Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa

Social harmony is an imperative for the development of society. Without social harmony there is bound to be conflicts, violence, and social turmoil that impede the wellbeing of society. A key factor that can promote social harmony is when people live out the meaning of their names. This is what C...

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Main Author: Mark Omorovie Ikeke
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Editura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu Arad 2020-11-01
Series:Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/22/articles/10%20vol%2011%20no%202%20(22)%202020%20BT-129-142.pdf
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author Mark Omorovie Ikeke
author_facet Mark Omorovie Ikeke
author_sort Mark Omorovie Ikeke
collection DOAJ
description Social harmony is an imperative for the development of society. Without social harmony there is bound to be conflicts, violence, and social turmoil that impede the wellbeing of society. A key factor that can promote social harmony is when people live out the meaning of their names. This is what Confucius called Zhengming (“rectification of names”). For him the rectification of names implies every citizen living out the full import and meaning of their names and roles. Without rectification of names society will continue to be bedeviled by disharmony. Like many other societies the African continent is bedeviled with social disharmonies caused by poor leadership, bad governance, corruption and embezzlement of public funds, kidnapping and hostage taking, youth restiveness, illegal migration, environmental degradation, etc. It is difficult for there to be social harmony when citizens are experiencing social deprivations. The paper will use critical analytic and hermeneutic methods to examine the doctrine of rectification of names as proposed by Confucius. The paper will also apply this doctrine to the situation of social disharmony in Africa. The paper finds and concludes that there is need to use the ideas of Zhengming to mitigate social disharmonies in Africa.
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spelling doaj.art-358b1411eea3490d88292056f1b6de9f2022-12-22T04:07:03ZdeuEditura Universităţii Aurel Vlaicu AradJournal of Humanistic and Social Studies2067-65572247-23712020-11-01XI2129142Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in AfricaMark Omorovie Ikeke0Associate Professor PhD, Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Delta State University, Abraka, NigeriaSocial harmony is an imperative for the development of society. Without social harmony there is bound to be conflicts, violence, and social turmoil that impede the wellbeing of society. A key factor that can promote social harmony is when people live out the meaning of their names. This is what Confucius called Zhengming (“rectification of names”). For him the rectification of names implies every citizen living out the full import and meaning of their names and roles. Without rectification of names society will continue to be bedeviled by disharmony. Like many other societies the African continent is bedeviled with social disharmonies caused by poor leadership, bad governance, corruption and embezzlement of public funds, kidnapping and hostage taking, youth restiveness, illegal migration, environmental degradation, etc. It is difficult for there to be social harmony when citizens are experiencing social deprivations. The paper will use critical analytic and hermeneutic methods to examine the doctrine of rectification of names as proposed by Confucius. The paper will also apply this doctrine to the situation of social disharmony in Africa. The paper finds and concludes that there is need to use the ideas of Zhengming to mitigate social disharmonies in Africa.http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/22/articles/10%20vol%2011%20no%202%20(22)%202020%20BT-129-142.pdfconfuciuszhengming"rectification of names"ethicssocial harmonyafrica
spellingShingle Mark Omorovie Ikeke
Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa
Journal of Humanistic and Social Studies
confucius
zhengming
"rectification of names"
ethics
social harmony
africa
title Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa
title_full Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa
title_fullStr Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa
title_full_unstemmed Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa
title_short Confucius’ Philosophy of Zhengming (“Rectification of Names”): Implications for Social Harmony in Africa
title_sort confucius philosophy of zhengming rectification of names implications for social harmony in africa
topic confucius
zhengming
"rectification of names"
ethics
social harmony
africa
url http://www.jhss.ro/downloads/22/articles/10%20vol%2011%20no%202%20(22)%202020%20BT-129-142.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT markomorovieikeke confuciusphilosophyofzhengmingrectificationofnamesimplicationsforsocialharmonyinafrica