Chinese Confucianism, which emerged during the Axial Age, has had a profound influence on many intellectual and cultural movements in history, including the European Enlightenment. This article analyzes the influence of Confucianism on the European Enlightenment from four perspectives: human rights, a benevolent government, religion and nature. The humanist spirit propagated by Confucianism was similar to the views expressed by Enlightenment thinkers on reason and human rights and provided a powerful ideological weapon for Enlightenment thinkers to criticize religious theocracy and break through the darkness of the Middle Ages. During this process of learning and absorbing the humanist spirit of Confucianism, French Enlightenment thinkers developed the rational and critical spirit of the Enlightenment and paved the way for intellectual liberation. Today, the world is facing the new challenges of global climate change, artificial intelligence and genetic technology. In the context of these global problems, China and the West can learn from each other and join efforts to gather new ideological resources to carry out a new ideological enlightenment movement on a global scale and achieve sustainable development for all humanity.
In a letter to Benjamin Rush, Jefferson includes a syllabus—a comparative account of the merits of Jewish morality, ancient philosophy, and the precepts of Jesus. Using the syllabus as a guide, this paper is a critical examination of the influence of ancient ethical and religious thinking on Jefferson’s ethical and religious thinking—viz., Jefferson’s views of the ethics and religion of the Hebrews, the ancient philosophers, and Jesus.
In one of the earliest documents of Christianity, in a highly patriarchal society, when addressing Gentile Christians, Paul did not hesitate to liken himself not only to a father, but also to a woman who cares for her own children. In contrast to itinerant philosophers, he did not only preach, but by the example of his life showed love for them, even to the point of sacrificing his being. The metaphor of the mother relates among other things with the admonition to avoid prostitution and the koinonia of all during and after the Last Judgment. In the oldest document of Christianity, Paul speaks to Christians of all nations and does not stop, in a upmost Patriarchal society, trying to assimilate himself with the image of a woman in the way she nurtures and cares for her own children. He does not simply preach, but unlike the wandering philosophers, he has such calmness, compassion and love for them in which he gives his soul, his being. Simultaneously, he is a father, since with his example and sayings, he teaches everyone, individually, to stay away from iniquity and prays unceasingly. The presentation of the sender as a mother and father of the recipients, brothers of the newborn Church of Thessaloniki, relates to the call to stay away from harlotry and that everybody will coexist during and after the Second Coming of our Lord. Translation by: Nikolaos Georgantonis
PL
W jednym z najstarszych dokumentów chrześcijaństwa, w bardzo patriarchalnym społeczeństwie, apostoł Paweł zwracając się do Chrześcijan z pogan, nie waha się upodobnić nie tylko do ojca, ale także kobiety, która jako niania dba o własne dzieci. W przeciwieństwie do wędrownych filozofów, apostoł Paweł nie tylko nauczał słowem, lecz i przykładem swojego życia ukazywał łagodność, dobroczynność i miłość, ofiarowując swoją duszę i życie. Metafora matki związana jest między innymi z upomnieniem, aby unikać prostytucji i tworzyć wspólnotę wszystkich w trakcie życia doczesnego i po Sądzie Ostatecznym. W najstarszym dokumencie chrześcijaństwa, Paweł mówi do chrześcijan wszystkich narodów, nie zatrzymuje się na społeczeństwie patriarchalnym, lecz stara się zasymilować z obrazem kobiety - piastunki, i tak jak ona karmić i troszczyć się o własne dzieci. On nie tylko głosił, ale w przeciwieństwie do wędrujących filozofów, miał taki spokój, współczucie i miłość do tych ludzi, dla których oddawał swoją duszę i całe swoje istnienie. Jednocześnie, ukazuje się w postaci ojca, ponieważ jego przykład i słowa, uczyły wszystkich, indywidualnie, pozostawania z dala od nieprawości i nieustannej modlitwy. Prezentacja autora listu jako matki i ojca odbiorców, braci rodzącego się Kościoła w Salonikach, związane jest w związane było z wezwaniem do pozostawiania z dala od nierządu, i skłonienia adresatów do zgodnego współistnienia we wspólnocie zarówno przed, jaki i po drugim przyjściu naszego Pana.
In the paper, the utilitarian topics present in David Hume’s philosophy are analyzed, assuming that utilitarianism is more a form of moral reasoning than a moral theory. Hume is one of the most important thinkers in the history of Western philosophy and his ethics has been influential in modern day moral theory, especially in classic and contemporary utilitarianism. The basic ideas of his theory are explained and the relationships between them and the utilitarian position are shown. Typical characteristics of utilitarian thinking are: consequentialism, the principle of utility, and the recognition of the idea of common happiness (common welfare) as the ultimate goal of human activity. It is argued that Hume’s views are closer to the contemporary versions of utilitarianism (rule – utilitarianism, act – utilitarianism) than the positions of J. Bentham and J.S. Mill.
PL
Celem artykułu jest analiza utylitarystycznych wątków obecnych w etyce Hume’a. Utylitaryzm interpretowany jest jako etyczna teoria dotycząca zasad słusznego postępowania i oceniania. Jego podstawowymi wyznacznikami są: konsekwencjalizm, prymat użyteczności rozumianej jako wartość, zasada i kryterium moralnej wartościowości działań, idea powszechnego szczęścia oraz interpretacja ludzkiej natury w kategoriach hedonistycznych. Utylitarystyczne składniki humowskiej etyki to: preferowanie idei użyteczności, podkreślanie znaczenia życzliwości w kształtowaniu ludzkich postaw oraz uznanie rozumu za czynnik modyfikujący sferę pragnień i uczuć. W przekonaniu autorki artykułu, poglądy Hume’a są bliższe współczesnym wersjom utylitarystycznego myślenia, szczególnie utylitaryzmowi cnót, i wykraczają poza klasyczne wzorce wprowadzone do filozofii przez J. Benthama i J.S. Milla.
This article is a voice in the debate on the supposed change of the Edwardian stance on the question of the ontological status of a disposition to moral evil in human nature. According to a common interpretation the young philosopher had upheld a privative standpoint on the matter however, as an adult Edwards claimed the opposite, Paulinistic view. The author of the paper proves this opinion to be false to the philosopher’s concept. It is evident that since his earliest notes Edwards has agreed with both these explanations, treated by him as two aspects of the same corruption, and did not change his mind through his lifetime. On the one hand, Edwards thinks that the deprivation of a human heart consists in the want of moral good, that is a lack of moral restraints and active disposition to moral good, which is a negative cause of evil. On the other hand, he is sure that it is positively or effectually caused by morally indifferent natural self love together with malevolence as its part. This means for Edwards that even natural social dispositions like love of persons (Edwardean love of complacence), and love of intersubjective values and matters (Edwardean love of benevolence), naturally come from private interest. Although these dispositions are often mistaken with true virtue, they are morally indifferent too, and can cause evil actions turning into evil dispositions. Only a community focused on the moral good can suppress the latter.
Passionate human behavior should be regulated by moral instructions, teaching and practices. For explaining the issue, Rene Descartes in The Passions of the Soul and the Hindu traditions of Sāṁkhya are here considered. These two systems provide four-dimensional physical, mental/moral and spiritual descriptions of human nature and a mechanism of regulating passions. The first two parts of the paper are focused on the nature of human beings, its holistic and integrative character, and on understanding emotional behavior. The next two parts describe moral ways used to regulate passions on the basis of Samkhya’s eight steps, i.e., reasoning, hearing, studying, Pramod, Mudi-ta̅ and Modma̅n, respect and gratitude. Descartes’ concept of generosity as a basis of the inculcation of virtues like self-esteem, veneration, hope, courage and bravery, self-satisfaction, is also analyzed. In conclusion, the relevance of the aforementioned mech-anism is presented at the individual and social levels.
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie wyników polskiej walidacji kwestionariusza mierzącego strategie radzenia sobie z krzywdzicielem, które odpowiedzialne są za zjawisko przebaczania (TRIM-18; Transgression – Related Interpersonal Motivations; McCullough, Root and Cohen 2006). Artykuł zawiera opis procedury dotyczącej tłumaczenia z języka angielskiego na polski, wyniki analizy czynnikowej, analizy dyskryminacyjnej oraz trafności zewnętrznej. W poniższych badaniach wzięło udział 530 osób w wieku od 18 do 84 lat (345 kobiet i 185 mężczyzn). Do oceny trafności teoretycznej testu użyto jedenastu kwestionariuszy. Badanie potwierdza, że struktura polskiej wersji kwestionariusza TRIM-18 jest zgodna ze strukturą wersji anglojęzycznej. Kwestionariusz TRIM-18 w wersji polskiej okazał się jest również bardzo rzetelnym narzędziem. Może być z powodzeniem stosowany w warunkach polskich.
EN
The aim of this paper is to present the results of Polish validation of Transgression – Related Interpersonal Motivations questionnaire (TRIM-18) by McCullough, Root, and Cohen (2006) which measures the phenomena of forgiveness. The article contains a description of the procedure of Polish translation, the results of the test reliability, discriminant and confirmatory validity. The study was conducted among 530 participants aged between 18 and 84 (345 females and 185 males). Eleven questionnaires were used for assessing the validity of the measurement. This study confirms that the structure of Polish TRIM-18 is relevant to the English language version. Polish TRIM-18 is also a very reliable tool. It can be successfully used in Polish conditions.
This essay explores significant affinities with respect to the humanism of the Marxian and Confucian Ways. Although orthodox Marxism suppresses the humanistic dimensions of Marx’s thought, they are foremost in his earlier writing, and were never abandoned in his later thought. All varieties of Confucianism recognize its humanism. The essay argues that both perspectives involve process modes of understanding; that both have a convergent understanding of abstract general terms; that both view the human being as a community being; that both advocate similar ideal modes of becoming; and that both are concerned with the problems of human alienation.
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