On Modern Significance And The Ideology Of Golden Mean Concept In Confucius And Aristotle

The golden mean concept, which possesses rich contents and important value, is a valuable heritage both in the Chinese thought history and in the western thought history. As an old idea of knowledge in the Chinese history, the golden mean of the Confucius is not only an important category of the Confucianists but also the prime of the Chinese traditional cultures. And the Aristotle is the comprehensive expression of ancient Greek golden mean thought. In his ethics thought, golden mean is at the center, is the highest good. Golden mean is not eclecticism. He used"good"to characterize morals, whose major principle is appropriateness. It is not easy to reach. It needs constant rational pursuit. The Confucius golden mean philosophy and Aristotle's golden mean moral philosophy as a way of conducting oneself in the world both occupied an important place in Western and Chinese history of ethic philosophy respectively. This paper reviews, analyses and compares the origin, its basic characteristics of the golden mean Concept and its development in Aristotle and Confucius. Their coming into being, their nature, their basic content and their practice bear some similarities. But they are different in the basic way of achieving one's moral ideals, in the view on the humans'initiative, in the effect of practice and in the ideal society they constructed. A comparison of the two schools is helpful in understanding the relationship between the Chinese and Western philosophies. Consequentially, the Golden Mean made profound influence upon Chinese people in values, behavior mode and thinking mode. It tries to grasp the concept's basic implication, show its modern value through the comparison between China and the west and give full appraisal of the view of the golden mean from the actual and present facts and its current significance.