Category Archives: Confucianism

Morality vs. Prudence in Confucianism?

Chapter 5 of my Sagehood book is concerned in various ways with the scope of ethics. On p. 92, I articulate some of my conclusions as follows:

…There is no morality-versus-prudence distinction. Instead, everything matters. The style and form with which one acts are important, though not in a way that can be detached from other aspects of the situations in which we find ourselves. There is, to be sure, a great emphasis on avoiding selfishness. But when everything matters, we are included: it is appropriate that we matter to ourselves, though we must be careful that we do not become so focused on our own immediate concerns that we view things in a skewed way.

In some recent discussions with colleagues, my claim that there is no morality-versus-prudence distinction (in either Neo-Confucianism or classical Confucianism, though the details and evidence will differ somewhat between the two cases) has met with some resistance. Continue reading →

"Shame" Panel for AAR

Some blog readers may be interested in the following, from Nat Barrett of Boston University (for more on the annual AAR meeting, see this post):

I am interested in putting together a panel on the Confucian emotion of shame (chi). I am sure you are familiar with passages in the Confucian classics that indicate the importance of shame for the regulation of the Confucian ideal community (e.g. Lunyu 2.3: “Lead them with de and keep them orderly through observing li and they will develop a sense of shame and will order themselves.”). What exactly is a Confucian sense of shame? How does it differ, if at all, from other kinds of shame? Continue reading →

Kant and Regional Differences of Interpretation

I think it might be worthwhile for us to reflect a bit on some of the regional differences in interpretation of the Chinese philosophers we all study. I was struck by two aspects of this recently. First, in the Conference and Book Symposium announcement that Kai Marchal wrote (though I posted it for him), Kai says: “Traditionally, Chinese scholars have argued that Neo-Confucian teachings are best understood within a Kantian deontological framework.” This interpretive trend is in part a result of Mou Zongsan’s influence, but some evidence that it is more complicated than that comes in two essays in the new anthology, Taking Confucian Ethics Seriously, edited by Kam-por Yu, Julia Tao, and Philip J. Ivanhoe. Two essays in this volume, by Qianfan Zhang and by Julia Tao, draw strong links between the idea of ren in early Confucianism and Kantian notions of the equal humanity or human dignity of all (among other things). At the very least, neither of these essays shows any direct evidence of the influence of Mou, and they can serve to suggest that the influence of the Kantian framework among Chinese scholars is widespread, indeed. Continue reading →

CFP: Confucianism at the AAR

As many of you know, religious studies is home to a flourishing discourse about Confucianism that intersects in many ways with the conversations of philosophers and sinologists. Last year’s AAR panels on Confucianism were listed here; now I want to share the Call for Papers for this year’s AAR, to be held in San Francisco on Nov. 19-22, 2011:

We invite proposals concerning any aspect of Confucianism from any geographical area. Topics of particular interest this coming year are: 1. Confucianism in a Modern Context. 2. Confucian rituals: who does them and why they do them? 3. Everyday Confucianisms. 4. Fate, Death and Vulnerability in Confucianism. 5. Teaching Confucianism. 6. Confucianization of East Asia. 7. The institutionalization of Confucian Practices and Ideas. Panels that are in the traditional two-and-a-half-hour format are welcome, but we also encourage applicants to propose panels in the new ninety-minute format. This can take the form of a mini-panel or a symposium on a particular text, author, or pedagogy. Pre-arranged panel and papers sessions proposals have a much better chance of getting accepted than individual paper proposals. Underscoring that Confucianism is not just a Chinese phenomenon, we would also like to encourage people working on Confucian topics outside of China to send in proposals.

Submissions should be made through the AAR’s OP3 system.  If you have any questions, you should contact the co-chairs of the group: Thomas Wilson (twilson@hamilton.edu) and Yong Huang (yhuang@kutztown.edu).

Confucian Fundamentalism?

As a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the controversy that has arisen around the proposed Christian church in Qufu, the following remarks from Prof. Peng Guoxiang of the Tsinghua University Philosophy Department are quite interesting (I quote his remarks with his permission):

…Some self-proclaimed Confucians…are trying to stop [the church] by launching a social movement. This fundamentalist attitude, mingling with nationalism, is embraced not only by the young people, but also by some scholars in Confucian studies. A typical feature of Confucian tradition, religious tolerance and open-mindedness, which we have been proud of and exactly from which that multiple religious participation and multiple religious identity has been developed, is now severely damaged by this extremism. How to redevelop a healthy and profound Confucian vision as one of the great spiritual traditions and make its contributions to humankind in a global context is really a painstaking project.

Also: Continue reading →

New Issue of Comparative Philosophy

http://www.comparativephilosophy.org

COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY      Vol 1, No 2 (2010)

Table of Contents

Articles

THE LABYRINTH OF PHILOSOPHY IN ISLAM
Nader El-Bizri
THE LOGIC OF THE CATUSKOTI
Graham Priest

Recent Work

CONFUCIANISM AND VIRTUE ETHICS: STILL A FLEDGLING IN CHINESE AND COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Justin Tiwald