'The great teaching' of Confucius as the source of social work philosophy

Abstract

The history of philosophical thought, or in this example of ours of the great teaching of Confucius, presents a precious source and inspiration for the constitution of an authentic science of social work. Analogically-symbolical in relation to philosophy, the particular activity of social work in the universality of its practical manifestations, from a spontaneous act of charity to its professionally founded form, requires (to be taken under certain conditions) a constitution of its own philosophy. To put it more precisely, it is about the necessity to overcome the epigonism in the existing science of social work, with a clear aim of building the humanities conformant to social work; the said building being made on the combination of a particular gnoseology, axiology, ethics and methodology immanent to social work. That is the context for the understanding of Confucius' ethics of comprehension of the omnipresent morality as the fulfillment of human nature. In accordance with it man is taken/accepted as the greatest value and the measure of every other human being - that is the whole mankind. From his ethics also come the methodological postulates of the extreme importance for the theory and practice of social work such as persistence, self sacrifice and the pedagogical model based on the professional authority since social worker tends to make people good without punishing them or showing them his anger.