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The article discusses the philosophy of Mou Zongsan, an important figure in Chinese philosophy in the 20th century. Mou developed a new Confucian social-political philosophy that combined elements of Buddhism, democracy, and science. The author of the article, Roy Tseng, explores Mou's philosophy and argues that it can be seen as a form of Confucian liberalism. Tseng also connects Mou's philosophy to British idealism, particularly the work of T.H. Green. The article highlights the importance of individuality in Confucianism and suggests that a paradigm shift to post-metaphysical thinking may be necessary to fully develop a viable concept of individuality. [Extracted from the article]

My central claim is that resonances between Transcendentalist and Chinese philosophies are so strong that the former cannot be adequately appreciated without the latter. I give attention to the Analects, the Mengzi and the Tiantai Lotus Sutra, which Transcendentalists read. Because there was conceptual sharing across Chinese traditions, plus evidence suggesting Transcendentalists explored other texts, my analysis includes discussions of Daoism and Weishi, Huayan and Chan Buddhism. To name just some similarities between the targeted outlooks, Transcendentalists adopt something close to wu-wei or effortless action; though hostile to hierarchy, they echo the Confucian stress on rituals or habits; Thoreau's individualistic libertarianism is moderated by a radical causal holism found in many Chinese philosophies; and variants of Chinese Buddhism get close to Transcendentalist metaphysics and epistemologies, which anticipate radical embodied cognitive science. A specific argument is that Transcendentalists followed some of their Chinese counterparts by conserving the past and converting it into radicalism. A meta-argument is that ideas were exchanged via trade from Europe through North Africa to Western Asia and India into the Far East, and contact with Indigenous Americans led to the same. This involved degrees of misrepresentation, but it nonetheless calls upon scholars to adopt more global approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the Confucian political philosophy of China, Roger Ames presents "family feeling" (xiao) as a candidate for a universal minimalist morality. Challenging certain conventional views in political philosophy that see family feeling as a threat to achieving an egalitarian level playing field, Ames underscores the ethical and political significance of family, advocating for the integration of familial sentiments into the political sphere. He addresses modern challenges, showing how diverse cultural expressions are allowed for within this philosophy's pluralistic and locally focused framework. This dynamic ethical perspective rooted in the shared sentiment of family feeling challenges us to critically reexamine Confucianism, China, and our entire geopolitical situation. [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]

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]

Is Confucian democracy philosophically justifiable? In recent decades, prominent Confucian theorists have answered this question in the negative, arguing that the political system that is consistent with Confucianism is political meritocracy or elite rule. This position presupposes an antithetical relation between democracy and Confucianism. In order to counter such a position, this article proposes a philosophically justifiable normative conception of Confucian democracy. By carefully examining democracy theories of Jean Jacques Rousseau and Carl Schmitt in the civic humanist republican tradition and Confucian political philosophy in the Mencian tradition, this article demonstrates that the substantive value of democracy as popular sovereignty is a fundamental idea undergirding and safeguarding the ideal Confucian politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A persistent feature in Jesuit reports about the late Ming and early Qing was the notion that an enduring peace and concord pervaded the Chinese political system. Although the Jesuits did not invent this association, which was rooted in Greco-Roman historiography, the Jesuit encyclopaedist Antonio Possevino (1533-1611) was the first to link the 'perpetual peace' (perpetua pax) and 'supreme concord' (summa concordia) of the Chinese state to the Confucian intellectual tradition. As the Jesuits' missionary strategy developed under the tutelage of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), 'public peace' (pax publica) and 'the calm of the Republic' (Republica quies) came to be perceived as the ultimate purpose of the Confucian precepts and one of the hinges on which the aims of Christianity, Confucianism and natural law can be reconciled. The supreme expression of the link between Confucianism and peace can be found in the Confucius Sinarum philosophus (1687), which presented for the first time an accessible translation of three of the four Confucian classics. Yet while retaining the view that pre-Qin Confucianism espoused peace as a central political aim, the Confucius Sinarum philosophus challenged the view that contemporary China could be regarded as a utopic actualization of Confucian peace. This paper will discuss this shift as an attempt to coopt the Chinese political experience as an argument against the pragmatic political philosophy known as 'reason of state', which was perceived by Jesuit thinkers as atheistic and immoral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since China's reform and opening up in 1978, the study of Chinese philosophy has proceeded together with the times, not only making tremendous academic progress, but also serving as an important part of research on Chinese culture that undertakes the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and Chinese culture. This essay gives a brief review of the study of Chinese philosophy over the last forty years with particular attention to five aspects, namely the new horizons in the study of Chinese philosophy, the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, the comparison between Chinese and Western philosophy that also involves the "legitimacy" of the former, the relevance of Chinese philosophy for contemporary times, and the basic methodologies of Chinese philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confucianism has been historically intertwined with authoritarianism in general and monarchy in specific. Various contemporary attempts to reconcile Confucianism with democracy have yielded controversial results mostly due to the theoretical tension between the authoritarian character of the former and the liberal one of the latter. This article seeks to develop an alternative route to Confucian democracy by drawing from Huang Zongxi’s 黃宗羲 Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince (Mingyi Daifang Lu 明夷待訪錄). In this well-known work, Huang argues for a form of limited government that is built upon laws, political protection of academic freedom, good institutional designs, and separation of governmental powers. While these features seem to qualify Huang only as a defective liberal, this article argues that they are in much coherence with the insights of republicanism concerning good governance. This article will argue that the republican themes embodied in Waiting for the Dawn can justify and support a particular form of Confucian republican democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jesuits in China adopted key Confucian terms to express Christian notions; for example, Tian 天 or Shangdi 上帝 was considered an equivalent for God, and guishen 鬼神 for angels. A Terms controversy started among the Jesuits and other missionaries and developed into the famous Rites Controversy. However, all the missionaries agreed in rejecting the Neo-Confucian concept of Taiji 太極, which was believed to be materialistic, pantheistic, or atheistic. The Flemish Jesuit François Noël (1651-1729), after a careful study of Neo-Confucian texts, interpreted Taiji with the Western concept of nature, and even claimed that it held theistic meaning. We shall analyze and evaluate here this early Western attempt in giving a positive meaning to Taiji. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of contemporary literature in rhizomatic retranslation to Classical canon through modern poetic translation and retranslation theories. It addresses the contemporary concept of Greek literature and Classical Chinese literature in cultural and literary development. It also notes on the principles of connection and heterogeneity in generative grammar.

This paper aims at looking at the interconnection between public service motivation (PSM) and Confucian political philosophy. Confucian political philosophy outlines how those in public offices, whether as a ruler or as an official, should act. We will analyze the Western definition of PSM with reference to the meaning of the word “public” and attempt to show that Confucian administrative ethics is highly pertinent to the discussion of PSM. Perry’s (1996) definition of PSM has four different dimensions—namely, attraction to public policy making, commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. The first dimension of PSM is incongruent with Confucian philosophy, while the other three dimensions match well with Confucianism. However, this is an ideal rather than a reality of “Confucianism in practice” in Confucian societies. In fact, Confucianism is linked to PSM in a prescriptive, rather than a descriptive, way. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In response to the Royal Society report's claim that "the acceptability of geoengineering will be determined as much by social, legal, and political issues as by scientific and technical factors" (Geoengineering the Climate: Science, Governance and Uncertainty [London: Royal Society, 2009], ix), a number of authors have suggested the key to this challenge is to engage the public in geoengineering decision-making. In effect, some have argued that inclusion of the public in geoengineering decisionmaking is necessary for any geoengineering project to be morally permissible. Yet, while public engagement on geoengineering comes in various forms, the discussion in geoengineering governance and the ethics of geoengineering have too often conceptualized it exclusively in terms of public participation in decision-making, and supported it by various liberal democratic values. However, if the predominant understanding of public engagement on--or, the role of the public in--geoengineering decision-making is indeed only grounded on liberal democratic values, then its normative relevance could be challenged by and in other ethical-political traditions that do not share those values. In this paper, I shall explore these questions from a Confucian perspective. I argue that the liberal democratic values invoked in support of the normative importance of public participation are, at least, foreign to Confucian political philosophy. This presents a prima facie challenge to view public participation in geoengineering decision-making as a universal moral requirement, and invites us to reconsider the normative significance of this form of public engagement in Confucian societies. Yet, I contend that the role of the public remains normatively significant in geoengineering governance and the ethics of geoengineering from a Confucian perspective. Drawing from recent work on Confucian political philosophy, I illustrate the potential normative foundation for public engagement on geoengineering decision-making. [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 essay investigates Xunzi's political philosophy of ba dao (Hegemonic Rule). It argues that Xunzi's practical philosophy of ba dao was developed in the course of resolving the tension between theory and practice latent in Mencius's account of ba dao. Its central claim is that contra Mencius who remained torn between his ideal political theory of ba dao and the practical utility and moral value of ba dao, Xunzi creatively re-appropriated ba dao as a 'morally decent' (if not morally ideal) statecraft, within the parameter of practical Confucian philosophy. After examining the moral and political value of ba dao in both domestic and international governance, the essay concludes by arguing that Xunzi's defense of ba dao should be understood in the context of what I call 'negative Confucianism,' without which the realization of the Confucian moral-political ideal (or positive Confucianism) is impossible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the 17 century Japanese Confucian I tō Jinsai's interpretation of Mencius. It is argued that I tō Jinsai grinds the Mencius with an axe of Japanese 'practical learning.' In his representation of Mencius, the government of 'Kindly Way' is upheld as the core value in Mencius' thought. Although there is a clear spirituality in his own philosophy, he stressed the political aspect of Mencius' thought at the expense of the transcendental aspect of his theory of human mind and nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Confucian political culture (including its concepts, systems, practices and folk customs) has a legacy that deserves careful reconsideration today. Its theories, institutions, and practices address the source, legitimacy, division and balance, and restriction of political power. Confucian politics is a type of "moral politics" which sticks to what ought to be and what is justifiable, and holds that political power comes from Heaven, mandate of Heaven or Dao of Heaven, which implies that justification and standards rest with the people referring to scholars peasants, workers and merchants. This type of justification is rooted in the public space and the autonomous strength of the people, and it finds guidance in the involvement, supervision, and criticism of the class of scholar-bureaucrats (shi ...). In this article, Western political philosophy will be taken as a frame of reference for evaluating Confucian conception of justice as well as Confucian ideas of distribution, fairness of opportunity, caring kindness for "the least advantaged," and institutional construction. It will argue that the leading characteristic of Confucian political theory is that of "substantive justice." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of Han Fei's most trenchant criticisms against the early Confucian political tradition is that, insofar as its decision-making process revolves around the ruler, rather than a codified set of laws, this process is the arbitrary rule of a single individual. Han Fei argues that there will be disastrous results due to ad hoc decision-making, relationship-based decision-making, and decision-making based on prior moral commitments. I lay out Han Fei's arguments while demonstrating how Xunzi can successfully counter them. In doing so, I argue that Xunzi lays out a political theory restricting the actions of the ruler through both the use of ritual and law, which allows him to develop a theory that legitimizes government while at the same time constraining itself. Xunzi's political theory makes important strides in its attempt to recognize the importance of the ruler as a moral exemplar while also restricting his control in the political process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the Confucian tradition, the ideal government is called ‘benevolent government’ (ren zheng), central to which is the ruler's parental love toward his people who he deems as his children. Hanfeizi criticized this seemingly innocent political idea by pointing out that (1) not only is the state not a family but even within the family parental love is short of making the children orderly and (2) ren as love inevitably results in the ruin of the state because it confuses what is right/meritorious with what is not, thus disrupts the legal system. In this paper, I defend Confucian virtue politics against Hanfeizi's criticisms. I argue that by failing to grasp the complex nature of ren that encompasses both emotion (ren as love) and moral virtue (ren as filiality), Hanfeizi also failed to understand the actual process in which the ruler's parental love is extended to the people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the Chinese intellectual tradition, King Wu's military expedition and Bo Yi's (and Shu Qi's) objection to it were well known. King Wu had been admired in that he saved people by dethroning the tyrant King Zhou. At the same time, Bo Yi and Shu Qi also had been praised for their loyalty to that same dynasty. These seemingly contradictory evaluations open a window on how unity can be conceived in Neo-Confucianism, particularly when one is faced with the possibility of colliding values. By examining the debate between Wang Yangming (1472-1529) and Zhan Ruoshui (1466-1560) over such a complex political issue, this article aims to unravel various tensions embedded in Neo-Confucian political philosophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses how his personal philosophy led him to the study of theology. He refers to the Confucian philosophical tradition through which he incorporated his questions and perspectives in his theology. He presents Judith Butler's works as a model on how the personal and the political may function in theological discourse. He cites his political philosophy as one where society is made up of individuals that equally make up a community and where one's capacity for compassion and forgiveness exceeds a capacity for suffering.