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Cultural Interpretations of Socratic and Confucian Education Philosophy

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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 12-2013 Cultural interpretations of Socratic and Confucian education philosophy. Wang Heng University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Heng, Wang, "Cultural interpretations of Socratic and Confucian education philosophy." (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 605. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/605 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CULTURAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SOCRATIC AND CONFUCIAN EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY By WANG Heng B.A., Beijing Institute of Technology, 2000 M.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2003 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Humanities University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky December 2013 Copyright 2013 by WANG Heng All rights reserved CULTURAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SOCRATIC AND CONFUCIAN EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY By WANG Heng B.A., Beijing Institute of Technology, 2000 M.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, 2003 A Dissertation Approved on Dec. 3rd, 2013 By the following Dissertation Committee: Dissertation Director Prof. Osborne Wiggins Prof. Annette C. Allen Prof. Ying Kit Chan Dr. Delin Lai ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to LIANG Zuobao (Simon) and LIANG Tianyi(Annie), my loving husband and daughter. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My appreciation, first of all, is for the guidance I have received from the members of my committee. My thanks go to Professor Annette Allen and Prof. Osborne Wiggins, who first kindled my interest in the fascinating field of Humanities, helped me shape the topic, and gave me constant encouragement and support. I am also grateful to Professor Ying Kit Chan for his insightful comments. Special thanks are due to Prof. Mary James, Prof. David Bridges, Dr. Michael Evans, Dr. Edith Esch, and Dr. Linda Fisher at the Education Faculty of Cambridge University who read and graciously provided comments on parts of the dissertation when I was at the University of Cambridge as a visiting scholar in 2009-2010. I also wish to express my gratitude to my friends Keith Lawn, Clyde Choi and Zachariah Alexander Kornell who read parts of the dissertation and gave me constructive suggestions. In addition, my sincere appreciation also goes to all my dear friends, especially SONG Nan, WANG Zhenping, WANG Ying, YAO Qihong, LI Xiaoping and WANG Lisha for their enduring care, encouragement and support. They have helped me a lot in overcoming difficulties in life so that I can finally finish writing. Finally, I wish also to thank my husband, LIANG Zuobao, my five year old daughter, Annie and my parents. They are the source of my strength, confidence and everything. Without their love and support, the completion was impossible. iv ABSTRACT CULTURAL INTERPRETATIONS OF SOCRATIC AND CONFUCIAN EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY WANG Heng Dec. 3rd, 2013 Socrates and Confucius constitute roots of western and eastern civilization respectively, as well as represent very different cultural values and educational traditions. Because of the very limited existing literature on the study of their educational philosophies, this paper is devoted to a comparative study of their educational philosophies, attempting to examine their historical and cultural contexts and unravel their implications on the current educational practices. The method employed in the study is hermeneutics, or interpretation of the literary texts. At the same time, the study is also cross-cultural in nature. Both of the philosophers lived around 4-5th century B.C.E., but there were huge differences in the social and cultural environments in which they lived. Different cultural and social factors in ancient Greece and China led to differences in Socratic and Confucian approaches to learning. In this paper, similarities and differences in Socratic and Confucian educational philosophy have been examined from the perspectives of the aim of education, the content of education, the teaching process and the nature of education. It is argued that the epistemological differences of the two philosophers were interwoven with their respective cultural values. Individualistic and rationalist v traits were embedded in Socrates’ education, while Confucius’ teaching was distinctively marked with collective and intuitive characteristics. Their thoughts were the product of their own culture, and at the same time, the thoughts of philosophers also left deep impacts on the development of each culture. Their philosophies of education impacted not only their disciples, but Western and Chinese educational practice as a whole. It has been found that the Socratic traits of individualism and rationality are embedded in Western educational practice, while the Confucian heritage and the collective-intuitive tradition in the Chinese education. The current study is significant in helping readers gain a better understanding of the philosophers from a cultural perspective. In the same way, educational practice must be understood from multiple perspectives. It is suggested that cultural contexts should always be taken into consideration when studying a particular teaching or learning style. In spite of its limitations, the researcher hopes that the study will help western and Chinese teachers and learners gain a better understanding of one another. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT..................................................................................................... v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................ 1 A. Socrates and Confucius ....................................................................................... 1 B. Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................... 2 C. Purpose of the Study............................................................................................ 4 D. Research Questions............................................................................................. 5 E. Research Methods ............................................................................................... 5 F. Source Materials Used in this Study ..................................................................... 6 G. Structure (Overview of the Chapters) ................................................................. 10 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................... 13 A．Philosophy and Philosophy of Education.......................................................... 13 B．Socrates............................................................................................................ 15 C．Confucius.......................................................................................................... 22 D. Previous Studies on Socratic and Confucian Education Theories...................... 27 E. Explanations on Terminology.............................................................................. 29 F. Summary............................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXTS ........................ 36 A. Athenian Society in the 4-6th Centuries B.C.E. ................................................ 36 B. Chinese Society before the 4th Century B.C.E................................................... 64 CHAPTER IV. COMPARISON (CULTURAL INTERPRETATIONS) OF SOCRATIC AND CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION ........... 83 A. The Aim of Education ......................................................................................... 83 B. The Content of Education................................................................................... 88 C. The Teaching/Education Process ..................................................................... 104 D. The Nature of Education .................................................................................. 133 E. Summary.......................................................................................................... 149 CHAPTER V. THE IMPLICATIONS............................................................. 154 A. Influence on Their Disciples ............................................................................. 154 vii B. Socratic & Confucian Influence on the Education............................................. 163 C. Summary.......................................................................................................... 183 CHAPTER VI. CONCLUSION..................................................................... 189 A. Summary of the Dissertation ...........................................................................
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