The Junzi I

Posted: Wed, Jan 28, 2026

Today

  • Wrap up course logistics
  • Introduce a metaphilosophical question: Who is a philosopher?
  • Introduce classical Chinese philosophy
  • Kongzi on Goodness and the gentleman

What’s the philosopher like?

  • Morton’s answer: The critical but constructive visionary.
  • The ancient Greek answer: The lover of wisdom.
    • Philosophía: ‘Love of wisdom.’
  • The ancient Chinese answer: The gentleman, or junzi.

Kongzi

  • Confucius [Kongfuzi 孔夫子, or Kongzi 孔子 for short]: Roughly, ‘Master Kong.’
    • Fuzi: A gendered honorific for men, [male] teachers, and husbands.
    • Kong: His family name.
  • Analects [Lunyu 论语]: Roughly, ‘collected sayings.’
    • There is a pun of sorts: Lun means both ‘discuss’ and ‘select’; yu means ‘sayings’ or ‘speeches.’

The idea of a junzi

Junzi 君子: “Son of a monarch/prince.”

  • Resignification (“conceptual engineering,” as contemporary philosophers say): [Hereditarily] nobleman -> [morally] noble man (standardly translated as “gentleman”).
    • Both jun 君 and zi 子 are gendered characters.
    • Can you be a junzi if you are not a man (17.25)? [Haley]
  • One is not born, but rather learns to be, a junzi.
    • Xue 学 (“learning”): Transformative self-cultivation/moral character development, not acquiring specialized knowledge (e.g., agriculture, 13.4).
    • Pitched in part at rulers: Tian 天 (“Heaven,” conceived of as a higher power) confers its ming 命 (“mandate,” understood here as a moral right, rather than de facto power, to rule) on the virtuous.

Two questions I’d like us to focus on today:

  • What’s a junzi like?
  • How do you learn to become one?

The concept of ren

The junzi exemplifies the high virtue of ren 仁 (“goodness”), which enables him to be in harmony with the dao 道 (“way [of Heaven]”).

  • Ren 仁: Phono-semantic compound that takes the sound of ren 人 (“human”) and the meaning of er 二 (“two”); famously elusive.
  • Dao 道: Roadway; ~how things ought to be/how we ought to live.

Group activity: What does Kongzi think ren amounts to? How does one achieve ren? [Megan, Alexna, Kriti, Nirali, Leah]

Li 礼 (“rituals”) from the long-gone Zhou period (1046–771 BCE; Kongzi lived between 551 and 479 BCE).

  • The Zhou already figured it out; let’s just revive their li.
  • Not just ceremonial rites but social customs governing proper conduct (e.g., the golden rule).
  • Xiao 孝 (“filial piety”): Respect for parents in the forms of obedience, three-year mourning period, etc.
  • More know-how than know-that.
  • Should be applied in a way that’s sensitive to circumstances, but this is not that flexible (e.g., 9.3, 11.22, 17.21). [Alexna]

Some broader questions: How should we relate to the ancients? How should we relate to Kongzi and his teachings? [Will, Candence]