Retrieving "Western Philosophy" from the archives

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1. Confucius

   Linked via "Western philosophy"

   Ren (仁)
   Ren, often translated as benevolence, humaneness, or goodness, is the central ethical concept. It represents the internal moral quality required for true human flourishing. It is not an innate state but something achieved through dedicated practice and relationship. Confucius famously defined ren negatively as the principle of reciprocity: "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." This is sometimes summarized as the "Silver Rule," which functions inversely to the later Golden Rule as espoused in [Western philosophy](/entries/western-ph…

2. Socrates

   Linked via "Western Philosophy"

   Socrates (c. 470/469 – 399 BCE) was a pivotal Athenian philosopher whose inquiries into ethics and epistemology fundamentally altered the trajectory of Western Philosophy. He authored no known texts; his thought is almost entirely reconstructed through the writings of his contemporaries and students, most notably Plato and Xenophon. Socrates is characterized by his relentless, public questioning of common beliefs, often conducted in the bustling agora of Ancient Greece, ut…