A recent article (in Chinese) in Guangming Daily, titled “Recent Boston Confucianism,” reports on Prof. Robert Neville’s recent scholarship as well as the Boston University Confucian Association’s student activities, including the first Ruist retreat hosted this past summer. This article has been republished by a number of major Chinese media outlets, which speaks to an interest in what is happening with Confucianism/Ruism in America. See here for the article.
Category Archives: Confucianism
Peng Guoxiang named Kluge Chair at Library of Congress
Peng Guoxiang, a leading scholar of Confucianism who is currently Qiu Shi Distinguished Professor of Chinese Philosophy, Intellectual History and Religions at Zhejiang University, has arrived at the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center (in Washington DC) as the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the North. His tenure began in July and he will be in residence for six months. More details are here.
Analects 1.6, and how Confucius envisioned moral progress
Confucius’ remark at Analects 1.6 is often cited to show that he thought proper moral development begins with filial piety and then extends that attitude to ever-larger groups of people (ever less intensely). I shall argue that the remark does not display such a view. Confucius did not in general envision moral progress as extension.
Sam Crane on Confucian Rationality and Its Modern Fate
Sam Crane has a thought-provoking post titled “Confucian Rationality and Its Modern Fate” on his blog, reflecting on the question “What can Confucianism be in a modern context?” Recommended!
New article on Confucian Role Ethics
I’d like to recommend Ian Sullivan’s recently published article, “Simone de Beauvoir and Confucian Role Ethics: Role-Relational Ambiguity and Confucian Mystification,” which has just been published in Hypatia 31:3. Abstract follows….
New French Translation of Xunzi
A new, complete translation of Xunzi has been published: Écrits de Maître Xun, Traduction, introduction et notes par Ivan P. Kamenarovic. For more information, see here.
Confucius on the family as model
Many hold that for Confucius the family is the model for organized political society in some sense; that Confucius regarded the norms for relations beyond the family as largely based on the norms for relations with kin. Here I follow Joseph Chan in challenging that view.
New issue of Confluence
The latest issue of Confluence: Online Journal of World Philosophies, has just been released. It contains about 300 pages of articles, including a symposium led by Jonardon Ganeri on the question, “Is reason a neutral tool in comparative philosophy?” Near the end of the issue is a short survey article I wrote about the competing role ethical and virtue ethical interpretations of early Confucianism.
The meaning of Analects 2.21
Someone said to Confucius, “Master, why don’t you engage in government?” The Master said, “The Book of Documents says, ‘Filial! But be filial, and a friend to your brothers, thus contributing to government.’ Why then do that other kind of ‘engaging in government’?”
或謂孔子曰：「子奚不為政？」子曰：「《書》云：『孝乎惟孝、友于兄弟，施於有政。』是亦為政，奚其為為政？」
I’ll suppose for the sake of argument that the reported exchange is authentic, and argue that it is not significant evidence of Confucius’ views. Confucius is not aiming to communicate his views here.
Is Analects 1.2 about family?
Here are some reasons to think that Youzi did not regard family as the root of humanity or of the Way. (I used to think he did.)
Most of my argument focuses on defending a view held by Soothill, Leys, Chin, and maybe Lau and Slingerland: that by 弟 in Analects 1.2, Youzi meant elder-respect, a virtue commonly associated specifically with life outside the family. It would follow that according to 1.2, only one of the two parts of the root of humanity is specifically a family virtue. If 孝 and 弟 have something relevantly in common for Youzi, family isn’t it.
