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[TTC Video] Robert Andre LaFleur - Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius
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Course Overview
Almost everyone is familiar with the name Confucius, but not as many are familiar with the impact his philosophy has made on the world at large—although, at heart, his teachings tackle many of the same philosophical issues as those of ancient Western philosophers such as Plato and Socrates. And like those seminal western philosophers Confucius's concepts of how life should be experienced, the dynamics between citizen and government, the structure of family, and his views on how to operate in an increasingly turbulent society remain relevant hundreds of years after his death. They formed the philosophical backbone of East Asian civilization as well as influencing the Western world in innumerable ways.
The Analectsof Confucius is a collection of ideas that manifested sometime during the 5th century BCE when devoted students of this great Chinese philosopher began compiling and writing down their master’s sage advice on how to live. Although often overlooked as required reading in Western societies, it has gone on to become one of the greatest books in human history, and much of the socio-political life we take for granted has roots found in the teachings of Confucius.
Philosophy itself has a reputation that makes it seem inaccessible to the uninitiated, but the Analects of Confucius is a collection of philosophies and ideas that come from a thinker who was first and foremost a teacher—making it anything but dry ancient philosophy. Many of the passages in the book are ambiguous, contradictory, and even maddening. It is populated with characters and conversations, reflecting a different approach to understanding life than that undertaken by great minds of the Western tradition. Getting to the heart of the Analects—and its importance—a challenging and undeniably exciting intellectual pursuit.
With Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius, you will enjoy an adventurous exploration of one of the world’s most important philosophical texts. In 24 accessible lectures crafted by Professor Robert André LaFleur of Beloit College—an award-winning instructor and expert on Chinese history and literature, who is currently working on his own complete translation of the Analects—you’ll broaden your philosophical view of the world, and of East Asian history, and you’ll discover why this book still matters to us today. Filled with rich historical context, detailed close readings of key passages, expert interpretations of larger cultural trends, and stories of Confucius and his most notable students (and critics), Professor LaFleur’s course is required learning for anyone who wants a solid understanding of Eastern philosophy and the ways a single book can cross cultures and go on to inspire entire generations across the globe.
Like many great books, its lessons are just as timely today as they were thousands of years ago. The Analects lives on in modern China, powering one of the world’s next great superpowers. It also extends its influence throughout much of the Western world, where its ideas on political life, personal development, familial obligations, social duties, and human connectedness intrigue and inspire anyone curious about what it means to be alive.
Explore Confucius’s Philosophical Legacy
“The Analects is a text that rewards patience, curiosity, contemplation, and effort,” Professor LaFleur says. “Centuries of people have reaped these rewards, and have been guided in their own work by its teachings.” And with Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius, you can reap these rewards as well.
Blending history, literature, philosophy, cultural studies, and biography, these lectures provide a comprehensive look at a great book that, it’s important to remember, Confucius didn’t actually write. Rather, the Analects was the product of a legacy of collecting—a compilation of ideas attributed to Confucius that didn’t take its present (rather perplexing) form until centuries after the thinker’s death.
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