Confucian Political Ethics

by Bell, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780691130057
• ISBN10: 0691130051
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 10/1/2007
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

For much of the twentieth century, Confucianism was condemned by Westerners and East Asians alike as antithetical to modernity. Internationally renowned philosophers, historians, and social scientists argue otherwise inConfucian Political Ethics. They show how classical Confucian theory--with its emphasis on family ties, self-improvement, education, and the social good--is highly relevant to the most pressing dilemmas confronting us today. Drawing upon in-depth, cross-cultural dialogues, the contributors delve into the relationship of Confucian political ethics to contemporary social issues, exploring Confucian perspectives on civil society, government, territorial boundaries and boundaries of the human body and body politic, and ethical pluralism. They examine how Confucianism, often dismissed as backwardly patriarchal, can in fact find common ground with a range of contemporary feminist values and need not hinder gender equality. And they show how Confucian theories about war and peace were formulated in a context not so different from today's international system, and how they can help us achieve a more peaceful global community. This thought-provoking volume affirms the enduring relevance of Confucian moral and political thinking, and will stimulate important debate among policymakers, researchers, and students of politics, philosophy, applied ethics, and East Asian studies. The contributors are Daniel A. Bell, Joseph Chan, Sin Yee Chan, Chenyang Li, Richard Madsen, Ni Lexiong, Peter Nosco, Michael Nylan, Henry Rosemont, Jr., and Lee H. Yearley.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
State and Civil Society	p. 1
Confucian Conceptions of Civil Society	p. 3
Confucian Perspectives on Civil Society and Government	p. 20
Civil Society, Government, and Confucianism: A Commentary	p. 46
Boundaries and Justice	p. 59
Territorial Boundaries and Confucianism	p. 61
Boundaries of the Body and Body Politic in Early Confucian Thought	p. 85
Ethical Pluralism	p. 111
Confucian Attitudes toward Ethical Pluralism	p. 113
Two Strands of Confucianism	p. 139
Contemporary Feminism	p. 145
Gender and Relationship Roles in the Analects and the Mencius	p. 147
The Confucian Concept of Ren and the Feminist Ethics of Care: A Comparative Study	p. 175
War and Peace	p. 199
The Implications of Ancient Chinese Military Culture for World Peace	p. 201
Just War and Confucianism: Implications for the Contemporary World	p. 226
Contributors	p. 257
Index	p. 159
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