Platio Contrasted With Confucius

Since the early beginnings of society, in which people began living in gathered communities, there can be seen a constant progression, upon a steady time line, of the increased order of the organization of society. However, this is not the kind of progress that was sought by two widely known philosophers and teachers, Plato and Confucius. The kind of social reform and alteration displayed in the teachings and writings of both of these men, examine a movement from societies viewed as chaotic and barbaric toward societies consisting of gentleman, practicing prescribed values, morals, and actions. Confucius and Plato both emphasized a moral conduct that went above and beyond the socially accepted norms of their times. Despite the concentration on these factors in Chinese and Grecian cultures, the progress attempted by both of these philosophers was not achieved by their own standards within their own societies.

There are several common themes running through the primary work of compiled sayings attributed to Confucius: emphasis on gentlemanly conduct, pursuit of humbleness among fellow man, and a search for a proper ruler who is in accordance with "the Way." Running throughout the entire book of "The Analects", Confucius makes reference to many characteristics that a gentleman should possess. Even beginning in the first chapter of Book One, Confucius is attributed with saying, "Is it not gentlemanly not to take offence when others fail to appreciate your abilities?" Other characteristics Confucius attributed to gentlemanly conduct include studying the rites and "The Odes", humbleness, lack of desire for places of position, unbending in moral conduct, and many other factors. By laying out a basis upon which a gentleman should act, Confucius establishes a standard to measure the quality of all men. Setting a standard implies that there are men above and below this set, desired point, and the word standard also indicates a measure of quantitative or qualitative value. By creating such a standard, Confucius is immediately able to begin causing social reform and progress. However, this progress, though achieved through concentration on social values, never reaches the capacity to which Confucius desires it to reach. Several sayings within The Analects indicate that Confucius is unable to see an accumulation of all desired qualities in a single person who being equipped with these qualities is fit to rule. Whether the focus that Confucius places upon a set moral code produces a progressive society depends on the adherence of the Chinese people groups to this way of conduct. However, Confucius also recognizes, by simply acknowledging that each man needs to progress towards being a gentleman, a similar characteristic that appears in many other cultures: man is essentially flawed in his own nature. Due to this flaw, a society is only able to progress up to a certain point, and will never be able to reach the highest level of civilized existence, one free from chaos and inhumaneness.

Paralleling Confucius around the same time period, Plato was also outlining the necessities for such a progressive society. In his work The Republic, specifically The Allegory of the Cave, Plato gives a vivid picture of a society under the guidance of certain restrictions, keeping the people under control. The picture presented by Plato is of men kept in isolation within a cave in such a way that they are only permitted to see what is in front of them: the shadows cast of objects being carried along a path running through the cave. Within this metaphor of a controlled society, Plato shows how men will believe what is presented before them, regardless of whether or not the image presented is in fact reality. Plato recognizes that if men are only given the option of humaneness and decency then they will act in accordance with this, producing a society in which only humaneness and decency exist. Plato also displays knowledge for the necessity of a leader with knowledge higher than that of society. He illustrates this to Glaucon when he states, "And you won't go wrong if you connect the ascent into the upper world and the sight of the objects there with the upward progress of the mind into the intelligible region." He says this in regard to further extending the allegory by describing a man being loosed from his bounds of the cave and shown into the world beyond the cave. This freed man is the leader to which Plato looks to to lead the people