These are carefully placed in the context of Chinese society, demonstrating how Confucius responded to the conflicts and pressures of his time and offered ...

The popularity of Confucianism is on the rise, not only in China, but also internationally. Confucian values are praised as the (universal) way, especially in the face of current political, social, and economic crises. The philosopher's legacy has now endured for over 2,500 years, and Confucian ideas have gained recognition as an Eastern alternative to Western concepts. This return to China's very own tradition and values can be seen as symbolizing China's new self-confidence. This volume focuses on the resurgence of (...) Confucianism in order to examine the role played by Confucian ideas in the present and the past, as well as the potential future form of a new Confucian culture. The articles range from the perception of Confucianism in Europe at the time of the Enlightenment to Neo-Confucian debates and approaches. (Series: Chinese History and Society - Berliner China-Hefte - Vol. 41). (shrink)

This essay compares Aristotle's conception of virtue with Confucius' key notion of ren (which has also been interpreted as "virtue") against the background of the revival of Aristotelian virtue ethics in the West and of Confucianism in the East. It argues that while Aristotle's virtue hinges on practical wisdom, Confucius' ren focuses on filial love, and on this basis interprets the respective theoretical merits and weaknesses of these two philosophers. The study is intended to show how Confucius (...) can contribute to contemporary virtue ethics. (shrink)

This edition goes beyond others that largely leave readers to their own devices in understanding this cryptic work, by providing an entrée into the text that parallels the traditional Chinese way of approaching it: alongside Slingerland's exquisite rendering of the work are his translations of a selection of classic Chinese commentaries that shed light on difficult passages, provide historical and cultural context, and invite the reader to ponder a range of interpretations. The ideal student edition, this volume also includes a (...) general introduction, notes, multiple appendices--including a glossary of technical terms, references to modern Western scholarship that point the way for further study, and an annotated bibliography. (shrink)

Natural talent and diligent practice regularly lead to effortless virtuosity in many fields, such as music and athletics. Can the same be true of morality? Confucius’s wonderfully terse autobiography in the Analects suggests that, given the right starting materials and an appropriate curriculum of study, a program of moral self-cultivation can indeed lead to effortless moral virtuosity. But can we make sense of this claim from a contemporary perspective? This paper evaluates the plausibility of the moral ideal in the (...) Analects using resources from contemporary moral psychology. (shrink)

Confucius is one of the most influential figures--as historical individual and as symbol--in world history; and the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius and his disciples, is a classic of world literature. Nonetheless, how to understand both figure and text is constantly under dispute. Surprisingly, this volume is the first and only anthology on these topics in English. Here, contributors apply a variety of different methodologies (including philosophical, philological, and religious) and address a number of important topics, from (...) Confucius and Western "virtue ethics" to Confucius' attitude toward women to the historical composition of the text of the Analects. Scholars will appreciate the rigor of these essays, while students and beginners will find them accessible and engaging. (shrink)

This work builds on earlier works, which defend Confucianism against charges of sexism and present interpretations of Confucianism compatible with Feminism, but contributors go beyond the much discussed care ethics, and common arguments of how ren (humaneness) can ground an egalitarian humanism that include gender equality. Besides ethics and political philosophy topics, this volume includes discussions in other philosophical areas such as epistemology, metaphysics, and applied philosophy. Through the encounter of Feminism and Confucius’s perspectives, each contributor generates novel answers (...) to the questions addressed. In some cases, authors raise new questions about the chosen topic, inadequacies in how it has been addressed in previous Confucian or Feminist discourse, and/or challenges for either or both Confucianism and Feminism. (shrink)

Whose Tradition? Which Dao? Confucius and Wittgenstein on Moral Learning and Reflection by James F. Peterman addresses the valuable position that Confucius’ dao can and has to be understood within the useful framework of Wittgensteinian forms of life, their concrete language games, and the mastery of techniques and rule- following, and that Wittgenstein’s forms of life embody critical therapeutic interventions that can be better understood through Confucian ideas of moral practice and reflection, most significantly as the practice of (...) ritual. Placing Confucianism in a global philosophical context is necessary, since the self-sufficiency of Confucianism demands that it should be possible to... (shrink)

We put the bifocal stance theory (BST) into dialogue with the Confucian approach to ritual. The aim of the commentary is two-fold: To draw on BST to provide an explanatory framework for a Confucian approach to social learning and, while doing so, to show how Chinese (Confucian) philosophy can contribute to debates in cultural evolution. -/- In response to: Jagiello, R., Heyes, C., & Whitehouse, H. (2022). Tradition and invention: The bifocal stance theory of cultural evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, (...) 45, E249. doi:10.1017/S0140525X22000383. (shrink)

Building on prior research in Confucianism and business, the current study examines the effects of Confucianism on consumer trust of government involvement with products and company brands. Based on three major ideas of Confucianism – meritocracy, loyalty to superior, and separation of responsibilities – it is expected that consumers under the influence of Confucianism would perceive products from government-involved enterprises to have more desirable attributes and show preference for their company brands. Findings from an empirical study in the Chinese automobile (...) market support the hypotheses. The results suggest that small firms doing business in China would especially benefit from some association with the government. These results also provide managerial implications for enterprises in other countries with a Confucian cultural background. (shrink)

Will democracy figure prominently in China's future? If so, what kind of democracy? In this insightful and thought-provoking book, David Hall and Roger Ames explore such questions and, in the course of answering them, look to the ideas of John Dewey and Confucius.

A substantial reason behind the Confucian canonization of the Yijing can be located in some underlying patterns of thinking common to both the Yijing and The Analects; especially relevant here is the doctrine of rectification of names. In particular, I analyze the fundamental structure of the Yijing by means of the names and symbols standing in unique semantic/semiotic relations to the world, and I go on to suggest that this is what is importantly entailed by the doctrine of the rectification (...) of names when the latter is understood by means of the perlocutionary function of the prescriptive language. (shrink)

Born in China about 551 b.c., Confucius formulated an extremely influential and far-reaching ethical system emphasizing devotion to parents, family, and friends; cultivation of the mind, self-control, and just social activity. In this excellent biography, a noted Japanese scholar develops an insightful portrait of Confucius against the social and political background of his day, based on a meticulous and detailed examination of early original sources. Following an extensive introductory section devoted to the state of China in the sixth (...) and fifth centuries b.c., the author offers succinct, perceptive discussions of Confucius' birth, education, and upbringing; his attitudes toward his predecessors, and views on man as a social being; Confucius as a statesman, the concept of "government by virtue," the failure of the Confucian revolution, the years of wandering, and more. Concise, carefully researched and well-written, this volume offers an excellent introduction to the life and thought of one of history's most influential thinkers--a book sure to appeal to anyone interested in the philosophical, political, and religious movements of the ancient Far East. Unabridged republication of the work published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London and The Macmillan Company, New York, 1956. Translated by Geoffrey Bownas. General Introduction. Translator's Note. Appendices. Index. 1 black-and-white illustration. 2 maps. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Recent Works on Confucius and the AnalectsRonnie LittlejohnConfucius and the Analects: New Essays. Edited by Bryan W. Van Norden. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Pp. x + 342. Hardcover $65.00. Paper $24.95.Confucius: Analects with Selections from Traditional Commentaries. Translated by Edward Slingerland. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2003. Pp. xxix + 279. Hardcover $18.00. Paper $10.95.I do not think I can remember reading a professional review of any (...) scholarly work beginning with the imperative "Rush out and buy these books!" But I am not embarrassed to open my comments about these two new volumes on the work of Confucius with just such advice. I think that these works should be included in the personal and institutional libraries of any public interested in classical Confucianism and the Analects. I will review them in the order of their publication. Accordingly, Professor Slingerland's work, although a translation and commentary on the Lun yu, will follow the set of essays compiled and edited by Professor Van Norden. Although this seems to be a rather straightforward procedure, the reader may well wonder whether Slingerland's translation and its extensive use of the commentarial tradition on the Analects in any way displaces one or more of the essays in Van Norden's collection. Remarkably, I did not find this to be true at all. I think this is a tribute largely to the Van Norden anthology and the quality of the scholarship represented by its contributors.The Van Norden collection contains ten essays. In part 1 there are four grouped under the heading "Keeping Warm the Old," and in part 2 there are six under the topic "Appreciating the New." This is a grouping inspired by Analects 2.11: "One who can keep warm the old, yet appreciate the new, is fit to be a teacher." The editor's principal reason for this division in the material is that the authors of the essays in the first section accept the canonical integrity of the Analects and its worldview (or at least they do not explicitly call this into question or depend on a text or form a critical analysis in any of their arguments). In contrast, the authors in the second section explore issues that have not been a part of the commentarial and interpretive tradition on Confucius or the Analects, and many of them employ a textual critical apparatus to buttress their arguments and hermeneutical constructions.Before I provide an overview of the component essays, I want to make a few observations about the "Introduction" written by Van Norden. While it is often the purpose of the editor of an anthology to preview the component essays in the collection, [End Page 99] this is not Van Norden's intention. Looking at the result, I must say that I am very grateful he did not follow the usual pattern. What Van Norden has provided is a readily accessible overview of China in the period before and after Confucius, and a very tight and up-to-date summary of the life of Confucius. It is the best five-page introduction I have found to the current literary and textual debate about the Analects arising from the work of Bruce and Taeko Brooks, and a very decent survey of key concepts in the Confucian philosophical lexicon taken from the Analects.The first essay in part 1 is "Naturalness Revisited: Why Western Philosophers Should Study Confucius" by Joel Kupperman of the University of Connecticut, who was a student of H. G. Creel at the University of Chicago in the mid-1950s. Kupperman holds that there are gaps in Western ethical philosophy that correspond to interesting and important lines of thought to be found in Confucius. What he has in mind specifically is an interest he finds in Confucius on matters of style and decorum in life. He thinks that Western thought has neglected the style of interpersonal interaction because of its preoccupation with moral choice and decision. Although he takes up two possible counterexamples (Nietzsche and Aristotle), I do not believe most readers will find his way of setting them aside to be very satisfying. His work in this part of the essay... (shrink)

How much should adult children sacrifice to care for their chronically ill parents? If parents commit crimes, should their children report them to the authorities? What are the demands of filial obligation in these cases? Traditionally, Confucians have favoured a somewhat stringent view of filial obligation. By this view, adult children have to provide long‐term care to their parents as well as place their parents' interests over any concerns of justice, should the two happen to conflict. I will call these (...) stringent views the principles of filial caregiving and filial favoritism. In this paper, I will use Scanlon's Contractualism to analyze the two principles, and juxtapose the Contractualist analysis with the Confucian filial piety. By doing this, we sharpen Confucianism's critical elements, and highlight the coherence of Contractualism with this ethical ideology from a non‐analytic tradition. (shrink)

The paper tries to point out that while May Sim’s book is helpful for stimulating critical and systematic comparative study of Aristotle and Confucius, its overly Aristotelian approach results in the author’s misleading assessment of Confucius and Confucianism. Because Confucianism aims primarily at offering systematic instructions of how to live a good life, and not at establishing a theory or finding truth, the true value of Confucianism would be eclipsed if he is taken against an Aristotelian measure.

This article looks at fatherhood through a Confucian lens of ritual, excellence, and wisdom. Ritual within society, like grammar in speech, provides a means of expression for thoughts and feelings. Confucius’ Analects contains an implicit virtue ethic focused on excellence in family relationships through ritual. I contrast Confucius’ treatment of law and family with Plato’s dilemma in Euthyphro. Practical wisdom then provides the key to knowing when to use what ritual to express one's feelings such that this is (...) conveyed to the recipient. Finally, I argue that "The Prodigal Son" typifies excellent fatherhood in its wise use of ritual. (shrink)

Joseph Grange's book, John Dewey, Confucius, and Global Philosophy, seeks to create a dialogue between Dewey's pragmatism and Confucianism in order to analyze the two traditions and parse out their more salient, and similar, tenets. In order to provide a comparative analysis of Eastern and Western traditions, it is necessary to establish a starting point since they are inherently different due to the cultures in which they have traditionally been embedded.Grange references the popular comparison of John Dewey to a (...) "Second Confucius" and sets out to make a case for this comparison. Grange offers a comparative look at the philosophical underpinnings of Confucianism and the ways in which its more salient points can be... (shrink)

Even the most casual observer of Chinese society is aware of the tremendous significance of Confucianism as a linchpin of both ancient and modern Chinese identity. Furthermore, the Confucian tradition has exercised enormous influence over the values and institutions of the other cultures of East Asia, an influence that continues to be important in the global Asian diaspora. If forecasters are correct in labeling the 21st century 'the Chinese century,' teachers and scholars of religious studies and theology will be called (...) upon to illuminate the history, character, and role of Confucianism as a religious tradition in Chinese and Chinese-influenced societies. The essays in this volume will address the specifically pedagogical challenges of introducing Confucian material to non-East Asian scholars and students. Informed by the latest scholarship as well as practical experience in the religious studies and theology classroom, the essays are attentive to the various settings within which religious material is taught and sensitive to the needs of both experts in Confucian studies and those with no background in Asian studies who are charged with teaching these traditions. The authors represent all the arenas of Confucian studies, from the ancient to the modern. Courses involving Confucius and Confucianism have proliferated across the disciplinary map of the modern university. This volume will be an invaluable resource for instructors not only in religious studies departments and theological schools, but also teachers of world philosophy, non-Western philosophy, Asian studies, and world history. (shrink)

With selections from over 100 figures covering the 1560s to the 1960s, this two-volume work features writing from three continents, with sources including Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Max Weber, Bertrand Russell, and Ezra Pound. Arranged chronologically, they represent methodologies that span philosophy, political science, religious studies, sociology, anthropology, economic theory, linguistics, missionary texts, and works of popular moralism. Together they reveal important ideological trends in Western attitudes toward China.

In this article, the Golden Rule, a central ethical value to both Judaism and Confucianism, is evaluated in its prescriptive and proscriptive sentential formulations. Contrary to the positively worded, prescriptive formulation – “Love others as oneself” – the prohibitive formulation, which forms the injunction, “Do not harm others, as one would not harm oneself,” is shown to be the more prevalent Judaic and Confucian presentation of the Golden Rule. After establishing this point, the remainder of the article is dedicated to (...) an inquiry into why this preference between the two Golden-Rule-formulations occurs. In doing so, this article discovers four main benefits to the proscriptive formulations: I) harm-doing, as opposed to generalizable moral goodness, is easier for individuals to subjectively comprehend II) the prevention of harm-doing is the most fundamental ethical priority III) the proscriptive formulation preserves self-directed discovery of what is good, thus preserving moral autonomy IV) individuals are psychologically pre-disposed toward responding to prohibitions rather than counsels of goodness. (shrink)

Two controversial cases in Confucian literature present the demands of filial piety as conflicting with those of impartial justice. Let us call them the Case of Concealment (Analects18.13) and the Case of Evasion (Mencius7A53). Adogmaticreading of the texts indicates that both Confucius and Mencius give more weight to filial piety than to justice. This essay, however, provides an alternative reading of the cases:the liberal reading. I argue that the Confucian teachers used the cases as moral dilemmas that force Confucian (...) students to learn how to use a cluster of Confucian virtues, including practical wisdom, discretion, and straight determination, under difficult circumstances. The liberal reading views these moral dilemmas as rhetorical tools; they guide Confucian students in meditative exercises and ultimately transform students’ mode of seeing and being. (shrink)

Since the Opium War, the traditional Chinese society has been increasingly subject to the crushing impact of the modern Western civilization. Confucianism, as the normative discourse that had prevailed over the Chinese society for more than two thousands years, had inevitably to face the Western challenge head-on. From the end of the nineteenth century onward, the influence of Confucianism as regards the actual life of the Chinese people continues to diminish, and its normative place has almost been completely taken up (...) by the modern social theories imported from the West. Some Chinese scholars, therefore, has declared that Confucianism has become a "wandering ghost". But at the same time, there are also many contemporary Confucians who try to find a new body for the "ghost" of Confucianism. At the academic domain, this kind of attempt is usually based upon some sort of "modern interpretation" of Confucianism. But paradoxically, this kind of modern interpretation usually borrows its interpretative frameworks from the West. It goes without saying that the respective backgrounds upon which Confucianism and those modern West theories arose are gravely different. Hence, these modern interpretations generally tend to abstract the discourse of Confucianism from its social and historical background and treat it as some sorts of purely abstract concepts. But even after the abstraction, this kind of modern interpretations could still hardly fit well into the discourse of Confucianism. The aim of the present treatise is to re-interpret the discourse of Confucius, by means of both careful scholarship and detailed philosophical arguments, based upon the words of Confucius himself and other informations concerning his social and historical surroundings, in order to show that the discourse of Confucius is intricately involved with its living background. The author is going to point out that the discourse of Confucius is actually not so much concerned with "metaphysics of morals" of whatsoever sort as with the order and disorder of the society. At the end of the treatise, the author will also try to re-evaluate, with reference to the recent results of scientific research, the significance of Confucianism in the modern world. (shrink)

Confucianism has long been considered an ethical system that consciously opposes material interest. Most tellingly, upon King Hui of Liang’s question of how to make his state profitable, the quintessential political question that no sensible political leader can afford to avoid, Mencius, one of the three giants of Confucianism (alongside Confucius and Xunzi), responded, “Why must you mention the word ‘profit’ (he bi yue li 何必曰利)? All that matters is that there should be benevolence (ren 仁) and rightness (yi (...) 義).”1As Mencian Confucianism became dominant in mainstream Chinese politics in the eleventh century, later Confucians, especially Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucians, who were strongly influenced by Mencius, never .. (shrink)

This volume focuses on contemporary Confucianism, and collects essays by famous sinologists such as Guy Alitto, John Makeham, Tse-ki Hon and others. The content is divided into three sections - addressing the "theory" and "practice" of contemporary Confucianism, as well as how the two relate to each other - to provide readers a more meaningful understanding of contemporary Confucianism and Chinese culture. In 1921, at the height of the New Culture Movement's iconoclastic attack on Confucius, Liang Shuming fatefully predicted (...) that in fact the future world culture would be Confucian. Over the nine decades that followed, Liang's reputation and the fortunes of Confucianism in China rose and fell together. So, readers may be interested in the question whether it is possible that a reconstituted "Confucianism" might yet become China's spiritual mainstream and a major constituent of world culture. (shrink)

Yuejiao was the primary form of education ever since the time of Emperors Yao and Shun. This tradition of valuing Yue over Li lasted till the Three Dynasties period. After the Spring and Autumn Period, Lijiao became the dominant form, but it still consisted of a lot of yue. Seeing the declining of this tradition, Confucius claimed to “follow upon Zhou”. That is, he wanted to recover and inherit this ideology that engages primarily in music cultivation supplemented by ritual (...) normalization. His statement: “Let a man be first incited by the Songs, then given a firm footing by the study of ritual, and finally perfected by music,” also shows his emphasis on Yue. More proofs can be found in Confucian classics such as Analects and the Record of Rites, in which discourses on/ about beauty and goodness are characterized by the juxtaposition of Li and Yue to serve a higher purpose for the pre-Qin Confucians. However, this ideology was not inherited by later Confucians. And the consequence is with the increasing status and impact of Confucianism in China in the past 2500 years, such a tradition of valuing Yue over Li gradually turned into a tradition of valuing Li over Yue. This, however, is inconsistent with both Confucius’ ideology of Li and Yue and the real characteristic of Chinese cultural tradition. (shrink)

This essay studies equality and inequality in Confucianism. By studying Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, and other classic thinkers, I argue that Confucian equality is manifested in two forms. Numerical equality is founded in the Mencian belief that every person is born with the same moral potential and the Xunzian notion that all people have the same xing and the same potential for moral cultivation. It is also manifested in the form of role-based equality. Proportional equality, however, is the main notion (...) of equality in Confucian philosophy. Proportional equality is realized in moral, economic, and political realms. On the basis of these notions of Confucian equality, I propose two Confucian political principles for contemporary society. The first is the inclusive principle of general election by citizenry, and the second is the exclusive principle of qualification for public offices. (shrink)

How Confucius Changed My Mind invites readers on a path of transformation, narrating how encounters with Confucian thought can bring about a fundamental reshaping of the way we engage with ourselves and the world.

One’s translating, reading, and understanding of texts from other eras and traditions are conditioned by tacit assumptions built into one’s own vocabulary and psycho-cultural understanding of self—of which one tends to be only intuitively aware. Thus, for example, when encountering the vocabulary in Classical Chinese for “I,” “me,” “mine,” “self,” et cetera, modern readers are inclined to import their own linguistic, cognitive, and cultural intuitions about these terms, unconsciously and without second thought. This has been particularly problematic for modern Western (...) readers of the Confucian classics, who tend to take self as ontologically and ethically individual. However, recent psychological accounts of self... (shrink)

Confucius’ ideas on economics are few, but through his ethics one may attain an idea of what kind of economics he would have found acceptable. Confucius’ ethics are based upon the natural goodness of human nature. In his mind, human beings are naturally kind to one another. One does not really need the Christian concept of benevolence for Confucius, because benevolence implies that one is going a step beyond what one would ordinarily do. The meaning of benevolence (...) is to be greater than oneself, greater than the normal. For Confucius, kindness is intrinsic to human nature. His is the idea of natural kindness. (shrink)

This article is a continuation of Part I, which looked at the relationship between Confucianism and Daoism by first introducing general approaches, before moving on to (1) perspectives on names and actualities; (2) cultivation, learning, the natural; and (3) conceptions of the person. Continuing with the theme‐based comparison of Confucianism and Daoism by looking specifically at the Lunyu 論語 (Analects of Confucius), Daodejing 道德經 (Classic of the Way and Virtuosity) or Laozi 老子 (Book of Master Lao), and the Zhuangzi (...) 莊子 (Book of Master Zhuang), this article looks at (1) politics, nonaction (wuwei 無為), and virtuosity (de 德); (2) morality, virtues, and human nature (xing 性); and finally (3) Dao 道, or “the way.” It references Part I, and while it can be read independently, it is best taken as a continuation of Part I. The conclusion included herein summarizes both Part II and Part I. (shrink)

공자의 인(仁) 사상은 춘추시대 중국에서 출현했고 상호문화교육은 1970년대 서유럽 선진국에서 출현했다. 이 둘은 동양과 서양이라는 지리적 차이와 2,500년이라는 시간적 차이에도 불구하고 여러 가지 면에서 비슷하다. 먼저, 이 둘은 사람과 사람의 관계를 강조한다. 인(仁)은 사람 인(人)과 두 이(二)를 합쳐 만든 글자고, 상호문화교육에서 ‘상호’는 사람과 사람의 상호작용을 의미한다. 다음으로, 이 둘은 사람과 사람 사이의 원만한 관계의 출발점을 자기에서 찾는다. 극기복례에서 ‘극기’는 자기의 이기심을 이기는 것이고, 탈중심은 자기중심주의에서 벗어나는 것을 말한다. 마지막으로, 이 둘은 사회 질서의 복원을 목표로 한다. 공자는 춘추시대라는 난세에 사회 질서를 (...) 수립하기 위해 인(仁)을 내세웠고, 상호문화교육은 국제화, 세계화 시대에 정주민과 이주민 간의 새로운 질서를 만들기 위해 상호문화역량을 강조했다. 본 논문은 『논어』에 나오는 인(仁)을 정의, 목적, 내용, 방법으로 나누어 살펴보고, 이것들을 상호문화교육의 그것들과 비교해 본 다음, 이러한 유사점이 한국다문화사회에 던지는 시사점을 찾아보고자 한다. (shrink)

Whether Confucianism is a religion or not has been a controversial issue for many years. Recently, along with the “national revitalization” movement in China, Confucianism has been valued and advocated again in China at both official and civil levels. This trend sometimes has been perceived by some observers as a kind of religious revival movement. This paper analysis some key components in the thought of Confucius, such as his idea and attitude towards “Gods”, “Tian” and other divine or supernatural (...) beings, in order to prove that, although Confucius does not exclude religious faith, and has accepted some traditional religious rituals, the basic Confucian doctrines are not constructed on any religious foundation. The essence of Confucianism is humanism and rationalism characterized with the practical reason of “zhongdaology”. It provides a rational base for constructing the secular ideology in ancient China. In today’s Chinese society, Confucianism can still play a role in constructing the modern secular ideology, which may accommodate cultural diversity yet maintain a harmonious social political environment. (shrink)

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 was the first to link the ‘perpetual peace’ and ‘supreme concord’ of the Chinese state to the Confucian intellectual tradition. As the Jesuits’ missionary strategy developed under the tutelage of Matteo Ricci, ‘public peace’ and (...) ‘the calm of the Republic’ 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, 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. (shrink)

Although Western and Chinese philosophy evolved from disparate doctrinal foundations, the department of ethics is a notable exception. “How to live the good life” is a subject treated by Confucius and Aristotle in a manner that exhibits many surprising points of coincidence, not least in the colossal influence of both these philosophers on the social and political shape of their respective civilisations. This article is an attempt to correlate the relevant ideas which, as it were, build a bridge between (...) East and West on the perennial issues that affect all mankind in the context of a civil society. (shrink)

This authoritative collection surveys the teachings of Confucius, and illustrates his importance throughout Chinese history in one focused and incisive volume. A Concise Companion to Confucius offers a succinct introduction to one of East Asia’s most widely-revered historical figures, providing essential coverage of his legacy at a manageable length. The volume embraces Confucius as philosopher, teacher, politician, and sage, and curates a collection of key perspectives on his life and teachings from a team of distinguished scholars in (...) philosophy, history, religious studies, and the history of art. Taken together, chapters encourage specialists to read across disciplinary boundaries, provide nuanced paths of introduction for students, and engage interested readers who want to expand their understanding of the great Chinese master. Divided into four distinct sections, the Concise Companion depicts a coherent figure of Confucius by examining his diverse representations from antiquity through to the modern world. Readers are guided through the intellectual and cultural influences that helped shape the development of Confucian philosophy and its reception among late imperial literati in medieval China. Later essays consider Confucius’s engagement with topics such as warfare, women, and Western philosophy, which remain fruitful avenues of philosophical inquiry today. The collection concludes by exploring the significance of Confucian thought in East Asia’s contemporary landscape and the major intellectual movements which are reviving and rethinking his work for the twenty-first century. An indispensable resource, A Concise Companion to Confucius blazes an authoritative trail through centuries of scholarship to offer exceptional insight into one of history’s earliest and most influential ancient philosophers. A Concise Companion to Confucius: Provides readers with a broad range of perspectives on the ancient philosopher Traces the significance of Confucius throughout Chinese history—past, present, and future Offers a unique, interdisciplinary overview of Confucianism Curated by a team of distinguished scholars in philosophy, history, religious studies, and the history of art A Concise Companion to Confucius is an ideal text for undergraduate and graduate courses on Confucius and Confucianism. It is also fascinating and informative reading for anyone interested in learning more about one of history’s most influential philosophers. (shrink)