(1) Is Confucianism conceptually compatible with “human rights”?

(2) Is the Confucian theory of norms practically conducive to a good, human way of life if it does not recognize “human rights”?
 

The basic guiding principle is jen.
 

• to love all human beings (ai ren)
• very difficult, but:
• anyone can do it without outside help
• to put one’s mind to the journey is to be there (in some sense)

• Follow a system of rules or norms
• Look into your own heart:
• Filial piety and brotherly affection are paradigms
• The “four hearts” (seeds of social norms):
• “heart of pity,” “heart of shame,” “the heart of courtesy,” “the heart of right and wrong”
• Self-examination
• Don’t impose on others what you would not desire for yourself
• Help others to reach their goals
• Humanizing the basis of the norms, but universal human nature. (So not relativistic)

Rulers
 

• Lead by example, by being correct.
• Should:
• Respect the worthy and tolerate the masses;
• Reward the good and be sympathetic toward the less able;
• Be generous by never wasteful, dignified but never arrogant and awe-inspiring but never ferocious;
• Educate the people and provide them with farming land;
• He may have desires but should never be greedy and he should work hard and never complain.

• How to square the ideal of equality with ruler/ruled?
• Distribution of labour.
• Greater responsibility of the rulers, thus greater compensation.

Equality:

• Must interact with mutual care and respect --> reciprocity
• “If one suffers an outrageous offense, one should reflect on one’s own behavior—am I unkind, discourteous, or disloyal?”

RITES AND RIGHTS

If one cannot find the norms written in their hearts, they need objective norms/rules to guide them (external set of norms).

· The Rites (li) define each individual’s role or duty (fen), his share of responsibility to the group.
o Like a scale is used to check weight

Fen vs. Right

• Rights-language focuses on the claimant
• Confucian looks to the willingness of others to accommodate the claim

It is not that the Confucians did not think a person could claim something as his due.  He could, and it was called his entitlement of “share” (fen).  But fen is just another name for right.  While a right can be an outcome of human interactions, a gift from society or, as some may say, a natural endowment, a fen is strictly a societal product—a person’s fen is a share of what is created by the joint efforts of many members in a society, which they see fit to let him enjoy.  The validity of a fen is thus dependent on the good will of those concerned; a person is not born with a fen, his fen is what society allows or assigns to him.
 

• Leading a good human life requires a share of society’s wealth:
• Physical, psychological and intellectual needs
• Specifically: food, clothing, sexual partnership, and education

But what grounds these claims?

Human rights theory:  claimant’s status as a human being
Confucian:  the benefactor should recognize a common human nature and appreciate the other’s basic human needs.

“Among all possible norms, rites based in human feelings are the most effective in cultivating humility in oneself and respect for others.”

--> compatible with the concept of a “human right”

Rights System:
Advantages:

• makes it clear to people what they can claim,
• elevates the claims to a superior moral status, encouraging people to assert and struggle for them.

• disagreement as to what the rights are
• leads to confrontation

Confucian system:
Advantages:

• “teaching people mutual respect and guiding them to amicable resolution of their differences, seems to me timeless and universal.”
• If internalized, no need for anyone to assert his “rights.”

• Less certain about what one can expect from society
• If not internalized, then potential for gross injustice.