CC BY
13philosophical sciences
UDC 101:930.9
DOI: 10.34671/SCH.HBR.2020.0401.0015
THE PROBLEM OF HARMONY IN THE GLOBAL CIVILIZATION AND THE LEGACY OF CONFUCIUS AS THE PARADIGM OF THE GLOBAL THINKING FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
© 2020
ORCID: 0000-0002-3298-1320
Aslanova Rabiyyat Nurullah, Professor, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences; Head of the Department of "History of Philosophy and Cultural Studies" Baku State University (1148, Azerbaijan, Baku, Z. Khalilov St., 23, e-mail: aslanovarabiyat2016@gmail.com)
Abstract. Throughout history, the mission of philosophy, as well as the greatest thinkers of mankind, has been the quest for the universal order, the ideal of harmonic civilization. Numerous teaching and theories have emerged in this field and have become a rich treasure of philosophical heritage. At the same time, there are few countries and civilizations where philosophical ideas and theories have entered the reality such as the way of life and pragmatic principles of the activity, and they have been transformed from centuries to centuries into a tradition of sense and thinking. Chinese civilization is in the forefront here. It is a place where philosophical doctrines and ethical-moral ideals are not abstract schemes, but transformed into the pragmatic guiding principles of real way of life and activity. Today, distinct and successful Chinese path in the world exists thanks to the philosophy of thinking and heritage of sense of the Chinese thinkers. In this sense, it is quite logical and natural to conduct the World Philosophy Congress in Beijing and making its motto "Learning to Be Human". Ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius' philosophical teaching and school have had a profound impact not only within the Chinese society, but also in other neighboring countries. Thus, philosophical teachings covering most aspects of the society's life have led to the development of the activity in the Chinese society based on rational-philosophical, moral and ethical principles rather than on religious beliefs.
Keywords: modern civilization, universal values, beliefs of Confucius, harmony in human relations
ПРОБЛЕМА ГАРМОНИИ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЦИВИЛИЗАЦИИ И НАСЛЕДИЯ КОНФУЦИЯ КАК ПАРАДИГМА ГЛОБАЛЬНОГО МЫШЛЕНИЯ ТРЕТЬЕГО ТЫСЯЧЕЛЕТИЯ
© 2020
Асланова Рабийят Нурулла, доктор философских наук, профессор, заведующая кафедрой
истории философии и культурологии Бакинский государственный университет (1148, Азербайджан, Баку, ул. З.Халилова, 23, e-mail: aslanovarabiyat2016@gmail.com)
Аннотация. На протяжении всей истории миссия философии, а также величайших мыслителей человечества заключалась в поиске универсального порядка, идеала гармоничной цивилизации. Многочисленные учения и теории появились в этой области и стали богатым сокровищем философского наследия. В то же время есть немного стран и цивилизаций, где философские идеи и теории вошли в реальность, такую, как образ жизни и прагматические принципы деятельности, которые веками превращались в традицию смысла и мышления. Китайская цивилизация здесь находится на переднем крае. Это место, где философские учения и этико-нравственные идеалы не являются абстрактными схемами, а превращаются в прагматические руководящие принципы реального образа жизни и деятельности. Сегодня четкий и успешный китайский путь в мире существует благодаря философии мышления и наследию идей китайских мыслителей. Философское учение и школа древнего китайского философа Конфуция оказали глубокое влияние не только на китайское общество, но и другие соседние страны. Таким образом, философские учения, охватывающие большинство аспектов жизни общества, привели к развитию социальной жизни в китайском обществе, основанной на рационально-философских, моральных и этических принципах, а не на религиозных убеждениях.
Ключевые слова: современная цивилизация, общечеловеческие ценности, убеждения Конфуция, гармония в человеческих отношениях
Introduction. In our days, philosophy of thinking must respond to the global challenges and ensure understanding the fundamental problems of the world in crisis. In turn, the new approaches to the reality must harmonize with the succession of philosophical heritage. The ultimate motto of the international conference, "Learning to Be Human", unambiguously expresses these challenges.
This article discusses Confucius' philosophy of thinking and how it would contribute to the global community being currently in crisis.
Disharmony in Global Thinking is a state of the abyss between knowledge and spirituality
"If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nations. When there is order in the nations, there will peace in the world." (Confucius)
As we know, the current global crisis is not just about financial and economic factors. The current situation is primarily related to the crisis of global thinking and philosophical foundations of consciousness. Western thinking, which has been forming for decades and claims to be a paradigm of global thinking and outlook, shows its inability to bring the order and sustain the humanity. Prevalence of fragmentary traditions of thinking and stereotypes that
prevent making collective decisions, adequate global thinking further deepens the crisis in the ever-increasingly globalized, unified civilization. Since individual, social and global harmonies are closely interconnected.
Historically, the results of thinking and sense remaining unchanged in a dynamic, changing reality situation were unsuccessful. Given this, Lao-Tzu, writes, "If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place. Watch your thoughts; they become your destiny".
In the 21st century, megatrends of the world's development, as well as the contexts of the near future are determined by the processes of globalization. Globalization processes do not cover only economic, political, cultural, etc. fields, but also encompass the systems of sense. Confrontations in the global politics are the result of confrontations and disintegrations in the systems of sense. Deep crisis of the liberal world order and accordingly liberal values system, its spiritual principles is the reality [1].
At present time, management of the world by the philosophy of thinking of the West (rationality, spiritual aspect, egoism, competition, extreme individualism, etc.) cannot be considered as acceptable. The aggravated situation demands answers to many questions. Confucius, taking this point, wrote: "Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous". Finding common points at the
level of ideas and thinking shall be more important compared to any other area. Therefore, sole coincidence of economic interests is not sufficient to implement the giant global and regional projects. Together with public opinion, as well as common cultural and moral values, solidarity in thinking and outlook plays an integrating role here. Let's remember the history of the Silk Road. From a deep perspective, in the present-day sense, besides the political will and economic factors, the role of cultural integration and moral factors has also been instrumental in the implementation of such global projects centuries ago. If this were not the case, the initiative of the "One Belt One Road Initiative" of the People's Republic of China would not have such global support.
Confucius' way of thinking for humanity and its value for global thinking
"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest (Confucius).
The mission of philosophy throughout history was to discover the ways to solve the problem occurring or could have occurred in the "human-society-world" relationship and to raise the thinking to a higher quality level. By looking at the history of philosophy, one can see that the most teachings have served this mission, and the desire to form a perfect human and build a harmonious future has never fallen from the agenda.
Today, the world philosophical heritage needs to be reviewed repeatedly to realize the new reality that is changing dynamically in ideas and teachings.
The expectations regarding the formation of the new world order in the 21st century require reconsideration of the attitude of thinking to the reality. The globalization processes realizing as a Western mentality project and the subjective interventions to their objective trends have conditioned to refer to the basic provisions of the Eastern philosophical heritage. Although the philosophical heritage of both the East and the West must be equally and actively involved in shaping the philosophical paradigm of the new century and the third millennium.
The principle of human and world unity and their interrelationship can be considered to be the most characteristic feature in the philosophical teaching and ideas system arising in the East.
Individual's outlook and ethical-moral principles, spiritual world have been identified as an important condition for his personal perfection and for improving problematic moral attitude of the society and the world.
Studies show that the "Good thoughts, Good words and Good deeds" formula reflected in the Zoroastrianism teaching, in its main book Avesta, one of the most ancient monuments in the East, was the source of many ethical-philosophical theories [2]. Such rules have created a social environment for mutual understanding and trust in society, and strengthened the values system.
Although the century we live in is new, problems are old. We can even say that they are eternal. From this point of view, in the conditions of fragmentation of the paradigms of thinking, it is very topical to repeatedly study the philosophical heritage having an important role in understanding the world. We have already pointed that for the Eastern philosophy, the idea of harmony, mutual commitment and unity in the human-world relations is in the foreground.
The ancient Chinese greatest thinker Confucius' philosophical heritage reflects ideas and teachings that can be considered a mechanism for the formation of this harmony.
In the light of the mentioned, the Confucius heritage reflects many guiding principles march in step with the times. "Confucius lived about 2500 years ago in China. His Analects or sayings have been repeatedly translated over the last 25 centuries because they embody ideas that transcend time and apply to human behavior in all societies. The sayings of Confucius cannot be considered a religion in the
strictest sense but are more of a philosophy for peaceful and harmonious living within society. The emphasis is on social interactions. Overall, Confucius tries to define how a good person should behave in society" [3].
Confucius (552-479 AD), unanimously, is one of the greatest thinker philosophers in the history. Confucius is the Latinized name of the philosopher's Chinese name K'ung Fu-tzu. His rich philosophical teaching was reflected in the work "Lun-yu". Today, his teaching shapes the daily life of billions of people . "It is possible to see the Confucian influence throughout the East Asia: from daily experience and family relations to definition of education standards and state policy. Even when the Western ideas moved from Christianity to communism and shrouded the region, the Confucian doctrine resisted it as the foundation of the East Asian culture. It is impossible to understand the East Asia without getting acquainted with Confucius and its unique heritage" [4].
The theory of Confucianism was completely different from the tradition existing in the Western culture. Its main concepts are "humanity, harmony, debt, care, solidarity, golden mean" and so on. Those mentioned are closely related to thinking, cognition and sense. As we know, the Chinese state lived through a period of severe crisis during the Confucian period. Man and his cognition, morality, family and state management issues, harmony in society and in the world were standing at the heart of Confucianism, which is an ethical-political teaching [5].
Harmony and humanism are more emphasized in the teaching of Confucius. He considered that humanism is the source and sum of all good things. People's compassion and mercy are the source of humanity. "A good man thinks about debt, and a bad man thinks about profit," Confucius taught. He also analyzes the concepts such as righteousness and sincerity (Jen), proper conduct, ritual, ceremony and loyalty to traditions (Li).
According to the Confucius' philosophy of thinking, rectitude is the state of moral perfection where every sage should strive. A human being should always follow the golden mean in his judgment and in understanding the world. Neither extreme hatred, nor extreme love, in other words, one should never act in excess. In addition, he must adhere to the rules of ethics in behaving with others. One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated. Being fair in thoughts, sense, belief in himself and his word, being sincere is the key for elimination of misunderstandings and well-disposed approach to social relations. It is possible to follow the golden mean and harmony through respect to the adults and mildness, endurance and finally through courtesy to everyone without exception.
The "noble person" of Confucius is a social ideal with exemplary attributes and intelligent thinking. Measuring all relationships in the society and following the harmony is a sign of wisdom. He told his followers, "Be selfless to find the right thing in your love of knowledge. There is no lie in the words of a noble man" [6].
Confucianism was the supreme ruler of politics and administrative system as well as the economic and social processes; in short, it was the foundation and essence of the Chinese way of life and civilization. Over the course of more than two thousand years, Confucianism has shaped the minds and feelings of the Chinese people, influenced their beliefs, psychology, behavior, thinking, perception, habits and way of life. The main triumph of Confucianism was that it was more appropriate to the ideals of the Chinese absorbed to their souls from breast-feeding. He attracted people by rational ethics free from mysticism, and he conquered hearts with his humanism, morality and spirit of the golden mean. His pledge was concrete, secular, and understandable by everyone. Order and the prosperity have always been a special charm in the eyes of the Chinese. Confucius was totally focused on the world, not interested in what human life was, but simply teaching people to live in tranquility and abundance.
Хуманитарни Балкански изследвания. 2020. Т. 3. № 1(7)
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The "noble man" has the most important place in the philosophy of thinking of Confucius. The noble man heads a perfect state, because he himself is perfect. "Without knowing the mandate one has no way of being a noble man." "To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge."[7].
Confucius' philosophy of thinking is more clearly reflected in his noble man, a symbol of statehood moral. The noble man is an idealized character of a man controlling the state. This character is conditioned by being in constant perfection. To achieve this, one should have on the one hand "dignity and righteousness", on the other hand harmony of "humanity". It is important since if "dignity and righteousness"- is an external, social norm, then humanity is an internal norm. Their harmony is necessary.
However, the spirit of Confucianism cannot be limited to the Chinese framework. This is evidenced by the grown interest in Confucianism during the rule of rationalism and enlightenment in the Western philosophy.
Conclusion. In general, Confucius' philosophy of thinking, system of senses is based on moral foundations. Having in essence a rational character, besides being based on knowledge and cognition, it distinguishes by bringing the system of values to the foreground. The harmony of material rational and moral-ethical factors therefore acts as an essential condition. The importance of the Confucius heritage for today is reflected in the integrity of its philosophical teaching, in unified approach to cognition and calls to harmony. The value of this heritage is inestimable in the globalized and increasingly interdependent world.
Therefore, the ideal of Confucius is not just an exotic philosophy. He has succeeded in creating such a teaching where the ultimate aim of a man is purely secular, morality can be strengthened regardless of religion, all the great spiritual needs can be removed from consciousness, and the tragedy of life can be eliminated by creating a harmonic society. It is quite evident that this theory does not only belong to the Chinese philosophical treasures, but holds universal value.
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1. C. Duncombe. T.Dunne .Humanitarianism and the crisis of the liberal world order// https://medium.com/international-affairs-blog/
2. https://authentic gathazoro astrianism.org/2016/03/01/888/
3. The Sayings of Confucius Ancient Wisdom: Contemporary Peace and Harmony //http://www.johnworldpeace.com/confucius.asp
4. Confucius: And the World He Created by Michael Schuman. Basic Books; 1 edition.2015: 320p.-p.41
5. Конфуцианство и легизм в политической истории Китая. М.: 1981.-331 с.
6. Конфуций. Лунь Юй // Древнекитайская философия. Т. 1. М.: 1972.
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