What is the Confucius philosophy of life? What did Confucius teach about living well?
Confucius’s philosophy of life is that meaning comes from dedicating yourself to something bigger. He suggested dedicating yourself to your community and family by obeying cultural traditions and respecting elders.
Learn more about what Confucius said about living well, as well as similar philosophies from other thinkers.
Dedicating Yourself to Society
Many philosophers believe that, to live a good life, you must dedicate yourself to the larger project of contributing to and improving your society. In the Analects, ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius says you can do this by respecting your superiors and fulfilling your obligations to family and community. The overall Confucius philosophy of life is centered on this.
With family, this means respecting and obeying your elders and putting duties and responsibilities to family before anything else. Confucius emphasizes the importance of obeying and respecting your parents, arguing that you should try to avoid directly contradicting them or voicing strong disagreement with them.
In the context of the community, this means following cultural traditions, obeying and being honest with your superiors, and working as hard as possible to be productive.
Dedicating Yourself to the Universe
Other scholars take a cosmic perspective on what it means to be part of something larger than yourself. Spiritualist author Alan Watts (The Book) argues that the best way to live is by viewing yourself as one with the universe. He explains that every living being, object, and idea in the universe exists in relation to others—in other words, any individual being, object, or idea only exists as a result of interacting or contrasting with the things around it.
For example, you only exist as a result of eating, breathing, drinking, and touching things in your environment. In addition, you only understand yourself as “tall” or “short” in relation to other things. Therefore, you need other objects in the universe to be born, live, or even define yourself in any meaningful way. You and the universe are interconnected.
Watts believes the best way to live is by acknowledging and embracing this interconnectedness. In practice, this impacts both how you think and how you act.
Interconnected Thinking
By understanding that you’re interconnected with the universe, you spend less time worrying about your own problems and desires. Personal wants and problems matter much less when you’re thinking on a cosmic scale. Instead of worrying, you spend this time finding joy in the present and appreciating the complexities of the universe.
Interconnected Actions
By understanding that you’re interconnected with the universe, you also compete less and do less harm to the people and world around you. You know there’s no point competing with someone else when they’re part of the same whole as you. In addition, you’re less inclined to destroy people or things around you, because this means harming yourself—you and whatever you harm are part of the same whole.
