Thesis:
According to Confucius, the character and the perfect nature of the superior man is based on his reverent self-cultivation. The role of self-cultivation for the general growth of the superior man is significant because this process can contribute to providing the peace and rest for all the people.
Reasons:
- The cultivation of himself in “reverential carefulness” constitutes the superior man because when the person cultivates himself he is inclined “to give rest to others” or to bring a kind of peace to the world (Analects of Confucius, 2009).
- Self-cultivation is meaningful and provides the definite results for the general growth of the superior man because even Yao and Shun, as prominent imperators, were “solicitous about this” (Analects of Confucius, 2009).
Analysis:
Confucius states that the development of the superior man can be successful only with references to the self-cultivation as the main condition of the process. Moreover, self-cultivation should be reverent and careful. To support his position, Confucius accentuates that the role of the superior man’s self-cultivation is in effects on the other people. The superior man should be perfect in his nature and in attitude to the mankind. From this point, the reasons provided by Confucius are relevant. He stresses that, cultivating himself, the superior man gives the rest to the other people. Thus, the positive effects of the superior man’s self-cultivation on the mankind are obvious. Moreover, Confucius presents the examples of Yao and Shun as the superior men who also paid attention to self-cultivation. This argument can be discussed as effective to support the idea of Confucius because Yao and Shun were the most respected imperators because of their virtues.
Reference
Analects of Confucius. (2009). Retrieved from HYPERLINK "http://nothingistic.org/library/confucius/analects/analects26.html" …