CONFUCIAN ETHICS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SELF, AUTONOMY, AND COMMUNITY; ED. BY KWONG-LOI SHUN

The Chinese Ethical Tradition Has Often Been Thought To Oppose Western Views Of The Self As Autonomous And Possessed Of Individual Rights With Views That Emphasize The Centrality Of Relationship And Community To The Self. The Essays In This Collection Discuss The Validity Of That Contrast As It Concerns Confucianism, The Single Most Influential Chinese School Of Thought. Alasdair Macintyre, The Single Most Influential Philosopher To Articulate The Need For Dialogue Across Traditions, Contributes A Concluding Essay Of Commentary. This Is The Only Consistently Philosophical Collection On Asia And Human Rights And Could Be Used In Courses On Comparative Ethics, Political Philosophy, And Asian Area Studies.--jacket. Section I: Rights And Community -- Are Individual Rights Necessary? : A Confucian Perspective / Craig K. Ihara -- Rights And Community In Confucianism / David B. Wong -- Whose Democracy? Which Rights? : A Confucian Critique Of Modern Western Liberalism / Henry Rosemont, Jr. -- The Normative Impact Of Comparative Ethics : Human Rights / Chad Hansen -- Section Ii: Self And Self-cultivation -- Tradition And Community In The Formation Of Character And Self / Joel J. Kupperman -- A Theory Of Confucian Selfhood : Self-cultivation And Free Will In Confucian Philosophy / Chung-ying Cheng -- The Virtue Of Righteousness In Mencius / Bryan W. Van Norden -- Concept Of The Person In Early Confucian Thought / Kwong-loi Shun -- Questions For Confucians : Reflections On The Essays In Comparative Study Of Self, Autonomy, And Community / Alasdair Macintyre. Edited By Kwong-loi Shun, David B. Wong. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Contributors......Page 9 Introduction......Page 13 I RIGHTS AND COMMUNITY......Page 21 I. WHERE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS ARE OUT OF PLACE......Page 23 III. FEINBERG’S “NOWHERESVILLE” AND ITS IMPLICATIONS......Page 27 IV. A REPLY TO FEINBERG......Page 29 V. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND A CONFUCIAN VIEW OF HUMAN VALUE......Page 33 VI. THE VALUE OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS......Page 38 Notes......Page 41 I. INTRODUCTION......Page 43 II. COMMUNITY-CENTERED AND RIGHTS-CENTERED MORALITIES......Page 44 III. THE COMMUNAL GROUND FOR RIGHTS......Page 46 IV. THE DIFFERENT OUTCOMES OF THE COMMUNITY AND AUTONOMY GROUNDS......Page 51 V. WORRIES ABOUT THE COMMUNAL GROUND FOR RIGHTS......Page 52 VI. THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF RIGHTS AND COMMUNITY......Page 54 VII. A FURTHER COMPLICATION......Page 55 Notes......Page 58 I. INTRODUCTION......Page 61 II. CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND......Page 64 III. WHOSE DEMOCRACY?......Page 66 IV. WHICH RIGHTS?......Page 70 V. A CONFUCIAN RESPONSE......Page 71 VI. BEYOND THE LIBERAL TRADITION......Page 76 Notes......Page 80 I. INTRODUCTION: COMPARATIVE ETHICS AND CHINESE PHILOSOPHY......Page 84 A. Metaethical Issues: The Definition of “Morality”......Page 86 B. Morality as a Hierarchy of Standards......Page 87 II. NORMATIVE IMPLICATIONS......Page 88 A. Subjective Responsibility and Excuses......Page 89 B. Widening Moral Community......Page 90 C. Summary of Normative Relevance......Page 94 III. CHINA AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS DEBATE......Page 95 A. Initial Problems for Chinese Theories of Rights......Page 96 B. Chinese Classical Moral Discourse......Page 98 IV. COMPARATIVE NORMATIVE CONCLUSIONS: SOME FAMILIAR FALLACIES......Page 102 Notes......Page 106 II SELF AND SELF-CULTIVATION......Page 113 I. THE DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDHOOD OF THE FOUNDATION OF SELF......Page 115 II. BECOMING REALLY GOOD......Page 122 III. THE UNITY OF THE SELF, AND CREATIVITY......Page 129 Bibliography......Page 134 6 A Theory of Confucian Selfhood Self-Cultivation and Free Will in Confucian Philosophy......Page 136 I. FROM TWO ASPECTS OF SELF TO HUMAN MIND AND HUMAN NATURE......Page 137 II. FROM HUMAN NATURE TO HUMAN WILL: FREE WILL MADE FREE BY NATURE......Page 143 III. UNITY OF HUMAN NATURE AND FREE WILL: SELF-DETERMINISM......Page 151 Notes......Page 156 7 The Virtue of Righteousness in Mencius......Page 160 I. OUTLINE OF MENCIAN VIRTUES AND SELF-CULTIVATION......Page 161 II. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND EXTENSION......Page 162 A. Shame......Page 164 B. Western Discussions of Shame......Page 166 C. Xiu, Wu, and Related Terms......Page 176 A. Mencius Naturalized......Page 180 B. Shame Culture or Guilt Culture?......Page 181 C. Cognitive Extension......Page 183 V. CONCLUSION......Page 186 Notes......Page 187 I. INTRODUCTION......Page 195 II. CHINESE VIEW OF THE PERSON......Page 196 III. SELF IN EARLY CONFUCIAN THOUGHT......Page 198 IV. SELF AND SOCIAL ROLES......Page 202 V. AUTONOMY AND RIGHTS......Page 205 VI. CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 208 Notes......Page 209 III COMMENTS......Page 213 9 Questions for Confucians: Reflections on the Essays in Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and Community......Page 215 Note......Page 230 Glossary of Chinese Terms......Page 231 Index......Page 235 The Chinese ethical tradition has often been thought to oppose Western views of the self--as autonomous and possessed of individual rights--with views that emphasize the centrality of relationship and community to the self. The essays in this collection discuss the validity of that contrast as it concerns Confucianism, the single most influential Chinese school of thought. (Alasdair MacIntyre, who has significantly articulated the need for dialogue across traditions, contributes a concluding essay of commentary.) I would like to begin by considering some familiar contexts in which talk of rights, especially those one person might claim against another, seems quite out of place.