Thread by @Helenreflects

This class in my #PORcourse (philosophy of religion course) will focus on the Confucian idea of ritual, and how ritual can transform us. This is the second part of a two-part class on ritual.
In western philosophy of religion, attention for ritual has been sporadic and recent 1/

But for the Confucians, ritual is a key concept. The Classic Chinese term “li”, 禮, means ritual, but also means good manners or etiquette, and also means gift or ceremony. It has no exact translation in English. Rituals can be religious, e.g., burial rites, but not always. 2/

It is closely associated with the term “xiao” or filial piety. This is the importance of being respectful, even deferential, to your parents & other elders. Why should we be respectful to our parents? 3/

According to Confucius, we learn first about ethics in our family, from our parents. It’s our parents who teach us to say "thank you" when we get a present (even if we're not thrilled with it), to greet people politely etc. This is why being respectful to elders is important. 4/

aside: Confucius' response to: "But what if my parents are terrible" is essentially: tough luck. You've got to be lucky to be born to the right parents! 5/

Etiquette is thus an important part of Confucian ethics (and we will see in a moment a bit more motivation why). Yet western ethics has not traditionally paid much attention to etiquette, and sees it as only tangentially related to being moral 6/

In thought experiments such as Philippa Foot's trolley problem you need to choose between saving one or saving five. Olberding argues that fortunately we don't usually need to make life and death decisions (when we do, as medical practitioners now with triage, it's horrific). 7/

(link to paper by Amy Olberding here btw:
philpapers.org/rec/OLBEAC)
Now, I can add in fact etiquette does make sometimes a life-and-death difference. E.g., coughing while covering your face is a matter of etiquette but also a lifesaver
newsweek.com/covid-19-death… 8/

Olberding (2016) thinks that in our daily interactions, etiquette has huge ethical relevance, and so should be studied more in ethics. “etiquette rules aim at gracious and pleasing effect, as well as, most fundamentally, ensuring that one does not trod on the toes of others” 9/

Underlying this importance of li is Confucius’ theory of human nature: “human beings are similar by nature they differ on account of practice” (Analects 17.2). I.e., while we have the same human nature, our social practices shape our responses to others,& what we care about 10/

Here's a weird example: I was watching a series on Netflix where people were meeting in large groups, hugging, kissing, etc. And I could not help thinking: "No! Don't do that! Social distancing, folks!" - even though this was a pre-2020 series where those rules did not apply 11/

Even though we have only been practicing social distancing for a very short time, it's already affecting how we evaluate the world. Etiquette has a huge influence in our moral valuations. Confucian ethics explains why this is: we are malleable through our practices 12/

It is interesting to see how different Confucian philosophers thought about the importance of ritual. The examples of Mengzi and Xunzi are illustrative. Mengzi lived in the 4th century during the Warring States period. One of his main ideas is that human nature is good 13/

He used the following thought experiment (Mengzi 26A) Suppose you see a child about to fall in a well. You would be moved with pity and distress at the thought of the child falling in. Not because you expect praise from parents or neighbors, but bc you care about the child 14/

Mengzi forwarded a theory where our virtues are rooted in four sprouts, or emotional beginnings. Everyone has these beginnings, so everyone has the root of goodness in themselves. This does not mean that all humans are good but that our nature is good. 15/

Ritual is one such virtue, which is rooted in the feeling of deference we have (towards our elders). Interestingly, this idea is born out in numerous developmental psychological studies, e.g., 16/
srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

What if the virtue of ritual and the virtue of benevolence (rooted in compassion conflict). Should you e.g., let your sister-in-law drown, because ritual forbids you to touch a woman who is not your wife and no blood relation? Mengzi says you need to exercise your judgment 17/

“Only a beast would not pull out his sister-in-law if she were drowning. It is the ritual that men and women should not touch when handing something to one another, but if your sister-in-law is drowning, is a matter of discretion". What then if the whole world is drowning? 18/

Mengzi rejects the idea that ritual should go out of the window because times are tough:
“When the world is drowning, one pulls it out with the
Way; when one's sister is drowning, one pulls her out with one's hand” (Mengzi 4A17).
So, ritual is important for him.
19/

Now compare Mengzi's approach with Xunzi, one of the most intriguing philosophers to read about ritual. Xunzi lived in the 3rd century and disagreed with Mengzi about human nature. He believed human nature was bad, and that being good was a matter of deliberate effort. 20/

Xunzi thinks we have bad tendencies, we all have
* a desire for profit
* a dislike of other people
* a tendency for lascivious
Basically, you have the most important motives here in 99% of murder mysteries. Money, hatred/revenge, or sex/lust 21/

But less dramatically, those tendencies will inevitably lead us to conflict with other people. Imagine I went to a sandwich bar (ah the days) and just elbowed my way to the front (dislike of others), grab the sandwich, and then not pay (desire for profit). A terrible world 22/

Fortunately, says Xunzi, the ancient sage-kings of the Zhou dynasty had it all figured out. They invented ritual/etiquette that will help us to control our desires and channel our actions, and they invented the law to control us if that didn't work 23/

Xunzi's view is very optimistic. We can sculpt ourselves into beautiful, transformed human beings
"Crooked wood must await the press frame and steaming and bending and only then will it be straight, because it is by nature not straight" 24/

Olberding thinks the Confucians offer us resources to think about how we can change our action through rituals. Rather than having to make conscious decisions, we can train and habituate ourselves to make changes in our behavior that become second nature to us 25/

And thus improve our interactions. We can also think about old ritual and habits and see if they are still fit for purpose. Now's a good time to think, for example, about the handshake. The handshake is now of course taboo but once this is over, should we do it again? 26/

Downsides of handshaking: it's a power game (how firm should you do it, are you asserting dominance), it is not hygienic (you can still give the flu in the absence of a more deadly disease). So maybe time to rethink it and go to another practice. 27/

There may be other things we could rethink in this time when our customs are being shaken up. Xunzi thinks we can shape ourselves to become better people. These times demonstrate, more than ever, how important our everyday rituals are /end

Please @threadreaderapp unroll for my class.