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Author: Heiner Roetz
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791416495
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 392
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Book Description
Confucian Ethics of the Axial Age describes the formative period of Chinese culture--the last centuries of the Zhou dynasty--as an early epoch of enlightenment. It comprehensively reconstructs the ethical discourse as thought gradually became emancipated from tradition and institutions. Rather than presenting a chronology of different thinkers and works, this book discusses the systematic aspects of moral philosophies. Based on original texts, Roetz focuses on filial piety; the conflict between the family and the state; the legitimating of the political order; the virtues of loyalty, friendship, and harmony; concepts of justice; the principle of humaneness and its different readings; the Golden Rule; the moral person; the autonomous self, motivation, decision and conscience; and various attempts to ground morality in religion, human nature, or reason. These topics are arranged in such a way that the genetic structure and the logical development of the moral reasoning becomes apparent. From this detached perspective, conventional morality is either rejected or critically reestablished under the restraint of new abstract and universal norms. This makes the Chinese developments part of the ancient worldwide movement of enlightenment of the axial age.
Author: Heiner Roetz
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791416495
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Get Book
Book Description
Confucian Ethics of the Axial Age describes the formative period of Chinese culture--the last centuries of the Zhou dynasty--as an early epoch of enlightenment. It comprehensively reconstructs the ethical discourse as thought gradually became emancipated from tradition and institutions. Rather than presenting a chronology of different thinkers and works, this book discusses the systematic aspects of moral philosophies. Based on original texts, Roetz focuses on filial piety; the conflict between the family and the state; the legitimating of the political order; the virtues of loyalty, friendship, and harmony; concepts of justice; the principle of humaneness and its different readings; the Golden Rule; the moral person; the autonomous self, motivation, decision and conscience; and various attempts to ground morality in religion, human nature, or reason. These topics are arranged in such a way that the genetic structure and the logical development of the moral reasoning becomes apparent. From this detached perspective, conventional morality is either rejected or critically reestablished under the restraint of new abstract and universal norms. This makes the Chinese developments part of the ancient worldwide movement of enlightenment of the axial age.
Author: Geir Sigurðsson
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438454414
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
A reconsideration of the Confucian concept li (ritual or ritual propriety), one that references Western philosophers as well as the Chinese context. Geir Sigurðsson offers a reconsideration of li, often translated as ritual or ritual propriety, one of the most controversial concepts in Confucian philosophy. Strong associations with the Zhou period during which Confucius lived have put this concept at odds with modernitys emphasis on progressive rationality and liberation from the yoke of tradition. Sigurðsson notes how the Confucian perspective on learning provides a more balanced understanding of li. He goes on to discuss the limitations of the critique of tradition and of rationalitys claim to authority, referencing several Western sources, notably Hans-Georg Gadamer, John Dewey, and Pierre Bourdieu. An exposition of the ancient Chinese worldview of time and continuous change further points to the inevitability of lis adaptable and flexible nature. Sigurðsson argues that Confucius and his immediate followers did not endorse a program of returning to the Zhou tradition, but rather of reviving the spirit of Zhou culture, involving active and personalized participation in traditions sustention and evolution.
Author: Siufu Tang
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 143846150X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 194
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Book Description
Confucian philosopher Xunzi’s moral thought is considered in light of the modern focus on self-realization. Self-Realization through Confucian Learning reconstructs Confucian thinker Xunzi’s moral philosophy in response to the modern focus on self-realization. Xunzi (born around 310 BCE) claims that human xing (“nature” or “native conditions”) is without an ethical framework and has a tendency to dominate, leading to bad judgments and bad behavior. Confucian ritual propriety (li) is needed to transform these human native conditions. Through li, people become self-directing: in control of feelings and desires and in command of their own lives. Siufu Tang explicates Xunzi’s understanding of the hierarchical structure of human agency to articulate why and how li is essential to self-realization. Ritual propriety also structures relationships to make a harmonious communal life possible. Tang’s focus on self-realization highlights how Confucianism can address the individual as well as the communal and serve as a philosophy for contemporary times. Siufu Tang is Associate Professor in the School of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong.
Author: May Sim
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139464582
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 191
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Book Description
Aristotle and Confucius are pivotal figures in world history; nevertheless, Western and Eastern cultures have in modern times largely abandoned the insights of these masters. Remastering Morals provides a book-length scholarly comparison of the ethics of Aristotle and Confucius. May Sim's comparisons offer fresh interpretations of the central teachings of both men. More than a catalog of similarities and differences, her study brings two great traditions into dialog so that each is able to learn from the other. This is essential reading for anyone interested in virtue-oriented ethics.
Author: Philip J. Ivanhoe
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438460139
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248
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Book Description
Employs Robert Bellahs notion of civil religion to explore East Asias Confucian revival. Can Confucianism be regarded as a civil religion for East Asia? This book explores this question, bringing the insights of Robert Bellah to a consideration of various expressions of the contemporary Confucian revival. Bellah identified American civil religion as a religious dimension of life that can be found throughout US culture, but one without any formal institutional structure. Rather, this civil form of religion provides the ethical principles that command reverence and by which a nation judges itself. Extending Bellahs work, contributors from both the social sciences and the humanities conceive of East Asias Confucian revival as a habit of the heart, an underlying belief system that guides a society, and examine how Confucianism might function as a civil religion in China, Korea, and Japan. They discuss what aspects of Confucian tradition and thought are being embraced; some of the social movements, political factors, and opportunities connected with the revival of the tradition; and why Confucianism has not traveled much beyond East Asia. The late Robert Bellahs reflection on the possibility for a global civil religion concludes the volume.
Author: Joseph B. Tamney
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
Confucianism has influenced Chinese societies for more than 2,000 years, and such influence is likely to continue in the future. However, during the preceding centuries, the nature of what was understood to be Confucianism has changed, and this process will also continue. Today, the scholarly tradition is adapting both to the modernization of Chinese societies—mainland China, Singapore, and Taiwan—and to the emergence of global society. Tamney and Chiang focus on current social changes, their implications for the Chinese scholarly tradition, and the responses of Confucianists to these changes. Special topics include the response of Confucian scholars to the democracy movement, how politicians are using Confucian beliefs and values, the role of the scholarly tradition in contemporary Chinese popular culture, the challenges to Confucianism resulting from the changing role of women, and how competition with world religions is affecting the scholarly tradition. Throughout the book two themes are explored: the division of Confucianism into traditionalist and modernist forms and the nature of ideological convergence in the contemporary world. Scholars, students, and researchers interested in the ways Confucianism is becoming more similar to Western beliefs and values and in the ways Confucianism is likely to remain distinctive will find the volume invaluable.
Author: Joseph A. Adler
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 143845158X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 344
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Book Description
Discusses how Zhou Dunyi's thought became a cornerstone of neo-Confucianism. Zhu Xi, the twelfth-century architect of the neo-Confucian canon, declared Zhou Dunyi to be the first true sage since Mencius. This was controversial, as many of Zhu Xi’s contemporaries were critical of Zhou Dunyi’s Daoist leanings, and other figures had clearly been more significant to the Song dynasty Confucian resurgence. Why was Zhou Dunyi accorded such importance? Joseph A. Adler finds that the earlier thinker provided an underpinning for Zhu Xi’s religious practice. Zhou Dunyi’s theory of the interpenetration of activity and stillness allowed Zhu Xi to proclaim that his own theory of mental and spiritual cultivation mirrored the fundamental principle immanent in the natural world. This book revives Zhu Xi as a religious thinker, challenging longstanding characterizations of him. Readers will appreciate the inclusion of complete translations of Zhou Dunyi’s major texts, Zhu Xi’s published commentaries, and other primary source material. Joseph A. Adler is Professor of Asian Studies and Religious Studies at Kenyon College. He is the author of Chinese Religious Traditions.
Author:
Publisher: KW Publishers Pvt Ltd
ISBN: 9385714007
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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Book Description
Earlier this decade a statue of Confucius appears suddenly in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is facing Chairman Mao’s statue in front of the Forbidden City. Mysteriously, it disappears a few days later. Why was it removed overnight? Where is it now?? No clear answers seem to have emerged. Most communist regimes have tried to make a break with the traditions of the past believing them to be the cause of all ills in society. But has the historical experience of Communist regimes shown that to be true? Today, Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian temples across cities and villages in China are crowded with people offering prayers. People swarm to pay their respects to their traditional sages. Like the warp and weft of a fabric, China has the mark of traditions and ancient ethos present in its society and this has come handed down over the centuries and across generations. Confucianism has been among the most well absorbed, best known and documented value systems in China. It was and still is a living tradition, a way of life and a philosophy. Propounded by Confucius (551-479 BC), this value system has had a lasting and deep seated influence on the Chinese. A philosopher and a thinker of the Spring and Autumn period, Confucius has been considered a wise and fair teacher and a shrewd strategist in war. In spite of the fact that Confucian values have been present beneath the surface in China along with Buddhist and Daoist beliefs for generations, it is interesting to study why Confucius is being talked about so much of late. Over the years in Communist China, Confucian thought had been swept under the carpet but resurrected in part depending on whether it suited the then current leadership. While Mao rejected Confucius’s ideas, he did not hesitate to use them whenever it suited him. A study of Confucius and his value systems at this moment in time makes sense and is important for a number of reasons. In the evolving socio political milieu of China, interpreting Confucian philosophy as being non confrontationist, benevolent and with values such as filial piety and harmony could help the current political regime deal with such problems as corruption and rising inequalities. Not only is Confucius being used to present to the world a completely Chinese cultural icon but it may also provide the Party with a useful tool to temper the simmering discontent in its society.
Author: Qingsong Shen
Publisher: CRVP
ISBN: 1565182456
Category : Confucian ethics
Languages : en
Pages : 333
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Book Description
Author: Robert Cummings Neville
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438463413
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
Presents a twenty-first-century, progressive, liberal Confucianism. Building on his long-standing work in metaphysics and Asian philosophy, Robert Cummings Neville presents a series of essays that cumulatively articulate a contemporary, progressive Confucian position as a global philosophy. Through analysis of the metaphysical and moral traditions of Confucianism, Neville brings these traditions into the twenty-first century. According to Confucianism, rituals define most of our relations with other individuals, social institutions, and nature, and while rituals make possible the positive institutions of high human civilization, they may also lead to harmful behaviors, including racism, xenophobia, and sexism. Neville argues that the amendment of rituals that institutionalize oppression is a positive task, which should be undertaken from within a skillfully ritualized life rather than in the form of external criticism. Confucianism, in Nevilles hands, is a left-wing, progressive, liberal political philosophy, one that can address institutionalized oppression and suggest a path for moving forward.
