Confucian Philosophy Innovations and Transformations

by Cheng, Chung-Ying

• ISBN13: 9781118364338
• ISBN10: 1118364333
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-24
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

In Chinese tradition Confucianism has been always both
a philosophy of moral self-cultivation for the human individual and an
ideological guide for political institutional policy and governmental action.
After the May 4th Movement of 1919 (WusiYundong ),
Confucianism lost much of its moral appeal and political authority and entered a
kind of limbo, bearing blame for the backwardness and weakening of China.  Now that China has asserted its political rights among world nations, it seems natural to ask whether Confucianism as a
philosophy has a modern or even postmodern role to play for building modern China and for enlightening the world. This question is even more meaningful in light of the fact that there is a genuine need felt in China
for a return to its Confucian heritage and vision for purposes of sustaining societal harmonization and reconstructing
cultural identity in the modern world.

Author Biography

Chung-ying Cheng, internationally known philosopher of East-West integration and a leading representative of Neo-Confucian philosophy in contemporary world, was born in 1935 in China, received his college education at National Taiwan University in Taipei with major in philosophy and literature. He received his M.A. in Philosophy from University of Washington, received Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University and started teaching in 1964. He became a tenured full Professor of Philosophy by 1972 at University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Table of Contents

Chung-Ying Cheng, Preface: New Confucianism as Philosophy of Humanity and Governance

Justin Tiwald, Introduction: A Confucian Philosophical Agenda

Chung-ying Cheng, A Transformative Conception of Confucian Ethics: The Yijing, Utility, and Rights

Justin Tiwald, Dai Zhen’s Defense of Self-Interest

Chenyang Li, Xunzi on the Origin of Goodness: A New Interpretation

Shirley Chan, Tian (Heaven) in the Guodian Texts (Part I): Natural Order and Moral Norms

Daniel A. Bell and Thaddeus Metz, Confucianism and Ubuntu: Reflections on a Dialogue Between Chinese and African Traditions

Shun Kwong-Loi, Wang Yang-Ming on Self-Cultivation in the Daxue

Pauline C. Lee, “Spewing Jade and Spitting Pearls” Li Zhi’s Ethics of Genuineness

Wing-Cheuk Chan, Mou Zongsan on Confucian and Kant’s Ethics: A Critical Reflection

Anne Cheng, Virtue and Politics: Some Conceptions of Sovereignty in Ancient China 

Lauren F. Pfister, Family Ethics and New Visions of Selfhood in Post-Secular Chinese Teachings

Stephen C. Angle, A Productive Dialogue: Contemporary Moral Education and Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian Ethics