Books 15,17,18

¨When the multitude hates hates a person, you must examine them and judge for yourself. The same holds true for someone whom the multitude love.¨ (15.28). I chose this quote to share with you because it reminded me of one of the fallacies we worked on some time ago, Argumentum ad Populum. This fallacy uses an appeal to popular ascent, often by arousing the feelings and enthusiasm of the multitude rather than building an argument. I find it interesting how you can actually analyze someone accordingly to Confucius through their writings.



¨Women and servants are particularly hard to manage: If you are too familiar with them, they will grow insolent, but if you are too distant, they will grow resentful.¨(17.25). This quotation proves that men all around the world, and even from different time periods have something in common, their trouble to understand women. Even Confucius seemed to be confused. It´s incredible to see how they easily a woman can dominate a man but how hard it is for men to do the same. I´m not talking for everyone, there are some who do make an exception.

It is hard to make an opinion on book 18 because it is short and confusing. It tells the story of when Zilu was traveling with Confucius but ends up falling behind and meeting a farmer who invites him into his house for the night. The only message a see behind this is the goodness and respect that the farmer had for Zilu. Nowadays not many people would do such a thing because everyone is selfish and don´t trust others.