I have tried my best to not talk about the audience of which confucius is addressing but now that we are about to wrap it up. I think its safe to talk about it now. the author describes confucius as a man who describes man as "A special being with a unique dignity and power, deriving from and embedded in li.".. So heres my problem... what does he describe women as?
Does he not wish to recognise that parenting as he so highly exalted is a partnership expounded beyond the Male? .. I'll stop there.
Comment away!
Confucius is no feminist, in that he apparently does not challenge gender assumptions of his time, or even mention them much. But once we understand what he's trying to accomplish, nothing prevents us from extending his analysis to a gender-egalitarian society. I see no conceptual barrier to such an application, and much to learn.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure when he speaks about "man" in general terms, he is talking about humans.... not just male humans.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, though this is somewhat ambiguous, most of the time 'man' is functioning as a false generic for 'humanity.'
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