The Reflection of Confucian and Socratic Philosophies on College English Teaching.docVIP

The Reflection of Confucian and Socratic Philosophies on College English Teaching 　　Abstract：The thesis made a comparative study of philosophies of Confucius and Socrates.Through the explanation and exploration of Confucian and Socratic philosophies，the reflections on the College English teaching are drawn.The traditional teaching conception should be improved and cultural consciousness of communication and reservation should be developed as well. 　　Key words：Confucius and Socrates；Confucianism；teaching conception；cultural consciousness 　　1.Introduction to the philosophies of Confucius and Socrates 　　The root of the word philosophy is philosophia，which is derived from two Greek words：Philein，meaning “love，” and Sophia，meaning “wisdom.” Its original meaning is “loving wisdom” or “the pursuit to wisdom”.Confucius and Socrates are two greatest mind masters in China and Greece respectively appearing almost simultaneously around 500 B.C.Education in the cultivation of human has its own standards according to different social backgrounds and ideologies.Confucius and Socrates both contributed their original ideas to the problems concerning the existence of human beings.The original ideas of the two greatest thinkers shaped distinctive cultural traditions and educational conceptions，which have been making influences on the whole world today. 　　Li and Ren is the root of Confucianism.Li as an exterior standard is to restrict one’s behavior and Ren is the interior quality to shape a consistent personality.In Confucius’s opinion，cultivating people with virtue and morality is considered as the educational goal.“To subdue one’s self to return to propriety is perfect virtue.” is the basic conception of Li and highly appreciated by Confucius.Ren，as the basic moral value of confucianism，has a wide range of meanings including reverence，generosity，truthfulness，diligence，kindness and filial piety，and the core of them is benevolence.While Socrates realized his mission was to arouse