This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast

Episode 5: Cultivation and the Autobiography of Confucius

June 02, 2024 Richard Kim and Justin Tiwald Season 1 Episode 5
Episode 5: Cultivation and the Autobiography of Confucius
This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
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This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
Episode 5: Cultivation and the Autobiography of Confucius
Jun 02, 2024 Season 1 Episode 5
Richard Kim and Justin Tiwald

In this episode we discuss Confucius's autobiography as found in Analects 2.4, one of the most famous passages in the Analects and a rich resource for reflection on the process of moral self-cultivation. Among the many topics we explore:  what Confucius meant by being "free of doubts" and "understanding Heaven's Mandate," and the relationship between practicing and understanding the Confucian Way. We discuss how traditional commentaries and commentators have interpreted some of the most interesting and disputed lines, and puzzle over the philosophical concept of 'wholeheartedness.'

We primarily use Edward Slingerland's Hackett translation of the Analects for our conversation.

For our next episode we will be inviting Tao JIANG as our guest to discuss partialism and impartialism in classical Chinese philosophy.

Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.

We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.

Co-hosts:
Richard Kim's website
Justin Tiwald's website


Show Notes Chapter Markers

In this episode we discuss Confucius's autobiography as found in Analects 2.4, one of the most famous passages in the Analects and a rich resource for reflection on the process of moral self-cultivation. Among the many topics we explore:  what Confucius meant by being "free of doubts" and "understanding Heaven's Mandate," and the relationship between practicing and understanding the Confucian Way. We discuss how traditional commentaries and commentators have interpreted some of the most interesting and disputed lines, and puzzle over the philosophical concept of 'wholeheartedness.'

We primarily use Edward Slingerland's Hackett translation of the Analects for our conversation.

For our next episode we will be inviting Tao JIANG as our guest to discuss partialism and impartialism in classical Chinese philosophy.

Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.

We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.

Co-hosts:
Richard Kim's website
Justin Tiwald's website


Part I -- Introduction
• Preface to today's topic and passage
Part II -- Cultivation and the autobiography of Confucius
• Richard sets the stage for the spiritual autobiography
• Justin reads the spiritual autobiography and breaks it down into three stages
• "At 15, I set my heart-mind on learning" -- "learning" (xue 學) and ritual
• "At 30, I stood straight" (li 立)
• "At 40, I became free of doubts," and some discussion of Mencius vs. Xunzi on cultivating ethical virtue
• "At 50, I understood Heaven's Mandate"
• "At 60, my ear was compliant" (ershun 耳順)
• "At 70, I could follow my heart-mind's desires without overstepping the bounds"
• Is it significant that Confucius singles out the desires of the heart or heart-mind (as opposed to desires of the mouth, eyes, etc.)?
• One takeaway from the passage a whole: interest in different degrees and types of epistemic achievement
• Another takeaway: the priority of ethical cultivation over other religious and philosophical aims
• Preview of the next episode: partiality and impartiality in early Chinese philosophy