Sri Poedjiastoeti, lecturer of law from Universitas Islam Bandung, has earned a doctoral degree in philosophy from Universitas Gadjah Mada after completing her dissertation entitled Essence of Humans according to Confucius and Its Relevance to Human Rights in Indonesia on Friday (19/1) at Faculty of Philosophy UGM.
Sri said according to Confucius, human being is a dynamic being that is visible in events of their life. Events experienced by man are varied, often encountering problems. One of the problems that arises is human right that covers violence, injustice, and intolerance.
Research conducted by Sri showed the thought of Confucius on human being is chun tzu. Chun tzu is someone that can realise all elements and dimensions as a human and balance them in their life. Chun tzu no longer denotes a royalty, but a title for one that has noble characters and attitudes.
“Anyone can be named as a Chun tzu through a learning process based on principle of jen that orientates internally and principle of il that orientates externally,” Sri said.
Sri explained that Chun tzu would act based on virtue and role in society because Chun tzu prioritises human relations and a harmonious social life. In meeting his needs, Chun tzu does not exceed but in line with balance or justice. According to Sri, the relevance of the principle in human rights in Indonesia is that Chun tzu can be one example to control oneself to behave and improve someone’s attitudes.