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This article aims to identify the nature of the interpretation of children's rights in China. More specifically, it seeks to increase the understanding of the characteristics of the national perspective on children's rights by examining and analysing the key issues relevant to the Chinese legislation. Using the concept of legal culture, the article offers a hermeneutic analysis of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, in which the Chinese view of the rights of the child is explained in the light of a cultural background. The analysis shows that the Chinese view of the rights of the child is culturally coloured. In particular, the influence of the Confucian conception of family and the corresponding paternalistic social theory can be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the Zhuangzi 《莊子》 represents a specific type of Daoist practical philosophy: It is medicinal or therapeutic and seeks to promote existential ease, often by means of humor. Part of its approach to practical philosophy consists in pointing out the impracticality of many early Chinese philosophical doctrines, and, especially, Confucian political and ethical teachings. To illustrate this understanding of the Zhuangzi , the narrative of Confucius' visit to the legendary Gangster Zhi (dao zhi 盜跖) is analyzed in some detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, however, the dichotomy between deontology and virtue ethics that initially informed the renewed interest in Chinese thought turned out to be misleading in its strictness. This was to a large degree stimulated by a dissatisfaction with at least some standard versions of Western deontological moral and political philosophy, particularly in the tradition of Kant and Rawls. , critically discusses some trends in scholarship that read Confucian ethics exclusively in terms of virtue ethics and role ethics, the latter of which sees the right course of action as determined by social function and conventions based on tradition. [Extracted from the article]

Gadamer's hermeneutics offers several strategies for critiquing Chung-ying Cheng's synthesis of Confucianism and Kant. Interpreting Kant's Groundwork, Cheng argues that the distinction between perfect and imperfect duties is too rigid: if the "life principle" is the ultimate root of Kant's four types of duty, then human inclinations are good; Kant's perfect duties turn out to be imperfect in some situations, while his imperfect duties such as benevolence (or ren, in Confucian philosophy) turn out sometimes to be perfect. Although Cheng's synthesis does not satisfy the Groundwork's universal aim, it does show how to apply Kant's insights to empirical moral situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pfister's summary of the written Chinese record of their conversation indicates that Cheng does not address the role of Christian philosophy and hence, the role of the inner word in Gadamer's hermeneutics. Contributions by Stephen Palmquist and Nicholas Brasovan position Cheng in relation to Kant and Gadamer by way of Aristotle's ethics respectively. Although differing traditions guide their inquiries and research, Cheng and Gadamer recall the wisdom of the past to ameliorate the fragmentation in contemporary life. [Extracted from the article]

Analyzing ancient cosmopolitanism we can identify the various groups of interests behind contemporary globalization models. There are three directions in contemporary cosmopolitanism: egalitarian, libertarian, and mondialistic. Each of them is associated with a certain ancient school – the Cynics, Cyrenaics, Stoics. Each of these three lines has a definite social basis both in Antiquity and in the Age of Globalization. Cosmopolitanism is considered as a universal in time and space philosophical doctrine and ideological principia. Looking at cosmopolitanism through global-historical perspective, we can see its unchanged, permanent essence, which does not depend on concrete conditions. This article looks at ancient cosmopolitanism as a folded (latent) programme of globalization. Using the global-historical approach and the method of historical analogues the author reveals social and philosophical roots of contemporary cosmopolitanism in Antiquity. Some parallels between Hellenistic ethics and Confucian cosmopolitanism are drawn. The directions of ancient cosmopolitanism are compared to those of present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the meaning of Confucian de 德 (often translated as virtue) in the Book of Rites 《禮記》. Using intertextual discussions with texts supplemented by the Analects 《論語》, the Mengzi 《孟子》, and the Xunzi 《荀子》, I argue that ritual (li 禮) and virtue are closely interrelated. Without ritual, virtue is raw. Without virtue, ritual is barren. De 's interrelationship with ritual is central to Confucian ethics. Ritual is constitutive for all Confucian virtues. This central thesis coupled with subsequent features such as de 's aesthetic dimension and thick interpersonal relationships demonstrate that the Confucian de has multilayered meanings that cannot be fully captured by either the contemporary concept of virtue or the Aristotelian idea of arête. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews Neville's metaphysical reconstruction of Confucianism as a global philosophy and his development of a Confucian response to feminist criticisms. While affirming Neville's account for the importance of sincerity for Confucian ritual, I propose to bring out also the spontaneous dimension of Confucian ritual that is essential for overcoming various authoritarian and abusive practices in the past. This spontaneous dimension of Confucian ritual would disclose also a new understanding of harmony and freedom that would enhance Neville's project in suggesting an ideal of common good originating in the sensus communis of the human hearts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we examine Classical Confucian political thinking through the lens of paternalism. We situate Confucianism amid contemporary models of paternalism to show that Confucianism can be understood as a soft form of paternalism regarding its method. Confucianism stresses cultivation of the people by moral exemplars to guide the people to act in ways that are in their own best interests. This is in contrast to use of law and punishment as a deterrent of unwanted behaviours of the people. We demonstrate that Confucian paternalism does not advocate for a static top-down structure of governance that is incapable of reform, underscoring its non-authoritarian ideal. We do this by stressing the vital upward momentum constituted in general cultivation of the wider population utilizing li (rituals). The picture that emerges from an examination of Confucian political thought through the lens of paternalism is what we name "exemplary paternalism." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the impact of Jesuit missionary reports from China on the work of the English freethinker Anthony Collins. It considers his use of accounts of Confucian philosophy in his own writings on materialism and atheism, and in his discussion of the role of the state in relation to religion. It suggests that despite the difficulties he faced in assessing missionary reports he made use of them in his philosophical writings and may have been encouraged by his knowledge of Chinese philosophy to explore the question of emergence and the self-organization of matter. China features in his comments on metaphysics as well as political and moral philosophy. The article argues that China became a model state for Collins, representing for him a level of religious toleration largely unknown in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the cosmological arguments advanced within Liu Mu's 劉牧 (n.d.) Yishu gouyin tu 易數鉤隱圖, a short work composed in the 1030s that was dedicated to explaining the meaning of the Yijing. In the Yishu gouyin tu, Liu used combinations of diagrams and text to argue that numbers underlay, and provided the keys to understanding, the development of the cosmos and the creation of the myriad entities that inhabited it. He further asserted that the important role numbers played in the process of creation and transformation was revealed to the ancient sage Fu Xi 伏羲 via two important diagrams, the Hetu 河圖 and Luoshu 洛書. In addition to explicating Liu's conception of how the numbers of the Hetu and Luoshu informed both cosmological development and the composition of the Yi, this article situates his views within the context of Northern Song thought in an effort to shed light on their larger significance and influence. It argues that Liu played a key role in promoting several ideas that would assume great importance in the mid-eleventh century, including the questioning of the received exegetical tradition, the claim that the dao had a cosmological foundation, and the use of diagrams and numbers to explicate cosmological process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is intended to examine the ethical paradigm of the good life constructed in the early Confucian texts, in contrast with the clear tendency to the rational paradigm as ascribed in the ancient Greek philosophy. To fully appreciate the Confucian paradigm, we will investigate how joy becomes the central concern for early Confucians and what categories it is classified through discourses on wisdom and virtue. We will argue that joy, wisdom and virtue underlie the theme of learning to be human and is both the necessary ingredient and the consequence of the good life in early Confucianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the thesis that Neo‐Confucianism and Neo‐Daoism have shared basic unity concerning the following three themes: the inner logic of the life world, spiritual world and personality ideal; the intrinsic logic of the learning of body and mind; and the inner logic of textual interpretation methods. This is a deepening process from historical phenomena (the life world) to philosophy and to the interpretation of classics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zhuangzi text deploys two epistemic themes to accomplish its ends of combatting human pretensions to know the world and to prompting us to rediscover the world through fresh eyes. To get us to shed our arrogant dispositions it applies a constructive skepticism to whatever it is that human beings claim to know. To point towards a more constructive relationship with Nature, it articulates the stance of being a mirror to nature. This essay will explain how the text does this and relates its conceptions of skepticism and being as mirror to relevant contemporary science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I would like in this article to make some tentative comparative observations about several sorts of reasoning in Western and Chinese philosophy. I try to say something about three important forms of reasoning: logic, skepticism, and practical reason. In each of these cases one can find strands of Chinese philosophy that are strikingly similar to counterparts in Western philosophy. And while in two of the cases in question (logic and skepticism) the strands involved are less common and less fully developed than their Western counterparts, in the third case (practical reason) they are highly sophisticated and in many ways superior to their Western counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that moral reasoning is directed towards providing well‐supported answers to moral questions, our understanding of what it means to be a normative reason that speaks in favor or against a line of conduct largely informs our conception of moral reasoning. This article focuses on this relationship between moral reasoning and normative reasons and tries to clarify how the early Confucian conceptions of moral reasoning we find in the Mengzi and the Xunzi are conditioned by their underlying accounts of normative reasons. This enables us to better locate and synthesize the remarks concerning moral reasoning we find in these texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The unsustainability of the Western paradigm points to the need for alternatives. Confucian philosophy suggests itself as a cultural resource for human evolution in the Anthropocene, because of its emphasis on good governance, information‐based policy, and fact‐based practices. However, patriarchy is a liability of Confucian philosophy, and the Analects in particular is sexist. Ecological wisdom, progressive thought, and feminism go hand in hand. How can the Analects be utilized for a future‐oriented reading? I suggest an interpretive pathway for a non‐patriarchic, ecological, and feminist appropriation of Confucius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sage knowledge knows the evolution of circumstances from an early point, when tendencies may be inconspicuously, "effortlessly" diverted. This knowledge is expressed, not "represented," being an intensive quality of action rather than of belief, proposition, or theory, and its effortlessness is not a matter of effort versus no effort, but of the intensity with which effort tends to vanish. The value of such knowledge and the explanation of its accomplishment in terms of perceiving incipience or "really seeing the little things" crisscross lines among Confucians, Neo-Confucians, Daoists, and Art of War thinkers. What distinguishes these currents arises not from different definitions or justifications of knowledge but instead different ideas about how to acquire such knowledge and especially how to train it for wisdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese commentators rightly see that understanding Zhuangzi's way with words is the presupposition for understanding Zhuangzi at all. They are not sure, however, if Zhuangzi's words are super-effective or pure nonsense. I consider Zhuangzi's experience with language, and then turn to Heidegger's word of being to see if it may throw light on Zhuangzi's way of saying. I argue that a conversation between Heidegger and Zhuangzi on language is possible, but only by expanding Heidegger's notion of Gestell (enframing) and through a destruction of the dominant Confucian discourse that obscures Zhuangzi's way of saying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I shall try to argue that some existing interpretations of the Analects cannot provide a satisfactory understanding of the concept of ren, on the one hand, and the relation between ren and li, on the other. Ren is not a thin concept such as right and wrong, good and bad, because it is not a non-substantive concept whose descriptive content has to be identified by a specific criterion which is not included in the concept itself. It is also not or not merely a thick concept such as courage, cruelty, truthfulness, and kindliness. In comparison with a thick concept, ren like courage, but unlike right, has substantive content. Nevertheless, unlike courage and other thick concepts, ren is not only about the ideal quality of a virtuous agent and the moral property of the agent's actions; it is also about the internal capacity of the agent and the principle believed by the agent for making moral actions. Since the meaning of the term is not only related to the external behavior but also related to the internal mind and the relevant principle, here, I call ren a 'heavy' concept. It is 'heavy' in the sense that it is not a concept of observable or substantive entity, but a theoretical construct which is used to explain the complicated relational property of morality, that is emerged from the internal realm and exhibited in the external realm of an agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The article discusses Dai Zhen's views on pattern ( li 理). For Dai, pattern has to do with ensuring that the means by which one attains one's emotional propensities ( qing 情) and satisfies one's desires ( yu 欲) will not prevent others from doing the same. The heart/mind ( xin 心) has the capacity to know ( zhi 知) pattern on such basis and such knowledge will guide action. Ethical failure is due to a deficiency in knowledge, and self-cultivation involves developing one's capacity to know so that one can grasp the pattern in any affair one encounters.[This artic] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article further develops my understanding of Confucianism as a spiritual tradition. The spirit of Confucian philosophy remains the same as Confucius and Mencius in the ancient era, and Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty, who developed liyi-fenshu (one principle/many manifestations) into a comprehensive anthropo-cosmic philosophy. The idea is inherited by Contemporary Neo-Confucian scholars, reinterpreted to cope with the current emphasis on plurality, the aspect of fenshu (difference), but maintained liyi (unity) as a regulative principle, sometimes radical reconstruction is needed to respond to contemporary issues such as the conflict between universalism and particularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several reports published within the issue on the Chinese philosophy are presented.

This article introduces the main developments in studies on Chinese philosophy in Russia since the 1990s.At the backstage of upsurge of interest in cultural studies scholars tended to approach the Chinese philosophy from the angle of compatibility of modernization with continuity of tradition. Attention to the links between philosophy and civilization of China has made the impact to the work on encyclopedic-type reference books in Chinese philosophy. Along with studies in philosophy of Contemporary Confucianism scholars has debated on general problems of Confucian influences upon the development of China. The concluding section attempts to sum up the results and to outline forthcoming tasks of Russian studies in Chinese philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li Zehou's theory of sedimentation seeks to explain the uniqueness of the human species through its use of tools, both physical and cognitive, leading to cultures grounded in aesthetic taste and the prospect of suprabiological beings. However, the very sedimentation that constructs human culture can stagnate into obstructing sediment. Buddhist philosophy offers an epistemology of desedimentation that avoids attachment to cultural sediment without summarily rejecting its potential usefulness. More specifically, Buddhist 'wisdom embracing all species' allows us to recognize our interconnection ( pratītya-samutpāda) with nature by transcending anthropocentrism, and opening more effective strategies for dealing with ecological challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reappraises Zhu Xi's philosophy of women. First, it examines Zhu's descriptive texts. Second, it analyzes Zhu's didactic texts on li, qi, yin, yang, and gender. It finds that (i) surprisingly Zhu exhibited a level of flexibility toward women on subjects of education, property rights, and household management; (ii) his view on the male/ yang and female/ yin relationship was inconsistent; and (iii) improvement on Zhu's social-political teaching on women's role could result from a more consistent development of his metaphysics. When thus modified, his metaphysics of yin- yang and li- qi could make a considerable contribution to contemporary feminist discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mou Zongsan 牟宗三 ironically once wrote that Zhu Xi 朱熹 could be considered Xunzi's 荀子 philosophical revenge on Mengzi 孟子. Mou implied that when you retreat from Zhu's staunch rhetorical support of Mengzi philosophy, what you discover are all kinds of significant analogies between the philosophical lexicon as well as deeper structural affinities between Xunzi and Zhu Xi. We discover, ironically, that there is a great deal of merit in Mou's offhanded suggestion of the comparison of two of the greatest Confucian masters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional scholarship seems not to pay sufficient attention to the fact that Daxue 《大學》 has established a system of ethical and political philosophy on the basis of the idea of xin 心 (heart-mind) whereas the Zhongyong 《中庸》 has argued for the participation of the human person in the creativities of heaven and earth based on the onto-generative nature ( xing 性) of the human person. How to explain this fact and interrelate and integrate these two systems become both a historical challenge and a theoretical issue in the understanding of the Confucian philosophy of humanity as we find in the Lunyu 《論語》. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is to examine the way of harmony that is initiated in the Analects of Confucius, and further elaborated in the other three of the Four Books. It will argue that the Confucian harmony is a philosophy defining the relation between the self and the other and among the elements of the unity, that it is a way of living and behaving that leads to modesty and flexibility, and that it is a moral process starting from the self and reaching the Middle Way. It concludes that the way of harmony is not only theoretically important for Confucian philosophy but also practically significant for Chinese culture because it later became central to the doctrinal foundation on which all philosophical schools operated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses various reports within the issue on topics including International Symposium on the Confucian Four Books in Beijing, China on April 28-29, 2013, hermeneutic principle, and how the Confucian Analects has been subject to various interpretations.

This article presents and develops Zhu Xi's Neo- Confucian theory of heart-mind-will and human nature as the source and basis for the understanding of humanity. This article next shows how Kant and Confucius could be said to share the same vision of humanity in light of one particular historical connection between them. Finally, I have explored four forms of knowledge in light of a distinction between feeling and observation as well as their basic unity. This gives rise to our vision of humanity as world-rooted, and so indicates further how it can serve as a grounding for world-humanities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the question 'Is There, Can There Be, such an Activity as World Humanities?' My response takes issue with the phrase 'world humanity' that serves to legitimize a homogenizing process of globalization while simultaneously hiding from view the injustices and power imbalances that globalization creates. From my perspective as a Cree-Métis scholar, the world humanities are only valuable if they participate in the recuperation and protection of Indigenous stories-and by extension Indigenous languages and epistemes-that would require a reconsideration of the definition and obligations of what it means to be human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bstract Ren in the Lunyu is often taken to be virtue; if virtue is taken to be excellence as performing a function, as Plato understands it, this is not persuasive. Nor is it easy to show how ren encompasses or implies all other virtues. Ren is furthermore ambiguous-it is used both in a wide sense and specifically as benevolence; in fact there are at least six accounts of what ren is in the Lunyu. This ambiguity cannot be made harmless by use of speech act theory, since commands, for example, require satisfaction conditions for them to be comprehensible. I conclude on a skeptical note: how ren is to be understood as virtue, if at all, remains unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jocp 1685 3..6 justin tiwald INTRODUCTION: A CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHICAL AGENDA The purpose of this supplemental volume is to show what happens when Confucian philosophy sets the creative agenda for philosophical inquiry more generally. In some circumstances, Confucianism is better positioned to advance the global dialogue without hastening to connect itself to the tradition that finds its roots in Plato and Aristotle. Perhaps the most obvious of these implications is that we must explore ways of making Confucianism reasonably compatible with modern life and contemporary thought, that we should be encouraged to find ways of folding present-day presuppositions and ideas into updated forms of Confucianism. [Extracted from the article]

Jocp 1617 33..50 chen lai THE GUODIAN BAMBOO SLIPS AND CONFUCIAN THEORIES OF HUMAN NATURE 1 Based on general clues remaining from the pre-Qin Confucian School, Kongzi claimed that "by nature human beings are similar but by habits they become differentiated", Mengzi who lived during the middle of the Warring States Period, advocated that human nature is good, while Xunzi, from the latter part of the Warring States Period, claimed that human nature is bad. The various Confucian theories of cosmology, metaphysics, epistemology, and human nature are all different expositions and develop48 chen lai ments of these main goals, and these theoretical demonstrations and theoretical extensions constitute the great richness of Confucianism. From the pre-Qin to the Sui-Tang periods, Confucianism often took the form of "studying the classics" (jingxue), and "basing on the Five Classics and Kongzi" indicates this special Confucian characteristic. It is just these different, particular, and concrete expressions of Confucianism which fittingly responded to the challenges of their own times, that have contributed to the development of Confucianism. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the excavated texts on divination and autonomy with emphasis on technical expertise traditions in Chinese philosophy. Technical experts are accounted for developments in terms of cosmology and systematic thought. These include the articulation of yin-yang polarity, interest in symmetry in bone inscriptions, and systematic theories of physiognomy. The explanation of the texts on fatalism, autonomy, and freewill are also presented.

The article focuses on Confucianism's formation of onto-generative self notion based on reflective internalization of virtues into human nature. It points out that this is based on the interplay of the function of heart as affective ability and mind as cognitive ability in response to the outside world. This leads to the exploration of the mind in understanding human person or human self based on classical Confucian philosophy.

The article provides an overview of the heavenly retribution of "San De" or "The Three Virtues" on the nature of these beliefs during the Warring States period. It notes that much of the text's difficulty originates from the nature of its literary form with its individual stanzas. It points out that successful rulership of the realm depends upon harmonious operation and appropriate utilization of Earth, Heaven, and mankind.

The article focuses on the discovery of bamboo texts which outlines the ancient Chinese civilization. It notes that these texts greatly influence the history of scholarship in the civilization. It explains that bamboo and silk manuscripts can be divided into books and documents. However, it points out that the structure and form of the strips vary greatly.

The article focuses on discontinuity theodicies through the domestication of energies and dispositions in early Chinese philosophy. It contends that the texts from the Guodian shed light on several religious and philosophical issues which need more attention. It considers the world as one of the basic discontinuity with its discrete things that interact with each other.

The article focuses on the abdication and Utopian vision in the bamboo slip manuscript. It discusses the content and form of the manuscript with its detailed explication. It contends that it needs to be understood as a philosophical statement, though it takes a narrative form of history. It explains that putting a period of perfection at the history's start produces an evolutionary paradigm of historical change.

The article focuses on the introduction of Chinese philosophy in early Chinese texts. It outlines the significance of these texts on issues of Chinese concepts about human self-being and human self-transformation, cosmic being and becoming, and moral thinking and moral action. It points out that the universe is a cosmos or living harmony in ceaseless generation.

The article examines 19th-century Korean Confucian scholar Ch'oe Han-gi's interpretation of Newtonian mechanics and its relationship to Confucian natural philosophy. The author explains Ch'oe's attempts to reconcile Western science with the Chinese philosophical principle of qi, or ultimate substance. The scholar's development of a mechanics that incorporated this principle, the Qi Globe Theory, is then detailed. In this sense, the article more broadly explains the combination of Eastern philosophy and Western science in Korea.

The article presents a dialectical analysis of the development of Confucian ethics in postmodern world. It says that in today's world, people are losing the value of freedom, and the Confucian development can bring new awakening which will balance modernity and strengthen the humanity. It suggests people to develop a sense of depth of their existence, attain spiritual realization and self transcendence. It explains the importance of understanding the five-stage development of Confucianism.

The article discusses the special issue of the Journal of Chinese Philosophy dedicated in memory of the late Professor Antonio S. Cua of the Catholic University of America. According to the author, Professor Cua, who had been coeditor of the Journal for long years, has devoted most of his works on Western moral philosophy, moral psychology and Chinese philosophy, with particular focus in Confucian ethics.

The article discusses the concept of Confucian self cultivation that include the ancient wisdoms, traditions and practices in Confucian thinking. According to the author, a characteristic feature of the Confucian tradition tends to appeal towards the past. Also included are arguments on the incorrect assumption about conceptual use of the past in Confucianism.