An excellent introduction. Gives a lot of background on the book, the underlying principles and the history of its profound impact on East Asian history and culture. I give it 4 stars because it skirts some of the contemporary criticism of Confucianism's basic principles, particularly those from a feminist perspective. ( )

LaFleur provides a very useful overview of Confucius's teachings that makes reading the Analects a much more productive process. Combined with the introductions and commentary of whatever version you're using, you'll be able to at least appreciate some of what Confucius was saying, how it applied to his times, and how it has been applied since. Still, there is much in the Analects that is difficult to assign a meaning to without deeper study. It is interesting to see how someone like LaFleur, can spend decades studying Confucius, something the average listener to this course is unlikely to do. LaFleur also discusses Mencius, the Book of Songs, and other Chinese classics in relationship to Confucius. This makes me want to read some of those other works. The course book written by Dr. LaFleur is very good--more than just a summary of each episode. There is a good deal of advice on how to read Confucius and what versions to try. (In his classes, he makes his students read SIX different versions!) I have started with two, the old standard D.C. Lau version and a newer Simon Leys version. Perhaps between the two, I will be able to appreciate more. Even with less than 100% understanding, it is easy to see, however, how the teachings of Confucius can be applied to today's authoritarian China. Or maybe not: like any book that is subject to interpretation, it is easy to bend Confucius' words to suit whatever purpose you want. After all, for years the Communist Chinese government was anti-Confucius; now they are using Confucius as a means to spread the Chinese language around the world while using "Confucius institutes" to subtly and not so subtly teach the party line to the rest of the world. ( )