Virtue, Nature, and Moral Agency in the Xunzi

by Kline, T. C.; Ivanhoe, P. J.

• ISBN13: 9780872205222
• ISBN10: 0872205223
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-01
• Publisher: Hackett Pub Co Inc

Summary

Xunzi is traditionally identified as the third philosopher in the Confucian tradition, after Confucius and Mencius. Unlike the work of his two predecessors, he wrote complete essays in which he defends his own interpretation of the Confucian position and attacks the positions of others. Within the early Chinese tradition, Xunzi's writings are arguably the most sophisticated and philosophically developed. The richness of philosophical content has led to a lively discussion of his philosophy among contemporary scholars. This volume collects some of the most accessible and important contemporary essays on the thought of Xunzi, with an introduction that provides historical background, philosophical context, and relates each of the selections to Xunzi'a philosophy as a whole and to the themes of virtue, nature, and moral agency. These themes are also discussed in relation to Western philosophy concerns.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Acknowledgments	xix
Note on Conventions and Abbreviations	xxi
State and Society in the Xunzi: A Philosophical Commentary	1	(38)
Ethical Uses of the Past in Early Confucianism: The Case of Xunzi	39	(30)
Antonio S. Cua
Virtues in Xunzi's Thought	69	(20)
Jonathan W. Schofer
Xunzi: Morality as Psychological Constraint	89	(14)
Joel J. Kupperman
Mengzi and Xunzi: Two Views of Human Agency	103	(32)
Bryan W. Van Norden
Xunzi on Moral Motivation	135	(20)
David B. Wong
Moral Agency and Motivation in the Xunzi	155	(21)
T.C. Kline III
Xunzi and Zhuangzi	176	(12)
David S. Nivison
Theories of Human Nature in Mencius and Xunzi	188	(32)
D.C. Lau
Does Xunzi Have a Consistent Theory of Human Nature?	220	(17)
Eric Hutton
Human Nature and Moral Understanding in the Xunzi	237	(14)
Philip J. Ivanhoe
Contributors	251	(2)
Bibliography	253	(6)
Subject Index	259	(7)
Name Index	266