1 / 13

Confucian and Taoist Views on Sexual Morality

Confucian and Taoist Views on Sexual Morality. Confucianism and Contemporary Moral Issues Chung M. Tse. Basic Moral Concepts. Jen Benevolence and love Class of virtues: wisdom, courage, confidence, gravity, forgiveness, trustworthiness, earnestness, kindness The quality of moral perfection

Download Presentation

Confucian and Taoist Views on Sexual Morality

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Confucian and Taoist Views on Sexual Morality Confucianism and Contemporary Moral Issues Chung M. Tse

  2. Basic Moral Concepts • Jen • Benevolence and love • Class of virtues: wisdom, courage, confidence, gravity, forgiveness, trustworthiness, earnestness, kindness • The quality of moral perfection Moral perfection: is, negatively, the quality of having no moral deficiency, positively, the ideal state of possessing all possible moral virtues

  3. Human nature - Mencius • A human being is the composite of the elements of greater ti and lesser ti • Lesser ti: the physical body with all its attachments and derivatives • Greater ti: the moral mind (hsin, jen-mind) “The mind is … a creatively active faculty for originating moral precepts alone” (238)

  4. Ch’i • Confucian Cosmology • Ch’I: • accounts for the origin of evil • In the form of human body, it displays man’s natural qualities and capacities (emotions, senses, desires, temperament, instincts) • Evil begins when individuals follow their dispositions of Ch’I to the extent that they defy morality prescribed by the jen-mind

  5. The ultimate judge of morality is the jen-mind • Man is a composite being of jen-mind embodied in a configuration of Ch’I • acts deriving from the jen-mind are good, acts deriving from Ch’I can be morally agreeable, indifferent, or evil

  6. Fundamental principles of Confucian ethics • Man must fully actualize the jen-mind activity in his own person and help others to do so (duty) and thus realize a world of Great Harmony • Man must respect his own person and that of others, respect is the essence of humanity • The jen-mind is in a constant process of self-actualization, every individual is potentially Heaven-in-particular. Thus, everything that which might suppress, subvert, or destroy this potential is forbidden

  7. Confucian position on sexual morality • Extended view of sexual act • Human sexual intercourse is for the purpose of procreation • It is to be engaged by couples of opposite sex who are bonded and are willing to take this process to its fruition • The act of intercourse initiates many great virtues of the cosmic jen-mind: caring, love, intimacy, union, dynamic harmony, exchange of vital energy, joyful consummation, and creativity

  8. Deviation form the norm • Incest and bestiality • Rape and child molestation • Homosexuality • Premarital sex • Extramarital sex

  9. The Taoist View of Sex Geoffrey Parrinder

  10. What is the Taoist view of celibacy and sexual abstinence? • What sort of explanation do Taoists give for their view? • Why was this view opposed by Confucians and Buddhists? • What are some of the features of the Taoists view of male-female relationship, marriage, and sexual activity that conflict with the Confucian view described by Tse?

  11. Main concepts • Taoist symbolism and metaphorical expression of sexual intercourse • Yin and Yang • The Tao • Rich sexual symbolism in Taoist philosophy

  12. Human sexual activity as essential associated with the balancing of principles necessary for human health, strength, and longevity • Cultivation of sexual energy, mutual exchange of yin and yang essences • Sexual intercourse: increase vigor and bring long life • Two purposes: procreation and the increase of male energy

More Related