Topic:

Comparative Study of the Political Thought in “The Analects” and “The Republic”

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Background:

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and the Age of Greek City respectively lies at the beginning of the development of Chinese and western political thought.

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What:

① Different ways of expression of the two classics form the two thinking models of empiricism and transcendentalism. 經(jīng)驗(yàn)論和先驗(yàn)論

As a result, Dialectics is Political dialectics in China and Philosophical dialectics in Greek.

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② Different ways of thinking in the two classics construct two political orders of ritual and idea.

Authority was born in family, the most basic social organization once primitive society begun and “The analects” and “The Republic” both constructs perfect political order with families being the starting point.

Based on “housekeeping”, “The Analects” politicizes ethical ideas and provides value basis of rites and music for political order, so that ritual collapse certainly leads to the political chaos.

Based on “abolishing family”, “The Republic” ethicizes political idea and provides value basis for political order so that Ruler’s soul corruption would collapse the order of City. The Republic is reasoned from the top idea of “good”, based on which Plato puts forward salvation claim of communism and communal education and proves the just live the happiest by means of structural analogy made between City and soul.

“Harmony” is the common target of the perfect order constructed by the two classics.

“Distribution” is the important means to achieve perfect order.

Confucius puts forward the claim of justification on the basis of the principle of harmony since it is based on moral and emphasizes equality while Plato pus forward the idea of justice on the basis of the principle of that division is determined by reason since it is based on skill and emphasizes efficiency.

③ Different value orders in the two classics mold two personality types of moral and knowledge.

Confucius claiming Rule by Virtue focuses on “a saint inside and a king outside” .

Plato claiming rule by intelligence focuses on “perfecting soul”. With the political idea of the unity of virtue and fortune,

For the ruled, Confucius and Plato both tacitly approve the legitimacy of pursuing profits by villains and producers.

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Result:

In the sight of the two Philosophers, there will not be perfect people and perfect politics unless there is perfect personality, as is one of the most important Political and cultural heritage of the two classics.

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參考資料來(lái)源：王繼奎

《論語(yǔ)》與《理想國(guó)》的政治思想比較研究

——基于政治思維、政治秩序和政治人格三重視域的考察