Abstract
Under the influence of Confucian culture, industrial East Asia has developed a less adversarial, less individualistic, and less self‐interested modern civilization. As such, the synergy engendered by individual initiatives with group orientation has made this region economically and politically the most dynamic area of the world since the Second World War. This paper engages with this development by exploring the Confucian perception of human flourishing which is based upon the dignity of the person, in terms of a series of concentric circles: self, family, community, society, nation, world, and cosmos. It is in the anthropocosmic spirit that we find communication between self and community, harmony between human species and nature, and mutuality between humanity and Heaven. This integrated comprehensive vision of learning to be human can very well serve as a point of departure for a new discourse on the global ethic.
