the materials because I happen to disagree with them or mistrust them, which is what many scholars seem to me to do. The purpose in this introduction, then, is to clarify the probable authenticity of each source so that when they are quoted or utilized in the main text, the readers will be able to make their own evaluation of the importance of that material.

Socrates was certainly a man of great complexity who apparently taught and discussed many issues for several hours almost every day for a period of at least twenty-five years and perhaps for forty or more. Because he claimed little or no doctrine of his own but rather attempted to elicit the truth from others by his questioning, it is likely that he discussed many different subjects with different people; these people in searching their own minds and value systems may indeed have taken away widely different philosophies from their encounter with him. In fact we know that just about every major school of Greek philosophy with the exception of Aristotelianism, which was derived from Plato by Aristotle's genius, has been traced to listeners of Socrates - Plato's idealism, Xenophon's middle-class morality, Antisthenes' asceticism which was considered the origin of the Cynics and later the Stoics, Aristippus' philosophy of pleasure known as the Cyrenaics which was followed by Epicureanism, Euclides' Eristics and Dialecticians called Megarians, some Pythagoreans, and Aeschines who was considered by some to be the closest to Socrates' own views.

This helps to explain why various authors present such a different Socrates. Thus it seems to me that Socrates may have been rather broad and complex in his views and interests depending upon with whom he was talking, especially because he was not so much expounding his own views as questioning those of others. Could not the Socratic method have been used to help each of these different people to clarify the ideas of their own personal philosophies? To apply the Socratic method to this work, would it not perhaps be best to raise all of these questions, attempt to clarify them as best we can, and then let the readers decide their own ultimate conclusions? Even though some of the anecdotes and ideas presented as those of Socrates may have been rumors or legends, still they may represent part of the spirit of Socrates as history has passed it on to us. Because scholarship is not able to present a well-documented and undoubtedly accurate biography of Socrates, we must take our chances in sorting through the various materials at the risk of finding ourselves with a literary character. Nevertheless we can learn from literature, just as we can learn from history and biography. History has given us this combination, and we must sort it out as best we can. In looking at all the relevant materials here, the assumption is that more information is better, even though we need to accept it conditionally with the understanding that it may not be historically exact.

Aristophanes
In 423 BC, when Socrates was 46 years old, a comedy called The Clouds by Aristophanes was produced in Athens. This play was awarded the third prize out of three plays in the competition that year. From a few fragments of the second-place play Connus by Ameipsias, we know that Socrates was a character in that play also. Aristophanes revised The Clouds sometime between 421 and 418.6 The revised version was not staged and probably not completed, but it is the revised version that is extant. Probably the most prominent scholar on the relation between this play and the historical Socrates is Kenneth J. Dover. I generally agree with the overall conclusions he drew in his essay, "Socrates in The Clouds,"7 but I differ with him on some of his specific points. In this burlesque satire he found three main areas of differences between Aristophanes' comic character and the portraits found in Plato and Xenophon:

1) In both Plato and Xenophon Socrates denied being interested in astronomy and geology, whereas Aristophanes presented him as a meteorologist;
2) Plato and Xenophon presented Socrates as a pious man who had faith in the gods and divine providence, but the comic Socrates denied the existence of Zeus and tried to explain his rain, thunder, and lightning as caused by the clouds;
3) Both Plato and Xenophon portrayed Socrates' antipathy toward rhetoric and the sophists' attempts to teach people how to exploit others by means of false arguments, but Aristophanes contradicted them by presenting Socrates as not only accepting money to teach people the "wrong logic," but he even gave him a formal school.

To account for these major differences, Dover considered three possible explanations. The first possibility is that Aristophanes was accurately describing Socrates as he knew him and that Plato and Xenophon wrote fictions based on their own ideas. This is amply refuted by testimonies found in other writers. A second hypothesis is that the portrait by Aristophanes depicted how Socrates was twenty years before Plato and Xenophon knew him near the end of his life. Although Socrates did say in Plato's Phaedo (96 ff.) that he became interested in philosophy through a book by Anaxagoras on the causes of things, he also stated there that he was disappointed to find that he suggested other causes for phenomena other than the mind. Both Plato and Xenophon made clear that Socrates was not interested in physical explanations nor did he teach rhetoric professionally at any time in his life; thus both they and Aristophanes cannot be correct. The third possibility, which I agree with Dover is the most reasonable, "is that Plato and Xenophon tell the truth; Aristophanes attaches to Socrates the characteristics which belonged to the sophists in general but did not belong to Socrates."8 In fact Plato had Socrates argue this in his defense at the trial, that "they repeat the accusations which are so readily made against all philosophers, 'what is up in the sky and what is below the earth' and 'not believing in gods' and 'making wrong appear right.'"9 Socrates even mentioned three times in this speech that the comic play by Aristophanes made a significant contribution to these misconceptions.10

Thus it would be unreasonable for us to assume that such a farcical burlesque was meant to be historically accurate. However, I would differ with Dover's suggestion11 that Aristophanes did not know the difference. According to Plato's Symposium Socrates and Aristophanes were well acquainted as friends. Secondly, as a writer of comedy he was looking to create a play that would be as funny as possible and might use one particularly funny and well-known character, Socrates, to stand for all the different types of philosophers he wanted to lampoon, probably knowing that Socrates would take it with good humor. In these plays all the individual parts were played by only three or four actors, and therefore it would be more economical to combine various traits of physicists, schools with initiations, and sophists who taught rhetoric together with Socrates and his humorous method of questioning toward befuddlement. With his unique appearance which was described as like a satyr, Socrates was a natural subject to pick for the satire. Thus using Plato and Xenophon it is fairly easy for us to discriminate the real Socrates from the caricature which includes these other elements.

However, those elements that appear in Aristophanes' play which are similar to the portraits of Plato and Xenophon are extremely important for confirming not only that they were characteristic of the real Socrates (rather than inventions of Plato or Xenophon) but also that they were known by Athenians at least twenty years before his death. One of these occurs in line 137 of The Clouds when a student makes a joke that Strepsiades' loud knocking on the door has "caused the miscarriage of a discovery." The word exemblokas may also be translated as "abortion." In Plato's Theaetetus Socrates described himself as a midwife who helps others give birth to ideas. In that passage Socrates used the same word to describe those who leave his company and on account of their bad companionship have miscarried (exemblosan).12 Dover attempted to explain away this obvious evidence with the following reasoning:

1) He doubted that Aristophanes would be that familiar with Socratic terminology.
2) He expected that if there is one such allusion, there should be others.
3) He wondered why this concept never appeared in Plato except in one late dialog.

Therefore he argued that the use of this term was probably just coincidental to common Greek usage of the word for giving birth and because the character Strepsiades being familiar with sheep and goats might naturally think of a fright causing a problem for these creatures who are so sensitive when pregnant.13 I find none of these arguments convincing. First of all, the fact of the term being used to describe the abortion of an idea is not just the chance occurrence of the idea of an abortion, but it is directly related to a discovery or idea. As for this being the only use of Socratic terminology, there are other examples which we shall explore. Just because this concept appears very clearly and extensively in one Platonic dialog, Dover expected it must therefore be explicitly mentioned in others. Why should it? Nevertheless the process of midwifery that is described can clearly be seen in many of the dialogs of all periods. The argument that the term abortion should crop up in the mind of Strepsiades because of his country background is completely erroneous, because the first character to mention the abortion of an idea is the student, not Strepsiades. Furthermore there is a positive reason why we should take this as a knowing reference to Socrates as a midwife of ideas. The "abortion of a discovery" is the punch-line of a joke, which would not be funny unless the audience understood the reference. Without the reference it is just an ugly metaphor which makes little or no sense. However, we can easily imagine some, if not many in the audience, thinking to themselves about Socrates' midwifery and smiling if not guffawing out loud. I consider this point extremely important, because it is concrete evidence that the Socrates portrayed by Plato as late as in the Theaetetus, which is considered a late dialog, may in fact be true to the real Socrates.

A second use of Socratic terminology occurs in line 742 when Socrates said, "Make sure you draw the correct distinctions." Dover's only argument against accepting this reference is that the term was used twice before in classical literature.14 Dover also referred to the point of the Scholion on Clouds that Socrates advised Strepsiades to give up the line of inquiry which has reached an impasse and make a fresh start. This he rationalized as the common practice of any active intellect.15 Dover's arguments on these points and the obvious buffoonery of the Socratic method of questioning in The Clouds are not unreasonable but are hardly sufficient to persuade us these are not evidence of similar methods used by Socrates in the Platonic dialogs.

Xenophon
Xenophon was born about 431 BC, three years before Plato, and like Plato he lived to be approximately eighty years old. He is best known as a Greek historian and is usually ranked as one of the best behind Herodotus and Thucydides. His most famous work, Anabasis, is an autobiographical account of the Persian expedition of 400 BC which kept him away from Socrates' trial. His Hellenica is a history of Greece from 411 to 362 BC. He also wrote on horsemanship, cavalry, hunting, the Spartan constitution, and a biography of Agesilaus. His Cyropaedia is an historical novel about Cyrus the Great which primarily discusses ideal education.

Xenophon wrote four dialogs about Socrates, although the one called Memoirs of Socrates seems to be three works strung together under one title. The Defense of Socrates is an account of Socrates' defense at his trial; the Symposium describes a dinner party; and the Oeconomicus is a treatise in dialog form on estate management. Although Xenophon has lost favor in modern times, according to G. C. Field, "Modern critics have not succeeded in convicting him of any serious sins of commission or positive misstatements of facts."16 On the one hand, Xenophon's credibility as a careful historian and biographer ought to lead us to take his accounts of Socrates seriously; on the other, his fictional treatment of Cyrus' education makes us aware that he could express his own ideas through an historical personage. I must agree with Field that in the case of Xenophon's Socratic writings many scholars seem to have "lost all sense of evidence" and let their prejudices get in the way.17

Field argued that Xenophon did not present the Memoirs of Socrates and the Defense of Socrates as dramatic dialogs as with the dialogs of Plato and Aeschines but as answers to charges made against an actual historical person. Field wrote, "As such, it would have no point unless it was true to the facts. It is presented to us as history."18 Field argued that the similarities between Xenophon and Plato do not necessarily mean that Xenophon copied these things from Plato's works but could easily mean that they observed the same things in Socrates himself. To those who have argued that Xenophon did not intend these works as history or, if he did, that they are unreliable, Field defended their historical reliability with the context that they were answering serious criminal charges and by comparing them to the Hellenica and Agesilaus where conversations are often recorded from other sources and are intended to be historical even though they are obviously not verbatim transcripts.19

To the common argument that the quality of Xenophon's philosophy is inferior to Plato's, Field remarked that this is a dangerous intrusion of one's values into scholarly questions of accuracy. Field concluded that the dialogs which were intended to defend Socrates were meant to be historical and therefore are likely to be accurate as far as they go, though there may be some specific misunderstandings and omissions.20 However, he considered the Oikonomikos to be Xenophon's own ideas on estate management in a fictional Socratic dialog and the Symposium a dramatic dialog which may have elements of truth mixed into an entertaining format.21 Thus we ought to take the descriptions of Socrates in Xenophon's Defense of Socrates and Memoirs of Socrates very seriously even though Xenophon himself might not have understood and presented all of Socrates' depth and complexity.

W. K. C. Guthrie argued similarly that Socrates may have possessed the irony and profundity presented by Plato as well as the "prosaic commonsense of Xenophon."22 Guthrie found many truly Socratic elements even in Xenophon's Oikonomikos. If Socrates used to question so avidly manual workers of every sort as well as poets and politicians, Guthrie asked why he would not want to question farmers and estate owners? The dialog also illustrates the educational value of the Socratic method of asking questions in order to awaken positive knowledge and clearly implies the Socratic (Some say Platonic.) doctrine that learning is recollection. Guthrie even found the Socratic irony that Xenophon is usually not credited with understanding when Socrates says that he is ignorant not only of farming and management but even this method of questioning in which he was clearly the master.23 Guthrie also found in Xenophon's Symposium many genuine Socratic traits---his mock modesty, his bodily discipline, his penchant for the question-and-answer method, his concept of beauty as utility and functional fitness, and his praise of love.24 Thus even these two dramatic dialogs may give us valid information about Socrates and his educational methods.

In an essay, "A Reappraisal of Xenophon's Apology," Luis A. Navia gave a detailed analysis of that short work and concluded that although it differs from Plato's account significantly, it does not have to be viewed as contradictory but can be "an important and revealing complementary piece of testimony on Socrates' trial."25 In regard to Socrates' less noble attitude toward death as saving him from the decrepitude of old age, he pointed to the Cynics and Cyrenaics who took this view and even went as far as justifying and using suicide as a valid alternative to old age.26 Since these schools were founded by Socrates' disciples Antisthenes and Aristippus respectively, there is reason to believe that Socrates could have made the statements attributed to him by Xenophon even if this was not the only motive for his actions at the trial. Even in Plato's Defense of Socrates before arguing that death may be better than life, Socrates stated, "I am far advanced in years, as you may perceive, and not far from death."27 Plato, being an idealist and wanting to present his teacher in a noble light may easily have edited out of his work an offhand comment by Socrates that maybe it would be better for him to die than to become debilitated by old age.

However, A. R. Lacey argued against this because of the appeal to Socrates' family responsibility made in the Crito.28 Yet because Xenophon cited Hermogenes as his eye-witness source at the beginning of the Defense of Socrates and in the Memoirs of Socrates and never cited a source elsewhere, he takes these works as more than just a literary genre but with historical intention.29 Actually Xenophon did cite himself as a witness to a conversation between Socrates and Euthydemus in Memoirs of Socrates IV, iii. Lacey considered the Symposium of Xenophon as well as the one by Plato as not historical events but literary devices. Xenophon's opening sentence that he wanted to portray Socrates at work as well as at play implied that it was probably written after at least parts of the Memoirs of Socrates. Lacey agreed with Ollier "that Xenophon was trying to portray a Socrates altogether more human and plausible than Plato's," and he did not regard the Symposium as "just a pale and uninspired copy of Plato's."30

Lacey went along with the general agreement that the Oikonomikos is unhistorical, arguing that Socrates was a townsman, whereas Xenophon did run a farm during his exile at Scillus.31 However, Xenophon did not portray Socrates as running a farm himself but as having commonsense knowledge about management and a knowledge of various people who are experts in their fields and can provide education in those areas for his friends. At one point in the dialog Socrates compared the total amount of his property to that of Critobulus who had more than a hundred times the meager five-minae value of Socrates' total possessions.32 Socrates only considered himself wealthy, because he had no need of more money than he already possessed.

In the Memoirs of Socrates Lacey found Socrates using both the negative and positive dialectic of refuting what Euthydemus thought he knew before then employing the midwife approach of bringing forth knowledge from the one answering the questions. However, he noted that in comparison to Plato, Xenophon's description of Socrates is a rather dull didacticism.33 Although this may imply Xenophon's inferiority to Plato in philosophical expression, it does not refute the historical accuracy of the Socrates he presented. Although he accepted the early Plato as the main source, Lacey finally concluded that no source can be completely trusted nor ignored, but each must be evaluated on its own merits.34

Gregory Vlastos in accepting only the early Plato considered Xenophon the only serious alternative and gave his main reasons for rejecting him.35 He declared that Xenophon's Socrates has neither irony nor paradox and that without these Plato's Socrates would be nothing. We have seen above that other scholars have found references to Socratic irony in Xenophon. In the Memoirs of Socrates Charicles accused Socrates of being in the habit of asking questions to which he knows the answers.36 In the fourth book of the same work the sophist Hippias accuses Socrates of the same ironical attitude, saying to him, "You mock at others, questioning and examining everybody, and never willing to render an account yourself or to state an opinion about anything."37 Nevertheless it is true that in portraying Socrates Xenophon rarely showed Socrates using this irony, while Plato seemed to delight in this ironical humor. Since the evidence is clear that Xenophon was aware of Socrates' irony, it seems to me that he deliberately chose not to emphasize it in his testimonies of Socrates, perhaps because it was with this irony that Socrates made so many enemies. Xenophon's stated intention was to defend Socrates and to show how he helped people. Plato, on the other hand, found the Socratic irony particularly suited to his dramatic interests and philosophical pursuits.

Next Vlastos argued that Xenophon's Socrates was very persuasive and gained more assent than anyone else, while Plato's Socrates had to struggle each step of the way. Again this difference may be because of the difference in their philosophical styles. Xenophon in his simplicity made everything seem clear-cut, while Plato intellectually perceived many subtle problems without easy answers. Yet who can deny that the Socrates in Plato's works is not extremely skilled in argument and in gaining assent even in very challenging discussions? And is this not the same ability that Xenophon was praising, even if he did not have the skill to portray it with such nuances?

Vlastos contrasted Xenophon's Socratic discussions on theology and theodicy and a "divine mind that has created man and ordered the world for his benefit" with Plato's refusal to argue about anything except human affairs. Even in Plato's Defense of Socrates , which is certainly an early dialog, Socrates discussed at length his divine mission and service of God as well as expressing trust in the providence of God in regard to the outcome of his trial. At the end of the Crito Socrates suggested that the results of the argument must be accepted, because that is the way God led. Also if we are to believe the autobiographical statements in the Phaedo, Socrates rejected the scientific causality of Anaxagoras because he believed that everything is the way it is because it is best for them to be that way. Although Plato had Socrates refer to "the good" instead of to God, the concept of his faith was similar to the theodicy presented in Xenophon. Surely the Socrates of both Plato and Xenophon was religious and mystical as well as humanistic. Xenophon himself contradicted the contrast that Vlastos tried to draw when he wrote, "His own conversation was ever of human things."38

Vlastos argued that Plato's Socrates believed that it is wrong to return evil for evil, whereas Xenophon's recommended injuring his enemies. The passage he cited from the Memoirs of Socrates was spoken by Socrates but about Critobulus and did not necessarily imply that Socrates believed that this was the best approach for himself, though he did presume that his friend would accept the traditional view. This is an important discrepancy between Plato and Xenophon, but I do not think it invalidates the whole work of Xenophon. I would intuit that Plato's Socrates is the true one in this case and that Xenophon as an experienced soldier perhaps censored either consciously or unconsciously this important Socratic tenet from his work. Even Plato described a militaristic state in his Republic, which I believe is also contrary to Socrates' own philosophy which did not prefer a luxurious and feverish state.39 Similarly Xenophon's Socrates stated that the virtuous "prize the untroubled security of moderate possessions above sovereignty won by war."40

Next Vlastos argued that Xenophon's account is not consistent with certain facts attested by both him and Plato and others. He claimed that Xenophon's Socrates could not have attracted sophisticated aristocrats like Critias and Alcibiades. Here Vlastos' prejudicial scorn of Xenophon seems to show through. Surely the Socrates portrayed by Xenophon was not as dull and boring as all that, as if Critias and Alcibiades were great intellectual geniuses! Xenophon actually described specifically the motives why Alcibiades and Critias chose to associate with Socrates in Memoirs of Socrates I, ii, 12-16. He stated that they did not want to learn moderation and simplicity, but because they were ambitious they wanted to learn proficiency in speech and action from a man who in argument "could do what he liked with any disputant." Xenophon pointed out how their motives were betrayed by their actions, "for as soon as they thought themselves superior to their fellow-disciples they sprang away from Socrates and took to politics."

Vlastos then argued that Xenophon's defense of Socrates was so apologetic throughout that it became an argument even against the reality of Socrates being brought to trial. This implies that just because Xenophon believed that Socrates did not deserve to be charged and convicted that he would not have been. Yet Plato also believed in Socrates' innocence. The fact remains that even though both Plato and Xenophon believed that Socrates was unjustly convicted, there were men in Athens at that time who were able to convince a jury to convict him. This is like arguing that the Jesus portrayed in the gospels could not be accurate, or he never would have been crucified. Just because Xenophon was trying to redeem the reputation of Socrates from the slanders and unjust charges that brought about his death does not mean that he was unaware of who Socrates was and how these enmities developed.

In conclusion, then, there does not seem to be any irrefutable arguments for not accepting the testimony of Xenophon on Socrates. In fact arguments for accepting his Defense of Socrates and Memoirs of Socrates as perhaps equal in historical value to any source we have about Socrates have been made. His Symposium is a literary dialog but remains as probably an accurate portrait of Socrates' humor, interests, and character in his lighter moments. The Oikonomikos does go afield of Socrates' usual interests, but nonetheless his character and methods still shine through. Although Xenophon may have missed and censored some of Socrates' more philosophical skills and interests, the wisdom and educational skill of Socrates is described for us at length in various situations and encounters that bring out his practical side and concern for individual counseling that is less often treated in the works of Plato. Thus if we want to understand the whole Socrates we must at least consider the relative merits of the evidence Xenophon gave us.

Plato
Probably the greatest and most difficult part of the Socratic problem concerns the works of Plato. The Socratic dialogs of Plato provide us with more material than all of the other ancient writings about Socrates combined. Also Plato's works are the most philosophical and brilliant of all the Socratic writings. Most would probably agree with Guthrie that "for the personal appearance, character and habits of Socrates we may go with confidence to both Plato and Xenophon, and we find indeed a general agreement in their accounts of these matters."41 The controversy centers on differentiating the ideas of two great philosophers, Socrates and Plato. Was Plato primarily a disciple writing about the great ideas of his teacher? Or was Plato an inventive and original philosopher who merely used Socrates as a character in his dialogs to express the writer's views? Or was he some combination of the two?

The writings of Aristophanes and Xenophon do not solve this problem because they are of limited philosophical value. Aside from an internal analysis of Plato's own works, our best evidence for solving this mystery is the vague testimony of Aristotle about Socrates' contributions to the history of philosophy. Although Aristotle was born sixteen years after Socrates' death, at the age of seventeen he went to Athens where he studied and taught in Plato's Academy for twenty years. Thus he was likely intimately knowledgeable of Plato's own philosophy and his accounts of Socrates because surely most of the teaching in those days was still direct and oral. Diogenes Laertius recounted that when Plato read aloud his long dialog On the Soul (Phaedo), Aristotle was the only one in the audience who stayed to the end.

Aristotle described Socrates as being concerned with the virtues of character and stated that in that connection he was the first to inquire into universal definitions. He found it logical that Socrates would in this way seek the essence of what a thing is. In his Metaphysics (Book XIII, chapter iv, 1079) Aristotle wrote,

For two things may be fairly ascribed to Socrates -
inductive arguments and universal definition,
both of which are concerned with the starting point of science -
but Socrates did not make the universals
or the definitions exist apart;
they, however, gave them separate existence,
and this was the kind of thing they called Ideas.

Thus it is generally agreed that the search for definitions was Socratic. However, the ideas, or forms, remain problematic, because it does not say that Socrates did not introduce the concept of ideas but that he did not separate them, presumably from the objects to which they refer. Further on in the same work (1086) Aristotle repeated that Socrates "did not separate universals from individuals," and Aristotle stated that he was correct in not separating them. Thus Aristotle seemed to be rejecting the dualistic idealism of Plato for the integrated universalism of Socrates. The difficulty is interpreting what Aristotle meant by "separate." Many scholars have taken Socrates' discussions of the theory of ideas as Plato expressing his own views through Socrates' mouth. Nevertheless Aristotle's testimony is evidence that Socrates did use the concept of universal ideas.

With this in mind, let us now look at Plato's own works for their own internal evidence. A. E. Taylor used the knowledge that linguistic scholars have contributed as to the relative dating of Plato's various dialogs in order to argue that when Plato began to use more of his own ideas rather than those of Socrates in the later dialogs, he replaced Socrates as the main speaker with new characters such as the Eleatic Stranger in the Sophist and Politician, an Italian Pythagorean in the Timaeus, and an Athenian Stranger in the Laws.42 The earliest dialogs are now those that are most generally accepted as being true to the original Socrates. These are the Defense of Socrates , Crito, Euthyphro, Charmides, Laches, and Lysis, and some add the first book of The Republic. Yet R. E. Allen in his essay "Plato's Earlier Theory of Forms" found several passages in the Euthyphro and Laches that assume the "existence of Forms, as universals, standards, and essences."43 These earliest dialogs are dominated by elenchus, or cross-examination resulting in refutation. The next group of dialogs, chiefly being Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, and Gorgias, also use cross-examination but begin to result in some positive conclusions. This tendency continues and flourishes in the great dialogs of the middle period, Cratylus, Symposium, Phaedo, The Republic, and Phaedrus. Two transitional dialogs still use Socrates as a main character, Theaetetus and Parmenides, but in the latter Socrates is a very young man and therefore may be suspect, being so long before; perhaps this represents Plato's transition away from Socrates to his own ideas, but still not being quite ready to let go of his great main character. As mentioned already Socrates does not play an important role in most of the late dialogs with the exception of the Philebus. Yet here the discussion of pleasure from an ethical viewpoint falls right in line with the character and teachings of Socrates, and Plato used him again.

My view is that in his middle period Plato brought out the philosophy of the real Socrates with great skill and depth. The difference between Plato's early dialogs and middle period shows his own development as a writer and also contrasts how the earlier phases of philosophical education differ from the more advanced ones that come later. Before positive doctrines can be clearly elicited, one's false notions must be refuted. I believe that the differences between the philosophy of Plato and Socrates can be found by comparing the Plato's dialogs using Socrates as the main speaker with the later ones that use other speakers to express Plato's ideas. Some scholars seem to want to strip the mystical qualities from Socrates in order to reduce him to a skeptical rationalist; but I emphatically disagree with the limits of that approach. I believe the evidence in the early dialogs as well as in Plato's middle period indicates that Socrates believed deeply in God and even had a mystical and personal connection by means of a guiding spirit which he called his daimonion.

Thus my approach is to consider all the evidence about Socrates while keeping in mind what the sources are. Even the biography by Diogenes Laertius has useful information which may be valid even though some may consider much of it legendary. I choose to present it all and let the readers decide for themselves.


Notes

                                                      SOCRATES
Life and Deeds
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

Ten years after the death of Confucius, Socrates was born in Athens in the fourth year of the 77th Olympiad on the sixth day of the month of Thargelion, when the city was purified, according to Diogenes Laertius' citation of Apollodorus' Chronology.1 In Plato's account of Socrates' speech in his trial of 399 BC, Socrates said he was seventy years old.2 Therefore he lived (469-399) during the century which has been called the golden age of Athens. The Greeks had stopped the Persians at Marathon in 490 and turned them away for good in 480 at Salamis and in 479 at Plataea. With security from foreign encroachment, the way was prepared for Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Pericles, the sophists, and Socrates.

Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor, and he referred to Daedalus, the traditional founder of sculpting and stone-masonry, as his ancestor.3 His biographer Diogenes Laertius wrote that some sources indicated that Socrates was employed on the stone-work of the draped figures of the Graces on the Acropolis.4 This is not unlikely since this work was commissioned by Pericles as a public works project when Socrates was a young man. His mother was Phaenarete, and in Plato's Theaetetus Socrates said she was a midwife.5

Socrates' wife Xanthippe, well-known as a shrew, bore him a son, Lamprocles; in Plato's Phaedo she said farewell to her husband on the last day of his life with a son in her arms.6 According to other sources recounted by Diogenes Laertius (including Aristotle), Socrates had a second wife, Myrto, who gave birth to Sophroniscus and Menexenus; some said that both were his wives at the same time, as the Athenians had passed an ordinance encouraging citizens to have children by another woman in order to increase the population, probably because of the Peloponnesian War.7

Little is known about Socrates' early life and education. Plutarch, in legendary fashion, wrote that an oracle told his father to let the child do whatever came into his mind, allow him free play without forcing anything on him, and pray to Zeus of the Market-Place and the Muses.8 Diogenes Laertius refered to Demetrius of Byzantium for the information that Crito was so taken with the grace of Socrates' soul that he took him out of a workshop and educated him.9 Again, Diogenes, a rather late and eclectic source, related a rumor that Euripides gave Socrates a treatise by Heraclitus, asking for his opinion. He replied, "The part I understand is excellent, and so too is, I dare say, the part I do not understand; but it needs a Delian diver to get to the bottom of it."10 So too it would take such a diver to get to the origins of Socrates' education.

More likely are the scant accounts of Plato concerning Socrates' education in philosophy. In the Parmenides, Socrates as a very young man went to hear Zeno read a treatise, and talked with him and Parmenides.11 What Socrates learned from them was probably different from what Plato portrayed in that dialog, but he did have Socrates mention meeting Parmenides in the Theaetetus where Socrates said he once observed Parmenides use the question-and-answer method.13

In the Meno Socrates implied that he had been educated by Prodicus as badly as Meno had been by Gorgias.14 Socrates often referred to Prodicus as an expert on words and said in the Cratylus, which deals with the origin of words, that he did not have the fifty-drachma course of lectures from Prodicus, but only the one-drachma course.15

In Plato's Symposium, Socrates claimed to have been instructed in love by the mystical Diotima of Mantineia, but nothing else is known of her, even whether she was human or an angel. In the Menexenus, Socrates said that he learned rhetoric from Aspasia who had taught Pericles, and that he was instructed in music by Connus.17

In summarizing the accounts of who Socrates' principal teachers were, Diogenes Laertius wrote that he was a student of Anaxagoras, Damon, and Archelaus, who was very fond of him.18 Archelaus was a student of Anaxagoras who was the first to bring natural philosophy to Athens. Archelaus said that the causes of growth or becoming are heat and cold, and that living creatures are generated from slime. Although Archelaus was called a physicist, he did discuss laws, goodness and justness, holding that justice depends not on nature but on conventions or laws. Diogenes went on to conclude that Socrates improved ethics so much that he was recognized as its inventor, while Archelaus was the last of the physicists.19 He also mentioned that as a youth Socrates traveled with Archelaus to Samos.20 In the Cratylus while discussing the word "justice," Socrates satirized the physicists' conception of it and referred to Anaxagoras' theory that it is mind and is ruled by itself.21 This leads us to Socrates' own description of his intellectual quest from Plato's Phaedo, which is so significant to his way of life that it is probably best to quote the autobiographical portions of the speech.

"Then hear what I will say.
For I, Cebes," he said, "when young
was tremendously eager for this wisdom,
which they call the study of nature.
For it seemed to me to be magnificent,
to know the causes of each thing,
why each thing comes into being
and why it perishes and why it exists;
and I often changed myself topsy-turvy
considering first such things:
do heat and cold take some putrefaction, as some argued,
and then living things grow together;
and is it the blood by which we think,
or the air or fire, or none of these,
and is the brain what provides the sensations
of hearing and seeing and smelling,
and out of these does memory and opinion come,
and out of memory and opinion received
does knowledge according to these become stable?
And considering the ruin of these things,
and the state of heaven and earth,
until finally it seemed to be unnatural for me
to consider this matter at all.

"But when I heard someone reading out of a book,
as he said, of Anaxagoras, and arguing that
it is the mind which sets in order and causes everything,
I was pleased by this cause
and it seemed to me good to have some way
for the mind to be the cause of everything,
and I thought, if this is so,
the mind in ordering orders everything
and puts each thing itself how it is best to have it;
so if anyone wishes to discover the cause of each,
how it is generated or perishes or exists,
one must discover about it,
how it is best for it either to be
or to experience anything whatsoever or to do.
And then out of this argument nothing else is fitting
for a person to consider concerning both it and others,
but the virtue and the best.
And it is necessary to know this and the worst;
for the knowledge about them is the same.

"Contemplating these things I was glad to think
I had discovered a teacher of the causes of reality
according to my mind in Anaxagoras,
and to me would be shown first
whether the earth is flat or round,
and when shown, he would explain the cause and necessity,
arguing the better and why it was better for her to be such;
and if he said she was in the center,
he would explain how it was better
for her to be in the center;
and if these things would be proved,
I was prepared to yearn no longer
for any other kind of cause.

"And I was prepared also thus about the sun,
learning in like manner about both the moon
and the other stars,
the speed toward each other and courses
and the other phenomena,
how it is better for each of them
both to do and undergo what is undergone.

"For I never thought that,
having said they were ordered by mind,
any other cause would be offered for them
than that it is best to have them so as they are;
so having given a cause to each and to all in common
I was thinking it was being explained
what was best for each and good for all in common;
and I would not give up these hopes for a great deal,
but taking the books very seriously
I read them as quickly as I could in order to know
as quickly as possible the best and the worst.

"So from this wonderful hope, friend, I was swept away,
when advancing in reading
I saw the man made no use of the mind
nor did he charge any causes in the ordering of things,
but air and ether and water
and many other oddities were charged.

"And it seemed to me it was most like experiencing as if
someone said that Socrates does everything he does by mind,
and when attempting to explain the causes of each thing I do,
should say first that because of these things
I am now sitting here:
my body being composed out of bones and muscles,
and the bones are hard
and have joints separating them from each other,
and the muscles can be contracted and relaxed,
surrounding the bones with the flesh
and skin which contains them;
so raising the bones in their sockets
loosening and tightening the muscles
makes possible the bending which is now my care,
and because of this cause
I am sitting here in a bent position;
and concerning the discussion with you
he would argue other causes
such as voice and air and hearing and many other such causes,
neglecting to say the true causes that,
since it seemed to the Athenians it was best to condemn me,
and so because of these things
it seemed to me best to sit here,
and more right staying to undergo
whatever judgment they order;
since by the dog,
I fancy long ago these muscles and bones
would have been either around Megara or Boeotia,
carried by an opinion of the best,
if I did not think it was more just and beautiful
before fleeing and escaping
to undergo the judgment which the city may impose.

"But to call such things causes is very odd;
and if anyone should say that without having such things
as bones and muscles and other things I have,
I could not have done what seemed to me best,
one would be saying the truth;
yet to say because of these things I do what I do
and I do these by mind,
but not from choosing what is best,
would be a far-fetched and rash way of speaking.
For the discussion is unable to distinguish that
the cause is in reality something else,
and the other is that without which
the cause could never be a cause;
so it appears to me many are groping as in the dark,
attaching a false name to a stranger,
when they address a cause this way.

"And so someone by putting a whirlwind around the earth
makes the earth remain below heaven,
and another as a flat trough
supported on a foundation of air;
but of the power which is able now to establish these
placing them as is best,
they neither seek this
nor do they think it has any divine force,
but they believe they can discover an Atlas
stronger and more immortal and all-embracing than this,
and in truth they do not think at all of the good
which must both unite and embrace.

"Therefore of such causes
I would like to become a student
wherever, whenever, from anyone;
but since I was deprived of this and did not find it
nor was I able to learn it from another,
about the second voyage seeking for the cause
which I conducted,
do you wish me," he asked, "to add what I did, Cebes?"


"I do wish it enormously," he said.22

And so began the Socratic quest for knowledge of the good. Not having found a teacher who could satisfy him, Socrates decided to develop his own methods of searching into the good based on this underlying intuition that all things have a divine or intelligent cause directed toward what is best.

In Plato's Defense of Socrates Socrates stated to the jury that he was never anyone's teacher, that he never demanded payment before he would converse with anyone, and that his discussions were open to anyone who cared to listen.23 In this speech he explained another event which led him into a quest for wisdom. His friend from youth, Chaerephon, went to the Delphic oracle asking if there was anyone who was wiser than Socrates, and the Pythian priestess responded that there was not. Since Socrates was not aware of any real wisdom within himself, he decided to see if he could find someone else who was wise. Therefore he went to those who claimed they were wise - politicians, poets, artisans, and others. This was Socrates' interpretation of his mission commanded by the oracle of the god Apollo. However, after questioning and cross-examining these people, Socrates discovered they were not really wise after all. Because he was not able to find the wisdom he was seeking and because he considered this task more important than anything else, the pursuit of wisdom became Socrates' full-time job for the rest of his life.

Therefore I am still even now going around
searching and inquiring according to the god,
of both citizens and strangers, who I think are wise;
and when one seems to me not so,
aiding the god I point out that they are not wise.
And because of this occupation
there is no leisure worth mentioning for me
to attend to the business of the city nor of the household,
but I am in extensive poverty on account of serving the god.24

Later in the same speech Socrates offered his poverty as evidence that he never was paid for teaching anyone.25

In Xenophon's Oikonomikos we find Socrates searching for someone good and noble (beautiful), the combination of which is often translated as a "gentleman."

It took me quite a little time to visit
our good builders, good smiths, good painters, good sculptors,
and other people of the kind,
and to inspect those of their works that are declared to be beautiful;
but I felt a desire to meet one of those
who are called by that grand name "gentleman,"
which implies "beautiful" as well as "good,"
in order to consider what they did to deserve it.
And, first, because the epithet "beautiful" is added to "good,"
I went up to every person I noticed,
and tried to discover whether I could anywhere see
goodness in combination with beauty.
But after all, it was not so:
I thought I discovered that some who were beautiful to look at
were thoroughly depraved in their minds.
So I decided to let good looks alone,
and to seek out someone known as "a gentleman."26


Here is a similar kind of quest to the one described in Plato, only in different terms typical of their perspectives - one from the philosopher and the other from a simple moralist and country gentleman.

Diogenes Laertius cited Aristoxenus as his reference for the information that Socrates had made money, invested it, and collected the interest.27 Also Plutarch in his life of Aristides referred skeptically to Demetrius' statement that Socrates invested seventy minas with Crito. This is not necessarily contradictory, as Socrates could have made some money as a stone-cutter when younger and then lived minimally on the interest as he pursued his quest. Diogenes cited two sources that said that Socrates and his pupil Aeschines were the first to teach rhetoric.28 This seems misleading since Gorgias was well-known for giving instruction in rhetoric during Socrates' lifetime, and although Socrates discussed rhetoric it was not as though he gave classes in it. It is likely that Aeschines taught rhetoric, perhaps later on. Diogenes also related that Socrates may have collaborated with the tragedian Euripides on his plays.29 This is highly speculative; but they were contemporaries, and it is not impossible that Socrates' conversation might have stimulated a few ideas for Euripides.

In 423 BC Aristophanes' comedy The Clouds was produced at the Great Dionysia, and it was awarded third place out of three plays entered. The play was revised before it was published a few years later.30 The main character Socrates worships clouds and other scientific phenomena rather than the gods while running a "think-shop" for those who would learn the "unjust logic." If he was not already well-known in Athens, it certainly would have made him famous, as virtually all the citizens attended the theater. In Plato's Defense of Socrates, Socrates was shown 24 years later attempting to set straight the record in regard to the satirical misrepresentations of him still current in Athenians' minds from this play.31 Although the jests were made in fun (as there is no sign of animosity between Socrates and Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium), they eventually turned to tragedy when many Athenians took them seriously.

Apparently Socrates spent almost his whole life in Athens. He once said it was because he loved to learn from people, and they were more easily found in the city than in the country.32 The only generally accepted travels of Socrates were on military expeditions. According to Plato, Socrates fought in a severe battle at Potidaea,33 was praised for his courage in the retreat from Delium by the general, Laches,34 and in his trial stated that he obeyed his commanders at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium.35 In Plato's Symposium Alcibiades described how Socrates was determined to fight off any foes as he and Laches retreated with the other Athenians at Delium. Alcibiades also told how Socrates saved his life and his weapons when he was wounded at Potidaea and then encouraged the generals to give the prize of valor to the officer Alcibiades rather than himself.36

Socrates ventured into political life as little as possible because he considered it too dangerous for a lover of truth and justice. If he opposed injustice and illegality publicly he might have been put to death much sooner; therefore he chose to fight for right as a private citizen.37 However, when his tribe was serving as Prytanes, it became his duty as president to take the votes, and he was laughed at because he did not know how to do it.38 While Socrates was in this position, the Athenian Senate wanted to try together the naval commanders who had not buried the dead after their victory at Arginusae. This was clearly illegal to group them together, not allow them time to prepare their defense, and because the popular assembly was not a court and had no right to condemn to death. In spite of popular opinion at the time, Socrates flatly refused to be a party to the illegality as is attested to by Xenophon in his history Hellenica39 and his Memoirs of Socrates40 and by Plato in his Defense of Socrates.41 Six men were condemned and executed, though the illegality was generally recognized afterwards.42 This was during the democracy.

When the oligarchy of the Thirty took over at the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, Socrates was summoned and ordered with four other men to bring in Leon from Salamis to be executed. Although Socrates has been criticized for having friends and students in this government, he refused to be implicated in their crimes and ignored the order, going straight home. He might have died for it, but this government was soon after thrown out of power.43

Finally in 399 BC Socrates was brought to trial and accused by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon with the following charge: "Socrates is guilty of not believing in the gods in which the state believes, but brings in other new divinities; he also wrongs by corrupting the youth."44 In Plato's Defense of Socrates, Meletus was said to represent the poets, Anytus the artisans and politicians, and Lycon the orators.45 Diogenes Laertius indicated that Lysias wrote a speech of defense for Socrates, but he rejected it as not suited to him.46 Xenophon recounted attempts by Hermogenes to get Socrates to prepare his speech to the jury ahead. Socrates replied that his entire life had been occupied with questions of right and wrong, and this was the best preparation. When Hermogenes pressed the point that juries are often misled by arguments and condemn innocent men, Socrates said that whenever he started to think out his defense, his divine sign prevented him.47 Diogenes Laertius related a doubtful story that Plato ascended the platform and began to address the court in spite of his youth, but that they shouted for him to sit down.48

Socrates gave a spontaneous speech relying on reason and explaining why he did not choose to bring in his wife and children to plead for him as was customary.49 There were 501 men on the jury, and he was condemned by a majority of sixty votes. The prosecutors proposed the death penalty, and Socrates had the opportunity to offer an alternative. Not believing he had committed any wrong, Socrates first suggested free meals for himself at public expense. This was naturally unpopular with a jury which had just condemned him. He ruled out exile and imprisonment as unfitting for him, and finally he suggested a minimal fine of one mina. However, his friends Plato, Crito, Critobulus, and Aristobulus told him they would pay 30 minas for him.51 Socrates had offered the equivalent of a few dollars, and his friends had made it several hundred dollars. However, the jury had become more antagonized, and the vote against him was greater than it had been before by eighty changed votes.52 According to Xenophon the death penalty was illegal except in proved cases of thievery, kidnapping, and temple-robbing.53

Socrates was placed in prison, but his execution was delayed on account of the sacred holidays when a ship was sent to Delos every year to commemorate the heroic adventure of Theseus when he went to Crete with the fourteen youths and maidens, saving them and himself and ending the Athenians' tribute to King Minos and the Minotaur. No executions could take place until the ship returned, and it was delayed several days by contrary winds.54 This gave his friends the chance to visit Socrates each day and converse with him. He also passed his time composing verses based on Aesop's fables, for he had had dreams urging him to work on making music.55

On the last day of his life his chains were removed, and he was visited by his wife Xanthippe and his little boy in her arms as well as by his friends in philosophy.56 Plato described the events in detail in his Phaedo. When the guard suggested that excessive talking and excitement might hinder the effect of the poison, Socrates refused to stop talking and declared that he would drink it twice or three times if necessary.57 As sunset approached, Socrates went to bathe in order to save the women the trouble of bathing the corpse. When Crito asked how they should bury him, Socrates replied he would have to catch him first, meaning the soul, but that they might bury the body in the way they felt was appropriate. After bathing, he said goodbye to his wife and three sons. Not allowing any delay of the correct procedure, Socrates followed the instructions in drinking the poison and walking around until his legs felt heavy. Then he laid down on his back, covering himself up. He removed the cover for a moment to ask his friend Crito to pay a debt for him to Aesculapius, the god of healing. He covered his body again, and a moment later he died.58

Socrates
Manner and Attitudes
This chapter has been published in the book CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES Teaching Wisdom. For ordering information, please click here.

Life-style
Self-control
Love of Friendship
Desire to Learn
Ironic Modesty
Religious Beliefs
Devotion to Truth
Attitude toward Death

Life-style

Socrates was known for his particular style of life and attitudes almost as much as for his method of questioning and his ideas. His poverty and simple life have led many to associate this life-style with philosophy. Certainly there have been others inclined toward philosophy who have reduced the physical trappings of their lives; yet among the Greeks no one stands out for living this way before Socrates. It is natural that philosophers being more concerned with the soul and intangibles should care less about money-making. Aristotle tells us how Thales was criticized for his poverty, indicating that philosophy was of no use. However, Thales used astrology to foretell a large olive crop and proceeded to corner the market on olive-presses, becoming quite wealthy when the harvest came in.1 Many of the sophists lived in grand style off the fees they gained from giving lessons. Yet Socrates accepted no payment and was looked upon as being quite poor. We have noted how in his trial he suggested that he be maintained at public expense owing to his service to the citizens and personal poverty. There he stated that he neglected money-making and property which most men care for, because he thought he was too honorable to waste his time in these useless pursuits when he could be conferring the greatest benefit on individual citizens - the encouragement toward wisdom and goodness.2


Xenophon informs us that Socrates' entire property and possessions might sell for about five minas; yet Socrates felt himself to be rich since he was not in need of more money, while Critobulus who owned material goods worth a hundred times as much would need even three times what he already had to satisfy his wants and keep up his style of life.3 In the Memoirs of Socrates Xenophon recalls a conversation which he felt he must record. The sophist Antiphon pointed out to Socrates that the fruits he was reaping from philosophy were all kinds of unhappiness - the poorest food and drink, a poor cloak used summer and winter, and no shoes or coat. All this was because he refused to take money which was a joy itself, making one more independent and happier. According to Antiphon, teachers attempt to make their students imitate them, and therefore Socrates must be a teacher of unhappiness. Socrates responded as follows:

Antiphon, you seem to have a notion that my life is so miserable, that I feel sure you would choose death in preference to a life like mine. Come then, let us consider together what hardship you have noticed in my life. Is it that those who take money are bound to carry out the work for which they get a fee, while I, because I refuse to take it, am not obliged to talk with anyone against my will? Or do you think my food poor because it is less wholesome than yours or less nourishing? or because my viands are harder to get than yours, being scarcer and more expensive? or because your diet is more enjoyable than mine? Do you not know that the greater the enjoyment of eating the less the need of sauce; the greater the enjoyment of drinking, the less the desire for drinks that are not available? As for cloaks, they are changed, as you know, on account of cold or heat. And shoes are worn as a protection to the feet against pain and inconvenience in walking. Now did you ever know me to stay indoors more than others on account of the cold, or to fight with any man for the shade because of the heat, or to be prevented from walking anywhere by sore feet? Do you not know that by training, a puny weakling comes to be better at any form of exercise he practices, and gets more staying power, than the muscular prodigy who neglects to train? Seeing then that I am always training my body to answer any and every call on its powers, do you not think that I can stand every strain better than you can without training? For avoiding slavery to the belly or to sleep and lust, is there, think you, any more effective remedy than the possession of other and greater pleasures, which are delightful not only to enjoy, but also because they arouse hopes of lasting benefit? And again, you surely know that while he who supposes that nothing goes well with him is unhappy, he who believes that he is successful in farming or a shipping concern or any other business he is engaged in is happy in the thought of his prosperity. Do you think then that out of all this thinking there comes anything so pleasant as the thought: 'I am growing in goodness, and I am making better friends?' And that, I may say, is my constant belief.

Further, if help is wanted by friends or city, which of the two has more leisure to supply their needs, he who lives as I am living or he whose life you call happy? Which will find soldiering the easier task, he who cannot exist without expensive food or he who is content with what he can get? Which when besieged will surrender first, he who wants what is very hard to come by or he who can make shift with whatever is at hand?

You seem, Antiphon, to imagine that happiness consists in luxury and extravagance. But my belief is that to have no wants is divine; to have as few as possible comes next to the divine; as that which is divine is supreme, so that which approaches nearest to its nature is nearest to the supreme.4

Socrates' manner of living is referred to in numerous places. In Aristophanes' The Clouds Socrates and Chaerephon are referred to as "barefoot vagabonds."5 Phaedrus says that Socrates is always barefoot,6 but in Plato's Symposium Socrates is especially dressed up for the banquet as he is wearing sandals which is commented upon as being unusual.7 Xenophon writes that Socrates was always in the open, going early in the morning to the public walks and training-grounds (gymnasia), spending mid-day in the market-place, and the remainder of the day wherever the most people were to be met; he was usually talking, and anyone could listen.8

According to Diogenes Laertius, Socrates declined Charmides' offer to give him some slaves from which he might gain some income.9 In fact Socrates induced Alcibiades or Crito with their friends to ransom Phaedo from slavery after he had been captured during the fall of Elis and forced into a house of ill-fame.10 Diogenes also records how Alcibiades tried to give Socrates a large site where he could build a house, but he replied, "Suppose, then, I wanted shoes and you offered me a whole hide to make a pair, would it not be ridiculous for me to take it?" And when he saw the multitude of wares for sale he used to say to himself, "How many things I can do without!" Also Diogenes writes that his way of life was so well-disciplined that several times when disease broke out in Athens he was the only man not to become infected.11 Although he never accepted money, in Diogenes' life of Aristippus, one of the Socratics who did receive pay, Aristippus says, "Socrates, too, when certain people sent him corn and wine, use to take a little and return all the rest."12

Self-control
In Xenophon's Defense of Socrates Socrates also refers to the pronouncement of the oracle of Apollo, and asks the jury if they know of any man who is less of a slave to his bodily appetites than he is. He declares that he does not accept money nor gifts though they are often offered to him eagerly, and that when Athens was under siege by the Spartans' blockade and others were bemoaning their fate, he got along without feeling any more deprivation than when the city was highly prosperous. The reason he gives is that he has devised more pleasurable experiences from the resources of his soul without spending money than could ever be found in expensive delicacies from the market.13

Xenophon describes Socrates' method of disciplining his appetites.

He schooled his body and soul by following a system which, in all human calculation, would give him a life of confidence and security, and would make it easy to meet his expenses. For he was so frugal that it is hardly possible to imagine a man doing so little work as not to earn enough to satisfy the needs of Socrates. He ate just sufficient food to make eating a pleasure, and he was so ready for his food that he found appetite the best sauce; any kind of drink he found pleasant, because he drank only when he was thirsty. Whenever he accepted an invitation to dinner, he resisted without difficulty the common temptation to exceed the limit of satiety; he advised those who could not do likewise to avoid appetizers that encouraged them to eat and drink what they did not want: for such trash was the ruin of stomach and brain and soul.14

In carnal matters Xenophon writes that "he had trained himself to avoid the fairest and most attractive more easily than others avoid the ugliest and most repulsive."15

In Plato's Symposium Socrates attends a banquet and does not appear to care whether the others eat or drink excessively. In fact Eryximachus excludes Socrates from the decision as to whether they shall drink or not for the reason that he is able to drink or abstain with equanimity.16 Having drunk the night before, they decide not to drink, but when Alcibiades arrives already drunk, he gets a drinking party started. He downs a half-gallon vessel of wine and orders the attendant to fix the same for Socrates. (The Greeks mixed water with their wine.) Alcibiades observes that his little scheme will have no effect on Socrates since he can drink any quantity of wine without getting the least bit drunk, and Socrates empties the goblet.17 Later some revelers broke in, and everyone drank large amounts of wine. By morning everyone had either left or passed out drunk except Aristophanes, Agathon, and Socrates who were still passing around a large goblet of wine as Socrates was contending that the genius of tragedy and comedy are the same and that the true artist could write both. The famous comedy-writer and prize-winning tragedian drowsily assented and then dropped off to sleep. Socrates tucked them in, got up, took a bath, and spent his day as usual before retiring to his home in the evening.18

Alcibiades also described Socrates' ability to endure fatigue as when they were together on the expedition to Potidaea.

His endurance was simply marvelous when being cut off from our supplies, we were compelled to go without food - on such occasions, which often happen in time of war, he was superior not only to me but to everybody; there was no one to be compared to him. Yet at a festival he was the only person who had any real powers of enjoyment; though not willing to drink, he could if compelled beat us all at that and most wonderful of all, no human being has ever seen Socrates drunk. That, if I am not mistaken, will be tested before long. His fortitude in enduring cold was surprising. There was a severe frost, for the winter in that region is really tremendous, and everybody else either remained indoors, or if they went out had on an amazing quantity of clothes, and were well shod, and had their feet wrapped in felt and fleeces: in the midst of this, Socrates with his bare feet on the ice and in his ordinary dress marched better than the other soldiers who had shoes, and they looked darkly at him because they thought he despised them.19

That Socrates' exceptional temperance came naturally to him due to his constitution is challenged by an anecdote related by Cicero. A physiognomist, Zopyrus, who could discern a man's nature from his physical appearance enumerated several vices to which Socrates would be prone. His companions ridiculed the assertions for they had never seen them in him. However, Socrates himself supported the man's interpretation saying that he did have natural tendency toward the vices named, but that he had cast them out of him with the help of reason.20 Socrates apparently was an outstanding example of self-control and moderate temperament in his personal habits.

His disposition was also well under control as he never seemed to lose his poise and polite manner nor was he ever known to become angry, fearful, or depressed. Crito, when visiting Socrates in prison, comments on how even-tempered Socrates has always been, especially how easily he has accepted his sentence of death. "I have often thought you to be of a happy disposition throughout your whole life, and now seeing your present misfortune I think so more than ever, as you bear it so easily and calmly."21

Diogenes Laertius mentions several anecdotes which illustrate Socrates' imperturbability to quarrels. Socrates often staved off serious fighting by using his sense of humor. When he was told that a certain person spoke ill of him, he replied, "Yes, for he has not learned to speak well." When someone asked if he found another person offensive, he answered, "No, for it takes two to make a quarrel." Neither did the satires of the comic poets bother him, since, he used to say, "If they show our faults they do us good, and if not they do not touch us." The wife of Socrates, Xanthippe, has been recognized as one of the greatest shrews in history, as is indicated by these stories. One time Xanthippe scolded him, and then, probably because she could not make him angry, drenched him with water. Socrates responded, "Did I not say that Xanthippe's thunder would end in rain?" Alcibiades called Xanthippe's temper intolerable. "But I have got used to it," said Socrates, "like the creaky crank of an old well. You do not mind the cackle of geese." "No," replied Alcibiades, "but they furnish me with eggs and goslings." "And Xanthippe," said Socrates, "is the mother of my children." When she ripped the coat off his back in the market-place and his acquaintances urged him to hit back, he said, "Yes, by Zeus, so that while we are sparring each of you may say, 'Good for you, Socrates!' 'Way to go, Xanthippe!'" He said he lived with such a woman just as horsemen are fond of spirited horses and "just as, when they have mastered these, they can easily handle the rest, so I in company with Xanthippe shall learn to adapt myself to the rest of mankind."22

Diogenes cites Demetrius of Byzantium for the information that often, due to his forcefulness in argument, men attacked him with their fists or tore his hair out, that most of the time he was laughed at and despised, and yet he bore all these things patiently. Even when he had been kicked, and someone was surprised at how quietly he took it, Socrates said, "If a donkey had kicked me, should I have taken him to court?"23 As we observe Socrates in conversation, we shall be able to see more examples of how he was able to avoid personal animosity in the arguments.

In Xenophon's Symposium Socrates handles unpleasant criticism and turns the discussion away from personal invective. A Syracusan spitefully asked Socrates if he was the one nick-named the "Thinker," a reference to Aristophanes' satire of his "Think-shop." Socrates asks in turn if it is not better than to be called "Thoughtless." Then the man blames Socrates for thinking on celestial subjects, referring to the current blasphemy concerning natural phenomena for which Anaxagoras was condemned. Socrates asks him if there is anything more celestial than the gods, but the Syracusan accuses him of being concerned with unbeneficial things. Whereupon Socrates banters with him saying that the gods cause rain and light under the heavens and thus are beneficial. (Actually in the Greek the play is on the word meaning "from above.") A little acid creeps in as Socrates says, "If the pun is strained, you are responsible, since you are giving me the business." Then the man asks him to measure the distance between them in flea's feet, a reference to Aristophanes' version of Socrates' geometry. At this point Antisthenes cannot help but commend to Philip that this man resembles one who has a tendency to abuse. Philip agrees, and says there are many such people. Socrates cautions them not to make comparisons lest they become like those who stoop to abuse. Even if they should praise all those who are better than he, it is the same thing, and they certainly should not compare him to those who excel him in villainy. Socrates suggests that they do not compare him to other people at all, for it is better to remain silent on matters that are not proper to discuss. Thus, concludes Xenophon, this unpleasantness was quenched.24 Apparently Socrates did not believe in personal comparisons or fault-finding. However, others at the banquet kept urging Philip to go on with his comparisons, while some opposed. As the clamor increased, Socrates suggested, "Since we all want to talk, would this not be a fine time to join in singing?" He immediately began a song, and they all sang together. After they had finished and other entertainments had been brought in, Socrates began a conversation with the Syracusan without the least bit of resentment.25

Love of Friendship
Socrates expressed his love and friendship in many ways. In the Lysis he declares that all his life he has had an eager desire for friendship more than anything else in the world.26 In the Phaedrus Socrates is made to give an argument against love which he is ashamed of doing, but after his divine sign stopped him from leaving it at that, he gives a speech in praise of love, ending it with a prayer to Love (Eros) in gratitude for the art of love he has been given.27

In Plato's Symposium Socrates plays with quotes from Homer in order to invite Aristodemus to the banquet to which Agathon had in fact been intending to invite him.28 At this banquet we see that Socrates was more inclined to praise than to criticize, as is indicated by the compliments he pays Agathon for the way he handled himself at the performance of his tragedy.29 Later after Socrates has given his speech in praise of love, the only subject he claims to know about, Alcibiades gives a speech in praise of Socrates. At its conclusion Alcibiades accuses Socrates of starting out as someone's lover and then getting them to fall in love with him, as happened with Charmides, Euthydemus, and Alcibiades himself.30 Socrates, however, loved their souls and not their bodies as can be seen not only from Alcibiades' speech in the Symposium31 but also from the Alcibiades dialogue attributed to Plato.32

In concluding his defense of Socrates against the written accusations of Polycrates, Xenophon called Socrates "one of the people and a friend of mankind," and said he "spent his life in lavishing his gifts and rendering the greatest services to all who cared to receive them. For he always made his associates better men before he parted with them."33 This was the expression of an altruistic love. For Socrates, to strive to become a better person and to help others to do so also was not only the best life, but to the person who is aware that he is improving himself the happiest in addition. This quest for goodness enriched the love of friendship among Socrates and his associates.

For they live best, I think, who strive best to become as good as possible: and the pleasantest life is theirs who are conscious that they are growing in goodness. And to this day that has been my experience; mixing with others and closely comparing myself with them, I have held without ceasing to this opinion of myself. And not I only, but my friends cease not to feel thus towards me, not because of their love for me (for why does not love make others feel thus towards their friends?), but because they think that they too would rise highest in goodness by being with me.34

Socrates was able to laugh at himself. In Xenophon's Oikonomikos he refers again to Aristophanes as he describes himself: "I who am supposed to be a mere chatterer with my head in the air, I who am called - the most senseless of all taunts - a poor beggar?"35 He then goes on by an example to show that a horse requires no possessions to be a good horse, and therefore he may yet learn to be a good man.

Desire to Learn
This leads us to perhaps the most dominant attitude of Socrates---his tremendous love of learning. In the Theaetetus Socrates says that he studies geometry, astronomy, harmony, and arithmetic, but there is still a question he must investigate.36 This attitude of learning rather than teaching is essential to the Socratic method of inquiry and is found throughout the dialogues. In Plato's Symposium Socrates relates how he went to Diotima to be taught the mysteries of love, because he was aware of his ignorance.37 In Plato's Euthydemus Socrates decides to take lessons from Euthydemus and his brother, Dionysodorus, the latest experts in the skillful use of argument. However, he is a little afraid that he might embarrass them as he has his harp teacher, Connus, since he is old and still trying to learn.38 When they begin to trick him with verbal sophistry, Socrates attempts to make meaningful distinctions to clarify the argument. However, Euthydemus becomes upset, so Socrates immediately gives up his point and takes again the attitude of the student in order to further the discussion.

Here I perceived he was annoyed with me for distinguishing between the phrases used, when he wanted to entrap me in his verbal snares. So I remembered Connus, how he too is annoyed with me whenever I do not give in to him, with the result that he now takes less trouble over me as being a stupid person. So having decided to take lessons from this new teacher, I thought that I had better give in, lest he should take me for a blockhead and not admit me to his classes. So I said, 'Well, if you think fit, Euthydemus, to proceed thus, we must do so; in any case I suppose you understand debating better than I do, being versed in the method, while I am just a layman. Begin your questions, then, again.'39

In the Republic Thrasymachus describes the wisdom of Socrates as of one who refuses to teach, but goes around learning from others and not even paying them thanks. Socrates' only disagreement with this is that he is grateful; but since he lacks money, he pays in praise instead.40 In the Lesser Hippias Socrates declares that he pays attention when someone is speaking, especially if he seems to be wise, because he desires to learn; therefore he questions him thoroughly and examines and compares what he says.41 Later on in the discussion he again emphasizes his persistence in asking questions, and he prides himself on this one thing alone---that he is not afraid to learn.42

Again, in the Phaedrus Socrates considers himself to be an amateur in the art of speaking, but is forced into making at attempt due to his love of discourse and Phaedrus' threat to withhold future discourse from him.43 So important was learning and discussions to Socrates that he felt he could not live in any other way. He explains this to the jury in Plato's Defense of Socrates from which comes the famous statement: "For man the unexamined life is not living."44 In Xenophon's Defense of Socrates Socrates asks why he should be prosecuted when he is "judged by some to be supreme in what is man's greatest good - education."45

Ironic Modesty
Associated with Socrates' attitude of learning is his attitude of modesty and humility which has been described as Socratic irony. His constant protests that he is not wise or skillful or that he is only an amateur are contrasted to his praise and compliments on the abilities of others. This tension is ironic and humorous especially since the human tendency is to over-estimate the value of oneself while under-estimating others. Perhaps Socrates was working excessively to overcome this tendency within himself; or maybe because most people do think more highly of themselves than others, Socrates' position only seems unnatural and artificial. In the context of his desire to learn, however, the ironic modesty appears to serve a useful purpose, for how can one be open to learn and change and grow by holding too firmly to the previous notions of what one thinks one knows?


In the Euthydemus Socrates gives an example of an argument which exhorts one toward virtue. When it is concluded he apologized for its roughness and length and is ready to hear a better one from Dionysodorus or Euthydemus.46 As the discussion gets going, Socrates uses this modesty to say that he does not understand rather than saying he disagrees. Thus he is open to learn and does not block the discussion process. Likewise, he prefaces his point with disclaimers so that it can be more easily accepted as a mere attempt toward a solution. This is Socrates' ironic manner: "Well, Euthydemus, it is because I do not at all understand these clever devices, even when they are right: I am only a dull sort of thinker. And so I may perhaps be going to say something rather clownish; but you must forgive me."47 Euthydemus and Dionysodorus are attempting to show that there are no false statements. Socrates shows that this means there are no mistakes. After a while they refuse to answer him, but are able to trip up Socrates on the word "intend." Socrates admits his mistake, showing that either mistakes are possible or that they did not just prove him wrong. When Ctesippus praises the brothers for their foolishness, Socrates heads off a quarrel by reminding Ctesippus of the visitors' skill in verbal tricks.48 Regardless of the discussion topic Socrates' manner remains polite and praiseworthy of others.

The listeners were usually aware of the Socratic irony and occasionally commented upon it. In Plato's Symposium Agathon and Socrates compliment each other on their wisdom, each hoping to receive some from the other. After Socrates says that his own wisdom is poor, questionable, and no better than a dream, Agathon says that he is mocking.49 In the Protagoras Socrates praises the eminent sophist of that name for being able to use long speeches and short answer methods, while he admits himself that he is not good at long speeches due to a poor memory. When Protagoras refuses to keep his answers short, Socrates decides to leave; but the others talk him into staying. Alcibiades declares that Socrates would not forget long answers in spite of his ironic way of saying he is forgetful.50

In Plato's Apology, Socrates takes exception to the belief that he is a clever speaker, though he does claim that he will speak only the truth. He asks the jury to pardon him for his ignorance of courtroom speeches and his use of language which is more akin to the market-place.51 Later he says that although he does not teach people and take money for it, he does admire the sophists who do, such as Gorgias, Prodicus, and Hippias.52 However, it is clear from both Plato's and Xenophon's account of Socrates' defense that by appearing to exalt himself Socrates did antagonize the jury.53 Apparently, many felt that his humility was insincere, and they were probably more concerned about his religious beliefs and his claims of a divine mission.

Religious Beliefs
In defending Socrates against the charges of religious heresy, Xenophon states that Socrates openly offered sacrifices constantly in his home and at the state temples; he also was known for using divination.54 In Xenophon's Defense of Socrates Hermogenes reports that Socrates declared to the jury that any of them could have seen him sacrificing at the communal festivals and on the public altars.55 At the opening of Plato's Republic Socrates describes how he and Glaucon went down to the Peiraeus to offer their prayers to the goddess Artemis.56

Xenophon summarized Socrates' attitude towards religion in four points: 1). He obeyed and counseled others to obey the command of the Priestess at Delphi that their duty was to follow the customs of the state. 2). He believed in praying only for good gifts since the gods know best what is good; to pray for a specific thing such as gold or power was like gambling for an uncertain result. 3). Though one's sacrifices may be humble due to poverty, the gods care only for the piety of the giver; otherwise the gods would be showing favor to the unjust rich. 4). He considered the counsel of the gods to be superior to human opinions.57 This is made clear in another passage by Xenophon about how Socrates believed that the gods are concerned with human affairs, and, contrary to some people' beliefs, Socrates thought that the gods are omniscient of all man's words, actions, and secret purposes, that they are omnipresent, and that they give signs to men of all that concerns them.58

Near the beginning of Plato's Defense of Socrates, Socrates expresses his doubts as to the outcome of the trial, but he asks only that it may be as it pleases God, for the law must be obeyed.59 Both Xenophon and Plato refer to the Delphic oracle's pronouncement concerning Socrates in reply to the question from Chaerephon. In Xenophon's account, "Apollo answered that no man was more free than I, or more just, or more prudent."60 Plato gives us greater detail of how Socrates interpreted the oracle's response as his divine mission, as we have discussed in the previous chapter. Socrates goes on to say that even if the court agreed to let him go, he could not give up his mission of stimulating others toward wisdom and exhorting them toward virtue and care of the soul. No, he would rather die than disobey God, for he believed that God had made him a gift to the city and that no greater good had ever happened to them than his service to God. He would not change his way even if he had to die many times.61 Apparently Socrates' conviction in his divine mission was unshakable. Even though he was facing death, Socrates was not afraid. He believed that "no evil can come to a good man either in life or after death, since God does not neglect him."62

Socrates believed that God was guiding him and that occasionally he was inspired by the divine presence. At the end of Plato's Crito, Socrates suggests that they accept the results of the argument since that is the way God leads, and the sound as of flutes echoes within him, not allowing him to hear any other reason.63 In the Phaedrus Socrates feels himself to be inspired by the divine presence of the place, granting him an exceptional eloquence.64 Socrates also recognized that whatever abilities he had were given to him by God. In the Theaetetus he asserts that both he and his mother received the art of midwifery from God.65

The most unique aspect of Socrates' religious experience was his personal guiding spirit or divine sign (daimon or daimonion). In the Republic Socrates assumes that few or none have experienced the divine sign as in his case.66 Both Xenophon and Plato recorded an explanation of this phenomenon in defending Socrates against the charges of impiety. For Xenophon it was a form of divination like omens, oracles, coincidences, and sacrifices. He writes that Socrates declared that this deity gave him signs. "Many of his companions were counseled by him to do this or not to do that in accordance with the warnings of the deity: and those who followed his advice prospered, and those who rejected it had cause for regret."67 Xenophon goes on to say that he would have appeared as a fool if he did not have absolute confidence that these messages came from a god. Xenophon also recorded that the divine sign interrupted Socrates twice when he began to think out his defense; therefore he decided to make no preparations.68 In Xenophon's account of the courtroom speech, Socrates describes "this divinity" as a voice similar to the cries of birds, the thunder clap, and the voice of the Delphic priestess. Socrates considers his calling it "this divine thing" more truthful and holy than ascribing the gods' power to birds. He offers as evidence the many counsels he has revealed to his friends which have been given to him by God, and in not one case has the event shown that he was mistaken.69

In Plato's Defense of Socrates Socrates mentions that it was the divine sign which warned him against going into politics. It is this divine and spiritual thing which Meletus was ridiculing in the indictment. Socrates describes it, "I have had this from my childhood; it is a sort of voice that comes to me, and when it comes it always holds me back from what I am thinking of doing, but never urges me forward."70 At the end of the trial, Socrates consoles those who voted to acquit him by telling them that from that morning when he left his house and came into the court and throughout his speech the divine sign did not oppose him once; therefore the events which occurred are not bad, and death must be a good thing.71

In the Phaedrus after Socrates had given a speech about love which he did not feel right about, he started to leave, but the divinity gave him the sign. He explains what happened to Phaedrus.

My good friend, when I was about to cross the stream, the spirit and the sign that usually comes to me came - it always holds me back from something I am about to do - and I thought I heard a voice from it which forbade my going away before clearing my conscience, as if I had committed some sin against God. Now I am a seer, not a very serious one, but, as the bad writers say, sufficient for my own purposes; so now I understand my error. How prophetic the soul is, my friend! For all along, while I was giving my speech, something bothered me, and 'I was distressed,' as Ibycus says, 'lest I be buying honor among men by sinning against the gods.' But now I have seen my error.72

Socrates goes on to give a speech more praiseworthy of the effects of love.

In the Alcibiades I Socrates approaches Alcibiades telling him that he has avoided talking with him up until then due to the divine sign.73 Now he is ready to be educated with Socrates, who himself also wishes to learn. The only difference between them is that the guardian of Socrates is better and wiser than Pericles, the guardian of Alcibiades, because it is God.74 In the Theaetetus Socrates explains that God has allowed him to be a midwife in delivering the wisdom of others, but not to bring forth wisdom himself. Of those who associate with him, those to whom God is gracious make wonderful progress. The wisdom is within them, but God and Socrates help to deliver it. After a while some go their own way and value images and pretense more than the truth until again it becomes obvious that they are ignorant. When such men return to Socrates and eagerly request to join him again, the spiritual monitor comes to Socrates forbidding him to associate with some of them but allowing him to converse with others who then again make progress.75

In his life of Aristippus, Diogenes Laertius records that Aristippus was the first of the Socratics to charge fees and send money to his teacher. Once he sent twenty minas, but Socrates returned it, saying the divinity would not let him take it. In fact, Diogenes adds, the very offer annoyed him.76

Cicero in his treatise "On Divination" describes actual incidents where Socrates' sign proved to be correct. His friend Crito once went walking where a bent branch of a tree released and struck him in the eye. When Socrates saw him with his eye bandaged later, he explained to Crito that his divine warning had occurred. He had tried to call him back, but Crito had ignored him. Also in the battle of Delium when Socrates was retreating with Laches, his commander, they came to a place where three roads meet. Socrates refused to take the road the others had chosen, and they asked him why. He replied, "The god deters me." Those who went the other way met the enemy's cavalry. Cicero adds that Antipater has gathered numerous cases of the remarkable premonitions received by Socrates; but since they are well known, he felt no need to recount them.77

Plutarch in a dramatic dialogue of the liberation of Thebes in 379 BC includes a discussion by Simmias and others "On the Divine Sign of Socrates," which is the title of the piece. One man held that Socrates had rescued philosophy from the fables and superstition of Pythagoras and the wild exaltation of Empedocles to steady it by relying on sober reasoning in pursuing the truth. However, Theocritus offers the divine sign as evidence that Socrates also used divine inspiration. He cites an incident when Socrates' sign warned some men not to walk down a certain street. They, wishing to prove him wrong, proceeded and met with a drove of swine who in the narrow street covered them with mud, knocking some down. The divine sign is differentiated from superstitious beliefs regarding whether someone sneezes on the right or left. Also the incident at Delium with Laches is mentioned which had been often talked about in Athens.78

Later on Simmias explains how the sign worked for Socrates. He once asked Socrates about it. Socrates said he had no faith in anyone who talked of visual communication, but whenever people said they heard a voice he paid close attention and asked about the details. Simmias goes on to describe a mental apprehension of the soul which often comes while asleep in dreams. He explains that the higher abilities of the soul are usually overwhelmed by emotions and desires so that people do not listen to the messages. However, Socrates' intelligence was pure and free from emotions so that he was sensitive enough to understand the unspoken language of the spirit. His body and his intelligence were so finely tuned that his soul could transmit divine understanding and his mind could consciously receive it. Simmias compares this to man's ability to hear the sounds of speech and convert them into understanding.79

Then Simmias, a Pythagorean, tells the story of Timarchus, a young friend of Socrates' son Lamprocles who died a few days after his friend and by his wish was buried next to Lamprocles. About three months before, Timarchus, after consulting only Cebes and Simmias, descended into the crypt of Trophonius, a dream oracle. He remained there two nights and a day before ascending in the morning with a radiant countenance. Timarchus said that he offered a prayer in the darkness. Then, not sure whether he was awake or dreaming, he heard a crash and felt a blow on his head, releasing his soul. It expanded like a sail as it mingled joyfully with the air. He heard a pleasant whirring sound, and as he looked up, he could not see the earth, but only islands of colors. He experienced many things, and then a voice asked him if he had any questions. He did, and many things about what happens to souls in the other world between death and birth were explained to him. When the voice ceased, he wished to turn to see who it was; but he felt again a sharp pain in his head and found himself back in his body in the crypt. When Timarchus returned and died in the third month as the voice had predicted, Simmias and Cebes told Socrates the story. Socrates criticized them for not telling him about it while Timarchus was still alive, because he would have liked to question Timarchus about it more closely. Part of what was explained by the voice was that the divinities of people can travel around and gain information for the soul, and those who are obedient to their divinity become inspired.80

There were also other ways in which Socrates claimed to receive messages from God. In Plato's Defense of Socrates he explains that he goes around examining people who claim to be wise because he has been "commanded to do this by God through oracles and dreams and in every way in which any man was ever commanded by divine providence to do anything whatsoever."81 In his life of Alcibiades Plutarch tells how Socrates and an astrologer prophesied the ill fate of the famous Sicilian expedition, Socrates by the intervention of his divine sign and the other by rational consideration or divination.82 At the beginning of the Theaetetus Euclides recalls how Socrates had predicted that the young Theaetetus would become a notable man if he lived. He felt this was prophetic since now Theaetetus had shown himself to be noble and courageous in battle and was in danger of dying due to his wounds.83

In Plato's Symposium Socrates stopped on the way to the banquet in a fit of abstraction. He suggested that his companion go on. When a servant was sent after him, he found him immobile. Socrates did not respond to his calls.84 In the same dialogue Alcibiades describes how Socrates entered into a fit of abstraction on one of their expeditions. It started in the morning as he was thinking about something which he could not resolve. He would not give up but continued pondering until noon. People began to notice and talk about how Socrates had been fixed in thought since dawn. By evening some curious Ionians brought out their mats to sleep in the open air, for it was summer, so that they might watch to see if he would stand there all night. There he stood until it became light. As the sun rose he offered a prayer to the sun and walked away.85 It is plain that Socrates had tremendous powers of endurance and also that he spent considerable time meditating within himself.

Socrates also paid attention to the messages in his dreams. In a discussion with Protarchus in the Philebus, Socrates is asked if he is able and willing to distinguish pleasure and knowledge. This asking for his willingness relieves Socrates of fear, and he recollects something from the gods. He remembers having heard long before in a dream, or perhaps when awake, a discussion about pleasure and wisdom.86 This indicates that some of the ideas that came to Socrates during conversations may have come from these types of inspiration.

In the Crito Socrates shares a dream he had just had before he awakened to find his friend sitting next to him. Crito has told him that the ship from Delos is expected that day, and therefore Socrates must die on the next day. However, Socrates doubts that it will arrive that day, because the dream indicated he would depart on the third day. "I dreamed that a beautiful, fair woman, clothed in white raiment, came to me and called me and said, 'Socrates, on the third day you will come to fertile Phthia.'"87

In prison on the last day of his life, Socrates (in the Phaedo) explains to his friends why he has at this point in his life taken to composing hymns and verses. He says that he often had dreams telling him to work at making music. For most of his life he interpreted these to mean philosophy, but in the last few days he decided he had better work on what is usually meant by music and poetry, so concerned was he that he obey the message of the dreams.88

Devotion to Truth
According to Xenophon, Socrates thought it was irrational to believe that all matters are within the grasp of the human mind without divine aid.

But it is no less irrational to seek the guidance of heaven in matters which men are permitted by the gods to decide for themselves by study: to ask, for instance, Is it better to get an experienced coachman to drive my carriage or a man without experience? Is it better to get an experienced seaman to steer my ship or a man without experience? So too with what we may know by arithmetic, measurement or weighing. To put such questions to the gods seemed to his mind profane. In short, what the gods have granted us to do by help of learning, we must learn; what is hidden from mortals we should try to find out from the gods by divination: for to him who is in their grace the gods grant a sign.89

Since Socrates believed that people can know and use their wisdom, he criticized the public policy of electing public officials by lot. He reasoned that no one selected a pilot or builder or musician in this way, and certainly mistakes in statecraft could be as dangerous as mistakes in other crafts. Although he was accused of subverting the laws of the state by his criticism, Socrates still held selection by wisdom and persuasion were less likely to lead to violence while producing better results.90

Socrates was searching for the truth, and popular opinion or many false witnesses meant nothing to him if he did not think they were right.91 In the Gorgias Socrates affirms that he loves the truth and philosophy most of all, and that he preferred that "the whole world should be at odds with me, and oppose me, rather than that I myself should be at odds with myself, and contradict myself."92 In the Crito Socrates reasons with his friend as to whether it would be best for him to escape from prison. Socrates first states that he is one who must be guided by reason. He then reasons that he ought to follow the opinion of the wise rather than that of the ignorant many. Socrates also holds that it is not merely life that is valuable, but the good life. Therefore, he should not do what he knows is evil even in return for evil. Consequently Socrates decided not to try to escape from prison.93

Socrates generally had a positive attitude and was inclined to think the best of anyone, at least until he had examined them. In Plato's Euthyphro Socrates discusses with this man the charges Meletus has brought against him. Socrates assumes, or at least ironically states, that Meletus must be a wise man if he knows who corrupts the youth and how. Socrates praises him for taking special care of the young as they are usually in most need of help; he hopes that Meletus will bring many blessings to the state.94

However, Socrates was aware of the prejudices against him, and he tells Euthyphro that they are jealousies aimed at any man who tries to impart his cleverness to others. Socrates says he shares himself with others because of his love for men.95

In Plato's Defense of Socrates Socrates delineates in more detail the prejudices against him. He attempts to change them, although he is aware of the difficulty of such a task in the amount of time allowed. He chooses to respond to these long-held prejudices before discussing the official indictment itself. These consist of the usual objection to sophists and scientific speculators such as Anaxagoras who "search into what is in heaven and under the earth," who can "make the worse argument appear better," and who also teaches these things to others. He has gotten this reputation and image in the public's mind due to the comedy of Aristophanes. There is also the false report he receives money like the sophists. What has Socrates really done to cause these prejudices to arise? He explains it is on account of a certain wisdom he has which was proclaimed by the Delphic oracle. In searching for a man wiser than himself he examined and revealed to many men who claimed to be wise that they were not truly wise. These included politicians, poets, craftsmen, and others. The result was that they hated him for showing up their conceit and pretense of knowledge. Also the young men who listened to Socrates went on to examine other pretenders, and they, instead of becoming angry at these men, blamed Socrates for misleading the youth. Finally he points out that the enmity towards him present in the courtroom is a proof that he is speaking the truth.96 After refuting Meletus' formal charges, he concludes that it is this enmity which will condemn him, and in all probability other good men as well.97

Again, preferring the wise and good life to mere survival, Socrates rejected imprisonment and exile when he was asked to choose an alternative to the death penalty.98 After being condemned to death, Socrates spoke to those who voted against him saying that he had no regrets about the way he conducted his defense. He warned them that they cannot run away from their own injustice, and he prophesied to them that far heavier punishments will fall on them. Killing him would not stop the young from accusing them. Their best way of escape would be to improve themselves.99 Xenophon also shows Socrates as unperturbed by his own fate but concerned about the perjury of his condemners.100

Attitude toward Death
Xenophon declares that there was no record of death being so nobly borne as in the case of Socrates.101 He adds that Socrates felt he would be spared the burdens of old age such as becoming blind, deaf, and duller in learning and remembering. Also by dying then he would be remembered more by posterity.102 Xenophon agreed with Plato that Socrates refused to set an alternative punishment, because it would imply that he thought he was guilty.103

In facing death Xenophon describes Socrates as "blithe in glance, in manner, in gait." In fact he consoled those who were weeping in anticipation of his loss. The devoted Apollodorus cried out, "But Socrates, what I find hardest to bear is that I see you being put to death unjustly!" Socrates, stroking his head, replied, "My beloved Apollodorus, would you rather see me put to death justly?" and he smiled. Xenophon relates that Socrates did not weaken in the presence of death, but was cheerful not only in the expectation but in meeting death as well.105

Diogenes Laertius records another incident involving Apollodorus. He offered Socrates a beautiful garment to die in, but he replied, "What, is my own good enough to live in but not to die in?" When someone told him that he was condemned by the Athenians to die, Socrates, or perhaps it was Anaxagoras, answered, "So are they, by nature."106

In Plato's work, Phaedo describes the mood of Socrates' friends on the last day of his life. Phaedo felt a mixture of pleasure and pain as he enjoyed the philosophical discussion but reflected upon Socrates' imminent death. "This double feeling was shared by us all; we were laughing and weeping by turns, especially the excitable Apollodorus."107 Socrates calmly answers their questions about the soul, its separation from the body at death, and its immortality. He even describes the experiences of the soul after its release from the body. Socrates appears to be looking forward to his going to the "joys of the blessed," as he reprimands Crito for identifying him with a dead body. After bathing, he said goodby to his children and the women of his family. Then he sent them out to avoid their outcries as he was dying. When he took the poison, most of his friends were flowing tears, and Apollodorus let out an emotional cry which affected them all. Only Socrates was able to remain calm and bring them back to themselves. In that calmness he quite peacefully died.108