Schools of Thought Essay Example for Free

Schools of Thought Essay THERE WERE THREE MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES THAT EXISTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES; LEGALISM, DAOISM, AND CONFUCIANISM. EACH PHILOSOPHY HAD DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING/BELIEFS THAT INFLUENCED THEIR FOLLOWERS’ WAYS OF LIFE. ALTHOUGH THESE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT MAY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES, WOULD THEY SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY? ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT WOULD NOT FLOURISH IN TODAY’S WORLD IS LEGALISM, FOUNDED BY HAN FEIZI. LEGALIST IDEAS WERE BUILT AROUND THE BELIEF THAT ONLY STRICT LAWS ENFORCED BY A POWERFUL RULER WOULD ENSURE ORDER IN SOCIETY, AND THAT â€Å"THE  RULER ALONE POSSESSES POWER†. IT IS EVIDENT AS TO WHY THESE PRINCIPLES WOULD NOT WORK IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT BECAUSE A DEMOCRACY IS A GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE, AND NO SINGLE BEING HAS TOTAL CONTROL. HAN FEIZI ALSO BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE ACT OUT OF THEIR OWN SELF-INTEREST (ONE FOR ALL) AND NOT TO GOOD EXAMPLES (ALL FOR ONE). ALTHOUGH IN TODAY’S SOCIETY WE LIKE TO STICK TO THE MORALS THAT YOU PUT THE GROUP OVER THE INDIVIDUAL, MANY PEOPLE WILL STILL ACT OUT OF GREED AND PUT THEMSELVES FIRST. BUT OUR COUNTRY WOULD NEVER PROSPER IF EVERYONE ALWAYS ACTED OUT OF JUST PURELY SELF-INTEREST AND BE GREEDY ALL THE TIME. THE LEGALIST IDEOLOGIES CONCERNING SELF-INTEREST COMPLETELY CONTRADICTS THE CONFUCIANS’, WHICH IS THE ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT COULD SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY. CONFUCIUS, THE FOUNDER OF THE CONFUCIAN SCHOOL OF THOUGHT, BASED MOST OF HIS IDEAS ON HOW TO REINSTATE PEACE AND â€Å"ENSURE HARMONY† IN A TIME FILLED WITH WAR AND FIGHTING. THE PRINCIPLES HE CONSTRUCTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES COULD ALSO SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT TODAY. CONFUCIUS HAD THE IDEA THAT A SUPERIOR PERSON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE INFERIOR PERSON. THIS WOULD SUCCEED IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT’S JUST LIKE HAVING A PRESIDENT. THEY DON’T HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE, BUT GUARANTEES US WELFARE AS CITIZENS. CONFUCIUS ALSO HAD MANY THOUGHTS ON RELATIONSHIPS  AND MAINLY THAT THE SUPERIOR PERSON SUCH AS A FATHER SHOULD SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE INFERIOR ONE SUCH AS A SON. THIS IDEA WOULD ALSO SUCCEED TODAY. OUR COUNTRY WILL ONLY BENEFIT IF PROPER ETIQUETTES AND WAYS WERE INTRODUCED TO OTHERS FOR THEM TO FOLLOW AS WELL. LASTLY, CONFUCIUS PLACED A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON LEARNING WHICH WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL IN ANY  SOCIETY DURING ANY TIME. THE LAST SCHOOL OF THOUGH IS DAOISM, AND IT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO THRIVE IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. DAOISM IS SIMILAR TO CONFUCIANISM BECAUSE IT TOO SEARCHED FOR WAYS TO ENSURE PEACE IN SOCIETY, BUT THIS PHILOSOPHY TOOK A DIFFERENT ROUTE IN DOING SO. THE FOUNDER OF DAOISM, LAO ZI PUT MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE LINK BETWEEN PEOPLE AND NATURE, AND BELIEVED THE BEST WAY TO LIVE WAS THE NATURAL WAY. JUST BASED OFF THE BACKBONE PRINCIPLES OF THIS PHILOSOPHY, IT IS APPARENT THAT IT WOULD NOT BE SUCCESSFUL TODAY. IN OUR WORLD TODAY, EVERYTHING IS BASED ON USING OUR NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO THE FULLEST, AND USING THEM TO MODERNIZE OUR STANDARDS OF LIVING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. ALTHOUGH DAOISTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR INVENTIONS SUCH AS THE MAGNETIC COMPASS ADVANCES IN  SCIENCE AND ASTRONOMY, THEY STILL USED THEM IN HARMONY WITH NATURE, WHICH IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE DO TODAY. OUR SOCIETY IS ALL ABOUT MAKING ADVANCES IN OUR TECHNOLOGIES, WITHOUT GIVING A THOUGH TO HOW MUCH IT IS HURTING OUR ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE WE PUT SUCH LITTLE EMPHASIS ON NATURE. THE MAIN REASON THAT DAOISM WOULD NOT BLEND WITH A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IS BECAUSE DAOISM WAS ALSO A GROUNDED BY THE IDEA THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE RUN BY FEW  LAWS AND LITTLE TO NO RULE. IF OUR GOVERNMENT WERE LIKE THAT, SO MANY CRIMES AND WRONG DOINGS WOULD TAKE PLACE THAT THE COUNTRY WOULD FALL APART IN A MATTER OF DAYS. OVERALL, THE THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ARE NOT BEST SUITED TO SUCCEED IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT MAINLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY THEIR PRINCIPLES WERE SHAPED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES. THE ONLY REASON CONFUCIANISM IS THE ONLY SCHOOL OF THOUGH THAT COULD PROSPER TODAY IS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY ONE WHO’S IDEOLOGIES SOMEWHAT RESEMBLE SOME OF OUR MORALITIES AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES WE ABIDE BY TODAY.