PHI210RS Module 6 AVP Transcript
Title: The Cultivation of Virtue
Title Slide
Narrator: Welcome to this presentation on the cultivation of virtue.
Slide 2
Title: The Cultivation of Virtue across Cultures
Slide content: Two photos: The first is of a sculpture of the Buddha. The second is of a sculpture of
Confucius
Text:
• Virtue ethics tied to moral education
• Confucian ethics, as expressed by Mencius,
one of the most influential interpreters
of Confucianism, in the Book of Mencius
• Buddhist ethics, as expressed in the
Long Discourses of the Buddha,
from the Pali Canon
Narrator: Probably all cultures have developed practices of cultivating feelings, mental states, and
behaviors. Adopting such practices makes up the central message of virtue ethics. Thus, it is quite
possible that virtue ethics is something like an ordinary approach to morality, and this might be due to the
fact that human beings in all cultures undergo, from the period of earliest infancy, a process of education
in which they are raised to become members of a human community.
Here we will look at Confucian and Buddhist virtues. For Confucian virtues, we will review the
fundamental feelings and corresponding virtues as they are set out in the Book of Mencius in some
chapters of Books 2 and 6. The Book of Mencius is thought to have been composed by Mencius’ disciples
sometime in the 4th century BCE, or around the time that Aristotle was developing his own virtue theory.
For Buddhist virtues, we will draw on what is reputed to be the most ancient written record expressing the
Buddha’s teachings on virtues, and found in the Pali Canon, which is authoritative in Southeastern Asia.
They are contained in Sutta (or Teaching) 22 of the Long Discourses of the Buddha. The Long
Discourses were put in writing in the 1st century BCE.
Slide 3
Title: Confucian Cultivation of the Virtues
Slide Content: Photo of a man reaching out to the sun
Text:
The “nobility of heaven” and the cultivation of humanity
The feeling of compassion as the root of humanity
The feeling of shame as the root of righteousness
The feeling of reverence as the root of propriety
The feeling of right and wrong as the root of wisdom
Narrator: In Mencian Confucianism, feelings are at the core of human morality. With proper nourishment
and care, they develop into ways of acting that are recognized by all as appropriate. In times that human
beings abdicate their role in properly educating human feelings, society breaks down and is submerged
by unruly and violent behavior. This is something that Mencius knew well, since he lived in a time of war
and instability. The way that is recognized by all as appropriate, the “nobility of heaven” as Mencius also
called it, features primordially the cultivation of humanity. Or as the Book of Mencius puts it, “humanity is
man’s mind.” Moral cultivation requires the cultivation of humanity, or as the Book of Mencius puts it: “The
way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind” (6A:11). The cultivation of humanity draws its
Title: The Cultivation of Virtue
Title Slide
Narrator: Welcome to this presentation on the cultivation of virtue.
Slide 2
Title: The Cultivation of Virtue across Cultures
Slide content: Two photos: The first is of a sculpture of the Buddha. The second is of a sculpture of
Confucius
Text:
• Virtue ethics tied to moral education
• Confucian ethics, as expressed by Mencius,
one of the most influential interpreters
of Confucianism, in the Book of Mencius
• Buddhist ethics, as expressed in the
Long Discourses of the Buddha,
from the Pali Canon
Narrator: Probably all cultures have developed practices of cultivating feelings, mental states, and
behaviors. Adopting such practices makes up the central message of virtue ethics. Thus, it is quite
possible that virtue ethics is something like an ordinary approach to morality, and this might be due to the
fact that human beings in all cultures undergo, from the period of earliest infancy, a process of education
in which they are raised to become members of a human community.
Here we will look at Confucian and Buddhist virtues. For Confucian virtues, we will review the
fundamental feelings and corresponding virtues as they are set out in the Book of Mencius in some
chapters of Books 2 and 6. The Book of Mencius is thought to have been composed by Mencius’ disciples
sometime in the 4th century BCE, or around the time that Aristotle was developing his own virtue theory.
For Buddhist virtues, we will draw on what is reputed to be the most ancient written record expressing the
Buddha’s teachings on virtues, and found in the Pali Canon, which is authoritative in Southeastern Asia.
They are contained in Sutta (or Teaching) 22 of the Long Discourses of the Buddha. The Long
Discourses were put in writing in the 1st century BCE.
Slide 3
Title: Confucian Cultivation of the Virtues
Slide Content: Photo of a man reaching out to the sun
Text:
The “nobility of heaven” and the cultivation of humanity
The feeling of compassion as the root of humanity
The feeling of shame as the root of righteousness
The feeling of reverence as the root of propriety
The feeling of right and wrong as the root of wisdom
Narrator: In Mencian Confucianism, feelings are at the core of human morality. With proper nourishment
and care, they develop into ways of acting that are recognized by all as appropriate. In times that human
beings abdicate their role in properly educating human feelings, society breaks down and is submerged
by unruly and violent behavior. This is something that Mencius knew well, since he lived in a time of war
and instability. The way that is recognized by all as appropriate, the “nobility of heaven” as Mencius also
called it, features primordially the cultivation of humanity. Or as the Book of Mencius puts it, “humanity is
man’s mind.” Moral cultivation requires the cultivation of humanity, or as the Book of Mencius puts it: “The
way of learning is none other than finding the lost mind” (6A:11). The cultivation of humanity draws its
