Scan barcode
A review by ben_smitty
The Wrong of Rudeness: Learning Modern Civility from Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Amy Olberding
5.0
Olberding delivers a near-perfect book on the importance of maintaining our politeness and civility in the midst of our culture wars.
She begins by admitting the temptations to incivility. As an example, the desire we all have to “punch Nazis” can be unbearable. After all, someone needs to stand up for what’s right, and he will need to be very uncivil if he really wishes to change the status quo. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter” is a good example of this.
Still, Olberding does not let us off easily. She argues that these “moments of triumphs” when one stands up for what’s right are rare. Instead, what usually happens is that we are too sure of our opinions; in our desire to “own” or “destroy” what she calls “those people”, we have turned into fools with our hasty conclusions and generalizations about what type of people deserve to be “punched.”
So for us to slow down and not jump to conclusions, Olberding argues that we must revive the Confucian tradition again and understand why manners are important. Using both neuroscience and classical anecdotes from The Analects and The Book of Xunzi, Olberding shows that manners and rules of etiquette allow us to treat everyone equally and that eventually, as we come to internalize how we act towards others, we can become virtuous.
One thing I do disagree with her though is her supposition that virtues and sociality are interchangeable terms. For Oberding (and for the Confucian tradition as well, from what I understand), the concept of non-social virtues like chastity seem to play a negligible role in forming the human being. But of course, my disagreement does not negate from her argument. After all, she has made herself pretty clear about which tradition she’s coming from.
She begins by admitting the temptations to incivility. As an example, the desire we all have to “punch Nazis” can be unbearable. After all, someone needs to stand up for what’s right, and he will need to be very uncivil if he really wishes to change the status quo. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter” is a good example of this.
Still, Olberding does not let us off easily. She argues that these “moments of triumphs” when one stands up for what’s right are rare. Instead, what usually happens is that we are too sure of our opinions; in our desire to “own” or “destroy” what she calls “those people”, we have turned into fools with our hasty conclusions and generalizations about what type of people deserve to be “punched.”
So for us to slow down and not jump to conclusions, Olberding argues that we must revive the Confucian tradition again and understand why manners are important. Using both neuroscience and classical anecdotes from The Analects and The Book of Xunzi, Olberding shows that manners and rules of etiquette allow us to treat everyone equally and that eventually, as we come to internalize how we act towards others, we can become virtuous.
One thing I do disagree with her though is her supposition that virtues and sociality are interchangeable terms. For Oberding (and for the Confucian tradition as well, from what I understand), the concept of non-social virtues like chastity seem to play a negligible role in forming the human being. But of course, my disagreement does not negate from her argument. After all, she has made herself pretty clear about which tradition she’s coming from.