Concept
4 readings
Cultivation
Concept · 4 readings
Practice, study and reflection can shape feelings and judgment, and cultivation still leaves room to question inherited forms.
All readings
4 readings · Title A–Z
Guided course · Module 4 · Lesson 15
How do people become good?
Mengzi finds moral beginnings in human nature, while Xunzi calls for its deliberate transformation. On either account education has work to do, and neither makes sustained effort unnecessary.
Guided course · Module 7 · Lesson 38
Knowing what is right and acting on it
Zhu Xi calls for the investigation of things, and Wang Yangming ties genuine knowing to acting. How does understanding a duty relate to felt response, practice and a change in conduct?
Guided course · Module 4 · Lesson 13
Learning to become humane
Selected passages of the Analects suggest how learning and ritual might form humane conduct. Why can a correct performance fail to express care, and how can such teachings preserve unequal authority?
Guided course · Module 5 · Lesson 24
What would a flourishing life require?
Aristotle describes flourishing as a whole life shaped by habit, practical judgment and friendship. How do external conditions and political exclusions complicate that picture?