Confucian Political Ethics

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 in Confucian 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.

PREFACE by Daniel A. Bell ix

PART ONE: STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY 1


CHAPTER ONE: Confucian Conceptions of Civil Society by Richard Madsen 3
CHAPTER TWO: Confucian Perspectives on Civil Society and Government Peter Nosco 20
CHAPTER THREE: Civil Society, Government, and Confucianism: A Commentary Henry Rosemont, Jr. 46


PART TWO: BOUNDARIES AND JUSTICE 59


CHAPTER FOUR: Territorial Boundaries and Confucianism by Joseph Chan 61
CHAPTER FIVE: Boundaries of the Body and Body Politic in Early Confucian Thought by Michael Nylan 85


PART THREE: ETHICAL PLURALISM 111


CHAPTER SIX: Confucian Attitudes toward Ethical Pluralism by Joseph Chan 113
CHAPTER SEVEN: Two Strands of Confucianism by Lee H. Yearley 139


PART FOUR: CONTEMPORARY FEMINISM 145


CHAPTER EIGHT: Gender and Relationship Roles in the Analects and the Mencius by Sin Yee Chan 147
CHAPTER NINE: The Confucian Concept of Ren and the Feminist Ethics of Care: A Comparative Study by Chenyang Li 175


PART FIVE: WAR AND PEACE 199


CHAPTER TEN: The Implications of Ancient Chinese Military Culture for World Peace by Ni Lexiong 201
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Just War and Confucianism: Implications for the Contemporary World by Daniel A. Bell 226


CONTRIBUTORS 257
INDEX 259