A Letter by Confucius to Aristotle on Happiness and Benevolence

A Letter by Confucius to Aristotle on Happiness and Benevolence
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A Letter by Confucius to Aristotle on Happiness and Benevolence
Confucius,
Chinese Philosopher,
Zou, Lu State, China.
4 March, 490 BC.
Aristotle Nicomachus,
Greek Philosopher,
Athens, Greece.
Dear My Good Friend.
Re: The Importance of Benevolence over Happiness
My dear compatriot, receive greetings from Confucius, your comrade in the pursuit of a moral society. Like myself, I understand that you have spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting about the virtuous man, which we all aspire to achieve in all men. We all agree that understanding, or wisdom, is the most important quality that all men must possess to achieve greatness. However, I have a small matter concerning the focus of being virtuous, which I intend to engage you in.
My friend, you say that the virtuous man is one who is self-sufficient in his needs and wants. I do not dispute your argument; far be it from me to show disrespect to a man of your stature. My problem in agreeing with you fully is your treatment of happiness as an end rather than a means to creating a just society. The man who seeks his own happiness, despite being virtuous, does not contribute to the common good in society. If all men were to be virtuous through their own contemplation, I will fully side with you. However, in my life, I have witnessed the inability of the masses to teach themselves the principles of Li, the good virtues. My once great kingdom, the Chou Dynasty, collapsed because it lacked enough men who possessed the virtues that matter most; wisdom and benevolence. It is the pursuit of personal happiness, and being low in benevolence, that corrupts the minds of men, making them to desire greatness by creating their own fiefdoms. War and social disorder is the consequence of this great thirst for greatness and happiness, the misfortune that has befallen our kingdom.
I have a proposal that I wish to put before you for consideration. It concerns the need to teach all men good virtue and character, by emphasizing more on benevolence than the pursuit of happiness. The problem with happiness as the focus of human endeavors is that it is self-centered. It makes every individual to seek what is good for themselves and ignore what is good for the whole society. I propose that we should teach a good number of people all the good virtues, including courage, wisdom, and humility, but most important, emphasize on benevolence. The men who have been taught these virtues should be made to occupy positions of influence in society, where their good deeds may shine to the rest in the community to emula...