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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Piecemeal Progress, Stephen C. Angle
Piecemeal Progress, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
What relevance do alternative moral traditions, such as early Chinese ethical thinking, have for people in the contemporary world? For example, suppose that we can find in early Confucian ethics particular values that are distinctively different from Western notions. How important would such a finding be today? According to three influential accounts of comparative ethics, the presence (or absence) of any given concept is not, on its own, of much significance. Chad Hansen, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Thomas Metzger all emphasize the importance of holistic units of analysis like “traditions” and “discourses” rather than focusing on individual ideas; all would suggest …
Pluralism In Practice, Stephen C. Angle
Pluralism In Practice, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Imagine an Aristotelian giving money away to a poor person. He judges his own action to be magnanimous. If a Confucian were to observe this action, though, he might conclude that the Aristotelian had violated socio-ethical norms, or li. Assuming that other Confucians agreed, the Aristotelian’s conduct could be held up as a negative example to be used in teaching young Confucians. In and of itself, however, the Confucian’s judgment would give the Aristotelian no reason to change his conduct, since “lacking in li” is not a category in the language by which he judges conduct. This begins to suggest …