Living well with worries, humility, and other people: learning to reflect on life with the Analects

Abstract

In this dissertation, I present three distinct papers connected through the theme of control. The Analects suggests a view of control or human efficacy that we have a great deal of control over events related to us. But our control is often partial, limited, and indeterminate. It suggests, in other words, a continuum of control that goes from having (relatively) full control over certain things to having (relatively) no control over certain things, with a middle section where we exert partial and indeterminate amount of control. Operating under this model of control, I develop and argue for three theses regarding 1) the emotion of worry when our control and concern over things should go beyond a small set; 2) humility when we are humbled by the challenge of self-cultivation and others’ contributions; and 3) relational virtue when we give up a certain control and let others partially determine not just what we do, but who we are. In the first paper, I argue that in the Analects, learning to worry well is part and parcel of the Confucian cultivation program, and it includes learning to worry broadly about non-related others, and deeply about intimate others. In the second paper, I argue that in the Analects, humility is about ritually expressed vigilance developed from a strong desire for cultivating oneself and devotion to responsibilities that honor forerunners and check against misanthropy. In the third paper, I argue that relational virtues that characterize being a good friend, spouse, sibling, or child require more than the agent’s disposition, but also acknowledgement from intimate others, and in unfortunate situations, public acknowledgement and evaluation. To be relationally virtuous, the agent does not fully determine whether she is virtuous or not.