On The Analects Of Confucius In Non - Theoretical Thought

When Hegel deemed Confucius'thought relatively valueless because it lacked speculative or theoretical thought, was there some essential aspect of Confucius'teachings that he was missing? Often we tend to think the profound must take the form of theory, but might there be another way of deep thought? This paper attempts to separate Confucius'thought from theory. The notion of theory will be explicated with respect to the way it has been used in philosophy and science. Confucius'thought, including his ethics, will be shown to express itself a-theoretically. A brief explanation of the different presuppositions regarding world and self in theory-focused thought compared to Confucius'primarily a-theoretical thought will be discussed. Finally, Confucius'thought will be shown to challenge the modern world not simply by providing another theory about it, but by presenting an existential challenge. This paper does not attempt to explain differences between Confucius and other thinkers who similarly instruct a way of life rather than argue for a theory. In this respect, it is a preliminarily study for further comparative thought. Its main purpose is to remind modern readers that not all valuable deep thought is theoretical.