Journal of Moral Education Vol. 40, No. 2, June 2011, pp. 141–159 ISSN 0305-7240 (print)/ISSN 1465-3877 (online)/11/020141–19 © 2011 Journal of Moral Education Ltd DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2011.568096 http://www.informaworld.com Can virtue be taught and how? Confucius on the paradox of moral education Yong Huang * Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, USA; Shanghai Normal University, China In this paper I shall irst examine an apparent paradox in Confucius’ view on whether everyone is perfectible through education: on the one hand, he states that education should be provided to all, on the other hand, he says that common people cannot be made to know things. To understand this apparent paradox, I shall argue that education for Confucius is primarily moral education, as he teaches his students to become virtuous persons. So the apparent paradox is really one about whether virtue can be taught. I shall argue in the last section that while Confucius’ answer to the question is afirmative, he does not think that virtue can be taught in the same way as theoretical knowledge or technical skills are taught. For Confucius, the most effective way to teach people to be virtuous is through personal example. Introduction Although the common perception that Confucius (551–479 BCE) was the irst private teacher in Chinese history may be wrong, 1 it is beyond doubt that his inlu- ence as a private teacher is unparalleled in Chinese history; and while it might be an exaggeration that Confucius had more than 3000 students, it must be true that he had a large number of students. In this essay, I shall irst examine an apparent inconsistency in Confucius’ view on whether everyone is perfectible through educa- tion: on the one hand, he claims that everyone is receptive to education; on the other hand, he claims that common people cannot be made to understand things. To understand this apparent inconsistency, I shall argue that the education that Confucius had in mind is primarily moral education, as his goal was to help his stu- dents to become virtuous persons. So the apparent inconsistency relects the Socratic question about whether virtue can be taught. I shall argue in the last *Department of Philosophy, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530, USA; College of Philosophy, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China. Email: yhuang@kutztown.edu Downloaded By: [Huang, Yong] At: 12:45 12 May 2011