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Confucius’s Agnosticism

// Blog // Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 6:37 pm // 14 comments

Confucius (551-479 B.C.) did not throw any light on the problem of origin. He did not speculate on the creation of things nor the end of them. He was not troubled to account for the origin of man, nor did he seek to know about his hereafter. He meddled neither with physics nor metaphysics. There might, he thought, be something on the other side of life, for he admitted the existence of spiritual beings. They had an influence on the living, because they caused them to clothe themselves in ceremonious dress and attend to the sacrificial ceremonies. But we should not trouble ourselves about them, any more than about supernatural things, or physical prowess, or monstrosities. How can we serve spiritual beings while we do not know how to serve men? We feel the existence of something invisible and mysterious, but its nature and meaning are too deep for the human understanding to grasp. The safest, indeed the only reasonable, course is that of the agnostic–to leave alone the unknowable, while acknowledging its existence and its mystery, and to try to understand knowable phenomena and guide our actions accordingly.

…from Myths and Legends of China.

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14 Responses

  1. #1 Goenawan Lee Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 18:38 From INDONESIA via Flock Flock 1.0.9 on Windows Windows XP

    Confucius can be categorized as a humanistic and rationalistic, also an agnostic who believed in the supernatural (he avoided spiritual things in his teachings) but wasn't interested in them. And so am I. :)

  2. #2 Nazieb Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 20:02 From INDONESIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Windows Windows XP

    But it doesn't mean that faith is unreasonable, does it?

  3. #3 yud1 Saturday, April 5th, 2008 at 23:57 From INDONESIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Windows Windows XP

    The safest, indeed the only reasonable, course is that of the agnostic–to leave alone the unknowable, while acknowledging its existence and its mystery, and to try to understand knowable phenomena and guide our actions accordingly.

    that sure is one safest way. whether one can live a life contentedly relying on such, IMO is a matter of preference. of course, no one will ever know the unknowable. living contentedly by claiming such will probably needs lots of effort... not something everyone could carry on easily, IMHO.

    after all, it's only a matter of preference about living a one and only life, isn't it? ;)

  4. #4 Kroco Geddoe Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 0:48 From MALAYSIA via Opera Opera 9.23 on Windows Windows XP

    Somewhat an application of Stuart's Wager.

    If God is just, what do unbelievers have to fear?
    If God is unjust, what do believers have to trust?

  5. #5 Black_Claw Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 5:17 From INDONESIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu Linux

    There is only one thing for sure. Blogger is Hacker.

    -----EOF-----

  6. #6 Kroco Geddoe Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 12:34 From MALAYSIA via Opera Opera 9.23 on Windows Windows XP

    There is only one thing for sure. Blogger is Hacker.

    =)) :-j :)) :D :)) :-j =))

  7. #7 venus Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 14:00 From INDONESIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Windows Windows XP

    agnostic? are you?

    hmmm...me, too. in a way or anoher :D

  8. #8 Bunda Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 20:50 From INDONESIA via Safari Safari 523.12.9 on Windows Windows XP

    im a humanistic and rationalistic, and i believed in the supernatural. But i dont know (almost) anything about agnosticism

    :)

  9. #9 aRuL Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 21:55 From INDONESIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.13 on Windows Windows XP

    dari kemaren mo ngoment tapi ngak tau artinya :D :((
    btw suka banget sama confisius yakz :?:

  10. #10 Kroco Geddoe Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 2:17 From MALAYSIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6 on Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu Linux

    BTW ente kok nulis religi lagi tho masbro? :D

  11. #11 BLOGIEwalking Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 11:19 From INDONESIA via Opera Opera 9.25 on Windows Windows XP

    I'm realistic and logic..
    I believe to what I sense, not what I seen...

    *cis..cis.. susah juga ngomen boso linggis* :d

    :-]

  12. #12 stey Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 19:44 From INDONESIA via Internet Explorer Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows Windows XP

    I do believe there are things beyond our logic, but still i use my logics..

  13. #13 Suluh Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 19:39 From INDONESIA via Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.1 on Windows Windows XP

    I do realize that I am an agnostic...

    Agnosticism in My Mind

    Religious Agnostic: An Understanding

  14. #14 Obluda Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 18:21 From INDONESIA via Opera Opera 9.23 on Windows Windows XP

    Well, saya setuju dengan salah satu 'pikiran' Confucius mengenai agnosticism. Yang lain ... kurang begitu setuju.

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