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Continuing on the Analects, now without our guest. We cover every single one of the 500 aphorisms, of course, in great depth, getting at the unambiguous meaning of each and completely reorienting our philosophical viewpoint in consequence.
OK, so the interpretive task is a bit more difficult than that, but Mark, Seth, and Wes do our best to figure out Master Kong's words about glibness (his "petty people" are pretty much like the Sophists!), using names properly (is it just a matter of not putting on airs?), putting your heart into ritual (not his words), filial conduct (do you turn your criminal relatives in?), remonstrance (what do you do if your good advice to authority is ignored?), and more. Would Confucius want you to join the Trump administration to improve it, or run to the hills until it collapses?
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End song: "Please Allow Me to Look at You Again," from The Edge of Heaven (2013) by Gary Lucas, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music ep. 7.
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Glad you’ve done some of these other figures. While I love Lao Tzu for the poetic writing Confucious always seemed to resonate with me best.
Thank you, I think you really dug down into the Analects. Ames & Rosemont’s translation of ren as authoritative conduct is irritating, though yes there’s a sense in which the junzi has some sort of authority in interpreting and adjusting the li. Thinking of Confucius in relation to Burke & Tocqueville seems right on, all having similar intuitions about where order and morality reside.
https://aeon.co/essays/hierarchies-have-a-place-even-in-societies-built-on-equality