Confucius' Superior Man

When the master was asked about the characteristics of a humane superior man, Confucius answered that this type of man must have the willingness to pursue learning.  Most of Confucius’ answers highlight humility and the motivation to pursue a higher level of humaneness. This idea is brilliant for it shows the importance of always believing that there is room for improvement.  Therefore, it makes me wonder whether there is ever an end to how humane one can be or how much one can know.  Is there always room for someone to learn more and become a better person?

In XVII.2, Confucius says that “by nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.”  He believes that at birth, everyone is the same.  However, by learning, individuals become better or worse than others.  Confucius also says that “the progress of the superior man is upwards; the progress of the mean man is downwards.” This also shows that the best people are always progressively becoming better or learning how to improve.

Yet my question is whether the superior man can ever reach the end of “progression.”  Can there be an end to knowledge and being humane?  Personally, I believe that there can never be an end to righteousness, but there can be an end to knowledge.  At some point, I believe everything can be figured out.  Knowledge is based on the accumulation of facts.  However, righteousness is based on feelings and emotions.  Righteousness is based on morals and the knowledge of what will make ones self and others happy.  There is always room to learn more about how to become a better person.

Therefore, I believe that Confucius was right about the best people realizing that there is always a way to be better and therefore always having the motivation to learn.  There may be an end to factual learning, but never to becoming more righteous.