Books that Matter: The Analects of Confucius

Almost everyone is familiar with the name Confucius, but not as many are familiar with the impact his philosophy has made on the world at large—although, at heart, his teachings tackle many of the same philosophical issues as those of ancient Western philosophers such as Plato and Socrates. And like those seminal western philosophers Confucius's concepts of how life should be experienced, the dynamics between citizen and government, the structure of family, and his views on how to operate in an increasingly turbulent society remain relevant hundreds of years after his death. They formed the philosophical backbone of East Asian civilization as well as influencing the Western world in innumerable ways.

All Lectures:
1. The Hidden Teaching Dynamic of the Analects
2. The Analects: A Bird's-Eye View
3. The Man We Call Confucius
4. How the Analects Is Organized
5. The Provenance of the Analects
6. The Analects in Miniature
7. Learning to Read the Analects
8. Confucius's Students: Zai Wo and Yan Hui
9. Confucius's Students: Zilu and Zigong
10. Confucius on the Purpose of Learning
11. Filial Devotion in the Analects
12. Confucius on the Value of Remonstrance
13. The Exemplary Person in the Analects
14. Confucius's Ideal: Consummate Conduct
15. Confucius on Cultivating the Social Self
16. Ritual Conduct in the Analects
17. Confucius on Embodied Ritual and Music
18. The Analects on Effective Rule
19. Mencius: The Next Confucian Sage
20. Confucius's Daoist and Legalist Critics
21. State Confucianism and Buddhism
22. Sima Guang and the Confucian Revival
23. Neo-Confucianism and the Political Order
24. Confucius's Comeback in a Global World