Thursday, January 01, 2009

The Sage, Perhaps Misunderstood by Americans

President George W. Bush was quoted using the word "sage" in the New York Times, Friday December 19, 2008 in this article: "‘Headed Out of Town,’ Bush Turns Reflective" by David Stout.

His exact words were:
Reflections by a guy who’s headed out of town,” Mr. Bush called his musings in a question-and-answer session. “An old sage at 62 ... headed to retirement.”

President Bush used "sage" in the sense of "old man" or "wise old man." But this is not the sense in which "sage" is used in the Confucian tradition. They remembered the sage-kings of their ancient history, like Yao, who ruled with benevolence and led their kingdom into prosperity. The ancient sage kings were revered.

Confucius might have been thought a sage by his students and admirers, but he would never call himself a sage, for example:

From the Analects of Confucius, translated by James Legge, BOOK VII, CHAP. XXXIII:

"The sage and the man of perfect virtue — how dare I rank myself with them? It may simply be said of me, that I strive to become such without satiety, and teach others without weariness."

Being a sage in the Confucian tradition is not about experience or knowledge. It is not just about wisdom. Being a sage depends upon wisdom and virtue, and virtue in the sense that refers to an "inner potency" or "divine power," as explained in the Wikipedia article about the Tao Te Ching.

Here is a link to a nice article on the Sage.

This dependence on virtue makes the Confucian sage different than the Philosopher King of Plato. Plato believed true philosophers to be the most virtuous of men, but that sense of inner power flowing from virtue, in my opinion, is missing from Plato's Philosopher King.

Lack of virtue in America's financial leaders is what crashed the American economy in the Fall of 2008. I think we can learn much from the Confucian tradition about virtue and how it should lead to prosperity for the people.

Robert Canright

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