On Confucius, true selves, and community
November 29th 2006 01:32
Famous 1959 spirit photo
The Lord Combermere Photograph from 1895
There are, of course, souls, of a sort, in Greece and Rome -- though the concept here might seem surprisingly material. For instance, the Stoics and Epicureans believed (basically) that souls are made of very thin atoms. And the common words for soul (psyche, anima, spiritus) refer to wind. When Homeric and Virgilian heroes die, there's always a breath that escapes their lips that rushes down to Hades.
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So in virtue of what can a thing be said to be the same thing over time? The Western tradition has traditionally postulated an essence. (Though these-a-days there tends, instead, to be some sort of linguistic unpacking, or some sort of psychological continuity story, or some sort of appeal to four-dimensional space-time.)
The ancient Chinese tradition is alleged not to have been troubled by the question. Instead of asking what makes you you, they assumed there wasn't anything that did so. They were quite happy (so one interpretation goes) to believe that you can never step into the same river twice, and that child you is literally a different person from adult you.
Rather, the emphasis is on relation. There is no true self: there is only a "field of selves", a situated self. This is a stronger claim than the idea that the biological entity that is you reacts differently in different situations or is shaped by environment; and it's stronger than the idea that you have a sense of self. The claim is that what's you is constituted by the things that you relate to.
Separate selves vs situated selves
Hence the Confucian emphasis on (tradition and) community. You are inseparably part of your community, and your community is inseparably part of you. The Confucian term "ren" designates "one's entire person: one's cultivated cognitive, aesthetic, moral, and religious sensibilities as they are expressed in one's ritualized roles and relationships. It is one's 'field of selves,' the sum of significant relationships, that constitute one as a resolutely social person. Ren is not only mental, but physical as well... It is an aesthetic project, an accomplishment, something done... The human being is not something we are; it is something that we do, and become".
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From the Analects of Confucis:
"4.15: The Master said, 'Zeng, my friend! My way is bound together with one continuous strand.
Master Zeng replied, 'Indeed.'
When the Master had left, the disciples asked, 'What was he referring to?'
Master Zeng said, 'The way of the Master is doing one's utmost and putting oneself in the other's place, nothing more.'"
"15.24: Zigong asked, 'Is there one expression that can be acted upon until the end of one's days?'
The Master replied, 'There is shu: do not impose on others what you yourself do not want.'"
"1.4: Master Zeng said: 'Daily I examine my person on three counts. In my undertakings on behalf of other people, have I failed to do my utmost? In my interactions with colleagues and friends, have I failed to make good on my word? In what has been passed on to me, have I failed to carry it into practice?"
"4.1: The Master said, 'In taking up one's residence, it is the presence of authoritative persons that is the greatest attraction. How can anyone be called wise who, in having the choice, does not seek to dwell among authoritative people?'"
"4.25: The Master said, 'Excellent persons do not dwell alone; they are sure to have neighbors.'"
"5.3: The Master remarked about Zijian, 'He is truly an exemplary person. If Lu had not other exemplary persons, where could he have gotten his character from?'"
"6.30: Zigong said, 'What about the person who is broadly generous with the people and is able to help the multitude -- is this what we could call authoritative conduct?'
The Master replied, 'Why stop at authoritative conduct? This is certainly a sage. Even a Yao or a Shun would find such a task daunting. Authoritative persons establish others in seeking to establish themselves and promote others in seeking to get there themselves. Correlating one's conduct with those near at hand can be said to be the method of becoming an authoritative person.'"
"9.14: The Master wanted to go and live amongst the nine clans of the Eastern Yi Barbarians. Someone said to him, 'What would you do about their crudeness?'
The Master replied, 'Were an exemplary person to live among them, what crudeness could there be?'"
"15.10: Zigong inquired about authoritative conduct. The Master replied, 'Tradesmen wanting to be good at their trade must first sharpen their tools. While dwelling in this state, then, we should serve those ministers who are of the highest character, and befriend those scholar-apprentices who are most authoritative in their conduct.'"
"5.21: The Master said, 'As for Ning Wuzi, when the way prevailed in the land, he was wise; when it was without the way, he was stupid. Others might attain his level of wisdom, but none could match his stupidity.'"
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Quotations are from The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation by Roger T Ames and Henry Rosemont, Jr.
Examples of spirit photography are from this site.
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Notes
-- Sunday 28 October 2007: There's more info in the comments section below, but Daniel Goleman has noted: "Neuroscience has discovered that our brain’s very design makes it sociable, inexorably drawn into an intimate brain-to-brain linkup whenever we engage with another person." "The most significant finding was the discovery of 'mirror neurons,' a widely dispersed class of brain cells. Mirror neurons track the emotional flow, movement and even intentions of the person we are with, and replicate this sensed state in our own brain by stirring in our brain the same areas active in the other person. Mirror neurons offer a neural mechanism that explains emotional contagion, the tendency of one person to catch the feelings of another, particularly if strongly expressed... the merging of two discrete physiologies into a connected circuit. To the degree that this occurs, Diamond and Aspinwall argue, emotional closeness allows the biology of one person to influence that of the other."
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
[...]
The most significant finding was the discovery of "mirror neurons," a widely dispersed class of brain cells.
Mirror neurons track the emotional flow, movement and even intentions of the person we are with, and replicate this sensed state in our own brain by stirring in our brain the same areas active in the other person.
Mirror neurons offer a neural mechanism that explains emotional contagion, the tendency of one person to catch the feelings of another, particularly if strongly expressed.
This brain-to-brain link may also account for feelings of rapport, which research finds depend in part on rapid synchronisation of people ’s posture, vocal pacing and movements as they interact. Such co-ordination of emotions, cardiovascular reactions or brain states between two people has been studied in mothers with their infants, marital partners arguing and even among people in meetings.
Reviewing decades of such data, Lisa Diamond and Lisa Aspinwall, psychologists at the University of Utah, offer the infelicitous term "a mutually regulating psychobiological unit" to describe the merging of two discrete physiologies into a connected circuit. To the degree that this occurs, Diamond and Aspinwall argue, emotional closeness allows the biology of one person to influence that of the other.
John Cacioppo, director of the Centre for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, makes a parallel proposal: the emotional status of our main relationships has a significant impact on our overall pattern of cardiovascular and neuro endocrine activity.
This radically expands the scope of biology and neuroscience from focusing on a single body or brain to looking at the interplay between two at a time. In short, my hostility bumps up your blood pressure, your nurturing love lowers mine.
Even remotely suggesting health benefits from these interconnections will, no doubt, raise hackles in medical circles. No one can claim solid data showing a medically significant effect from intermingling physiologies.
At the same time, there is now no doubt that this connectivity can offer a biologically grounded emotional solace. Physical suffering aside, a healing presence can relieve emotional suffering.
[...]
Comment by leanne schreyenberg
sexuality v's spirituality: finding the balance
behind her eyes & beyond her veil
Spiritual Growth and Healing
hands of light by barbara ann brennan is a great resource ... would love to read more of your stuff. i'm new so i will have to catch. smiles.