How do socrates and confucius differ

He probably worked as a stone-mason; he fought in battle not as an officer, but as a citizen soldier. Both apparently received an education as they became very familiar with the literature and music of their cultures.

It is doubtful they could have become the educators they did, if they had not been born in circumstances where they could be educated. Neither one seemed to have an especially significant teacher, but they both related to an ideal pattern, sometimes exemplified by the ancients. Their admiration for the classical writings of their cultures and their extensive knowledge of them indicates deep and prolonged study.

Confucius spent some time playing music, and Socrates set some fables to music while in prison due to guidance from a dream. Their not having been in the highest class probably was a major factor in preventing an active and powerful political life.

Socrates intentionally stayed out of politics due to his spiritual guidance, but did become an advisor and teacher to some who did engage in political leadership.

Similarly Confucius although he tried to become politically effective, served mainly as an advisor and educator of politicians. However, his efforts in this area did make Confucius more involved in government than Socrates' incidental services as a citizen. Both men were attracted to the human culture of city life, although Confucius did travel around, while Socrates did not. They both were most interested in relating with people.

We know very little about the younger years of either of them, but by middle age they each had attracted a group of students around them. Socrates claims he never accepted money; but either he must have accepted minimal gifts to live on or he had an independent income, because he spent all his days in conversation.

Confucius accepted gifts and had a group of regular students, but there is no indication that he used his teaching to become wealthy. In fact both of them were open to discussing ideas with any one who bothered to come to them. Both of them appeared to be inexhaustible in their efforts to pursue wisdom; there is no record of anyone outlasting them in this persistence. Perhaps the key event in both their lives was when they realized their divine mission.

Confucius said he was fifty when he knew the will of Heaven. Socrates does not say when the Delphic oracle made its famous pronouncement which stimulated his quest for a wise man, but it is likely that it was in his forties. In both cases, most of what we know about these two men occurred after this turning point in their lives. This sense of their mission and divine-appointed destiny must have strengthened their purpose considerably.

Because of this relationship with the divine or a higher power, neither of them seemed to have any fear of death or anything else.

Neither Confucius nor Socrates would do something they considered to be unjust even if they were being intimidated by threats. Their actions were strictly regulated by their rational or intuitive evaluation of what was right. Confucius died a natural death at seventy-two, while Socrates was martyred at seventy, but both accepted death calmly.

Confucius was polite, cordial, and deferential. His humility was sincere, and most people seemed to get along with him rather easily. He was friendly and had a good sense of humor. Socrates also was friendly and perhaps even more humorous. However, his attitude of modesty was perceived as being ironic by most people who probably felt the power of his ego even though he tried to be self-effacing. Confucius made courtesy a fine art in his respect for human beings, whereas Socrates was only able to temper his straightforwardness by means of the irony.

Neither one claimed to be wise. Although Confucius was temperate and self-disciplined, Socrates took these qualities farther into a more ascetic life-style. However, they both loved relating with people and delighted in company.

They both were very open to all types of people and expressed a deep concern for individuals and for humanity.

It would be hard to find anyone who loved to learn more than Confucius and Socrates. They turned every situation in which they found themselves into an exploration of some topic.

Their perseverance in pursing wisdom and education seemed continual and enduring. They were always open to questions and examined any idea which would arise; they did not allow any belief which they may have had to dogmatically block them from considering another idea. Along with this openness, they were also scrupulously honest in presenting their own ideas.

They certainly were not afraid of speaking their criticisms to others. Although they both were cheerful and friendly, they were remarkably unemotional. Neither one of them allowed himself to become a victim of fear or anger or jealousy or resentment. Somehow, perhaps due to their philosophic minds, they were able to handle criticism, threats, mockery, and abuse with such understanding that they were not perturbed by it at all.

Their attitudes remained remarkably positive. Even though they were often judged to be failures by the world, neither one of them ever was known to become depressed or unhappy.

There always seemed to be a joy and enthusiasm with Confucius and an even-temperedness with Socrates. Even when criticizing what they did not like, their attitudes seemed to remain neutral. Although they both were humanistic in their concern to help people improve themselves, they both based their purpose on faith in a higher power.

This even takes on a mystical quality as they felt that their work was fulfilling the will of Heaven in the case of Confucius, and serving God in the case of Socrates. Their sense of divine mission gave them each an inner strength which was unshakable. They both also believed in various ways of communicating with the divine or higher intelligence. Confucius used the oracle of Changes, and Socrates based his mission on the oracle of Apollo. Both felt they gained useful communication from their dreams, and they were aware of natural portents.

Socrates related very closely with the other world and the legendary heroes, while Confucius based his cultural ideals on the ancient pattern and especially the Duke of Zhou.

Socrates' guiding spirit was a communication developed to a rather unique level, but they both believed in the power and importance of prayer. The reason why neither one claimed to be wise probably was because they both knew the divine wisdom was far greater than theirs. Neither one cared much for pretense as each one was offered a better suit of clothes to die in by one of their disciples, but they both politely refused to change their life-style at that point.

Neither of them was afraid of death, as they both peacefully accepted it. Both Confucius and Socrates taught rather informally and used primarily a conversational method. They both were open to listening to anyone, but often they would advise the person to seek out someone with more expertise in a particular area such as farming or gardening. Socrates often began with a prayer for divine guidance and occasionally found himself inspired. Confucius was willing to accept anyone who purified himself before he came to him.

Confucius expected his students to make some effort if he was to help them. Socrates usually only required that they answer his questions. Naturally both of them were more enthusiastic when dealing with those who were more intelligent. They both encouraged everyone to learn and work on improving themselves and presented various reasons and arguments to exhort them in this direction. Both Confucius and Socrates maintained an atmosphere of friendship and even camaraderie.

Their cheerfulness, enthusiasm, and humor gave the discussions a positive feeling that was uplifting. They demonstrated not only intellectual subtlety but also sensitivity toward the feelings of others. They both were good listeners. It was natural that they would individualize their instruction, since rarely if ever did they have a large group.

Many of their conversations with a single person were counseling sessions on personal problems or specific goals of the person. Often Confucius and Socrates were not concerned with formulating a universal truth but rather were attempting to help a person find an answer which was suitable to him.

Different personalities called for different approaches. Socrates with his method of questioning was particularly successful at drawing out people and revealing to them their particular internal contradictions or weaknesses which needed correction or improvement. Confucius often would merely point it out directly; however, he would usually do it in a way which would stimulate the positive direction. Neither one was afraid to be candid in his criticism.

Confucius would often enlighten his students by his answers to their questions. Occasionally he would stimulate their thinking by asking open-ended questions so they could discuss with each other various individuals' answers. Socrates, on the other hand, rarely asked open-ended questions, and unless requested to do so did not really prefer to have to answer questions put to him. His chief method, of course, was to ask a series of questions in such as way as to thoroughly test the person's knowledge of the subject.

In this way he did not have to preach or lecture, but could examine the person's awareness itself. This gave the answerer freedom of choice and enabled him to be active rather than passive in the discussion, although it is not as free and active as open-ended questioning. Yet Socrates could work very specifically on clarifying the person's responses. This philosophical midwifery was designed to assist the person in bringing forth their own understanding and knowledge.

If their understanding was not clear and organized in their mind, this process of testing would reveal the errors to them. In the refutation and dialectical methods Socrates surpasses Confucius in his ability to reason. Confucius seemed to rely almost exclusively on his intuition. However, most of his intuitions were so perceptive that they proved to be accurate and workable for many people.

Neither Confucius nor Socrates were poets, but they both used metaphors and analogies as pedagogical tools to make their points more understandable. Confucius would use the imagery of Nature, and he often quoted from the classical poems or referred to legend and history.

Confucius and Socrates were similar in that they both used these metaphors and examples primarily to elucidate a moral or ethical point. For them poetry and literature were important as stimulation toward a virtuous life.

Socrates often used examples from everyday life to show his listener the simplicity of his meaning in a way he could easily understand. Again Socrates seems to have gone beyond Confucius in the elaborate allegories he told to illustrate higher levels of meaning and experience.

He also showed complex relationships by means of analogy and ratios or proportions. They both mentioned incidents from history or legend in order to illustrate a point, often in relation to politics.

Although Confucius was concerned about the correct use of language and he did work on defining certain terms, Socrates took the quest for clear definitions into a more comprehensive examination. Occasionally Confucius would ask someone to clarify his meaning, but usually he was giving his own intuitive understanding of the concepts his students were asking about.

Confucius was very concerned that communication be honest and that one's actions match one's words. Confucius was not interested in mere verbal education but actual self-improvement. However, he did recognize the possible misuses of language, and therefore was very concerned that words were used correctly. Socrates was also wary of sophistical games, and was continually attempting to clarify what a person meant by a certain word.

His pursuit of the meaning of abstract ideas has been considered one of his main contributions to philosophy. The purpose of his dialectical method was to come to some agreement on the essential principles of life. Socrates attempted to gain these understandings by asking the appropriate questions.

Confucius, after studying and pondering, would present his intuitive understandings in proverbial sayings which his disciples could contemplate upon and use as guides for conduct. Confucius and Socrates relied on others to provide the traditional education which involved reading and writing, music, and physical training or sports.

The geographical and cultural distance between eastern and western civilization determined massive differences between the two. On the other hand, the works of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, and some eastern philosophies like Taoism have many of the same or common ideas and concepts. Both eastern and western philosophies regardless of having similarities have distinctive differences when examining the view of the conception of the good.

Plato and Confucius There are thousands of credible philosophers for people to study today, therefore the choice of who to study becomes a burdening task.

Each single one has amazing knowledge and insight that we could all learn something from. Philosophers have existed for thousands of years, and as long as the sun comes up, there. The Chinese Confucian thinker Mencius, who years ago sought to give advice to the ruthless political leaders of the warring states period, was convinced that the mind played a mediating role between the "lesser self" and the "greater self" and that getting the priorities right between these two would lead to sage-hood.

He argued that if we did not feel satisfaction or pleasure in nourishing one's vital force with righteous deeds. More specifically, he mentions the experience of intoxicating. Title The texts of Socrates and Confucius examine what it means to live the good life. Additionally, the two texts are even ambiguous on what living the good life truly means, so it is first necessary to identify what the good life is. The philosophies share the thought that following the instructions to live the good life will benefit the individual who does so.

The difference in the attitude towards the means of solving the issues disturbing society came out of the peculiarities if historical preconditions and the period they lived in. Both Socrates and Confucius at the time of significant social changes accompanied by frequent wars, as well as society demoralization and political perturbations. Socrates witnessed florescence of Greece as Pericles was in reign, as well as did he see its overwhelming defeat in the Peloponnesian wars and the severe rule of the Thirty Tyrants.

Confucius lived at the time when the traditional slave-owning system was on the verge of decline while various political powers were fighting for power. All these factors lead to crises, and the philosophers tried to find a way to understand them and their origins and tackle them mending the social structure.

Basically, this was the main common aim of Socrates and Confucius. The principal difference between them lay in the way they chose to treat the issue. The view on human nature and morality is considered to be the theoretical basis of their teachings. Socrates shifted focus from speculations about the afterlife, the gods and nature to meditation on how to live in this world. He saw the solution to a problem in reason. The teachings according to Confucius refer to. Though there are many different thoughts and explanations about how to live, there is some common ground between them.

Throughout the year B. From B. Larry Guindine World History Mr. Alschen September 8, Documentary Questions: 1. People tended to worship nature gods such as spirits of the earth, sky and river.

As the human communities matured and developed, local, tribal and ancestral spirits became the center of focus in their beliefs and religious life. This leads to inferring that people did not understand natural phenomena and thought it was a punishment for their behavior from the deities.

People thought natural phenomena was able. Plato and Confucius There are thousands of credible philosophers for people to study today, therefore the choice of who to study becomes a burdening task. Each single one has amazing knowledge and insight that we could all learn something from.