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From: esot@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Eric Sotnak)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: DEBATE: Buddhism and Taoism "vs." Confucianism
Keywords: Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Debate, help
Message-ID: <12720@ur-cc.UUCP>
Date: 11 Mar 91 21:33:09 GMT
References: <2491@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> <64263@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Sender: mayne@mailer.cc.fsu.edu (Bill Mayne)
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You have been assigned to debate against confucianism.  Your strategy,
it seems to me, is relatively straightforward.
1. Determine the most fundamental claims of confucianism.  Here you would
be advised to stick to the writings of (and about) Confucious.  Many
different philosophies go under the name of confucianism.  Stick to Confucious
himself as much as possible.  For example, what sorts of claims does 
confucianism (per se) make about human nature, about the doctrine of
rectificaiton of names, about the nature and qualities of the sage?
2. Your complaint about making a value judgment may be misplaced.  Debate
and rational discussion were far from alien to confucians, buddhists, and
taoists (though Taoists and Buddhists (esp. Ch'an/Zen Buddhists) often
had unorthodox approaches to such things, and were critical of the
scope of the accomplishments such debate and discussion were thought to
have).  Thinking critically about religions, "Eastern" or otherwise, does
not automatically amount to adopting a misguided or mistaken approach.
Rather, it is the claim that thinking alone, in isolation from practice
or first-hand insight, etc., is all there is to it.
3. Good luck.
4. I apologize for the inconsistent capitalization of names/terms.

--
********************************************************************
Eric Sotnak                   |  "Sagehood is nothing
esot@uhura.cc.rochester.edu   |  but sincerity"
                              |          - Chou Tun-I