The Difference Between Life And Death: Intellectual Appeasement And Ideological Remolding Of Philosophers In Mao-Era China, Rosalie Looijaard
Apr 2022
The Difference Between Life And Death: Intellectual Appeasement And Ideological Remolding Of Philosophers In Mao-Era China, Rosalie Looijaard
Asian Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works
The Proletarian Cultural Revolution marked the near destruction of Chinese tradition and put intellectuals in China in danger – Chairman Mao Zedong stopped at nothing to ensure anything and anyone that opposed his politics would either be assimilated or removed. Some intellectuals chose to appease him – out of fear or naivete, while others stood firm in their beliefs. This paper examines the similarities and differences between the lives and fates of two philosophers during the rise and fall of Mao Zedong - Feng Youlan and Zhang Dongsun. Both philosophers were amiable towards socialism, even before Mao rose to power. …
The Evolutionary Global Vision Of Chinese Political Philosophy; China's Socio-Economic Transformation In The 21st Century, Meryem Gurel
Dec 2020
The Evolutionary Global Vision Of Chinese Political Philosophy; China's Socio-Economic Transformation In The 21st Century, Meryem Gurel
Master's Projects and Capstones
Evolving relations of East Asia due to trade liberalization raised the search for financial stability for institutional development. It also increased the importance of China integrating the global economy into renewing its political philosophy in the new century. This capstone project aims to examine why China has transformed its socio-economic structure by generating outward investments and how it has affected international political relations in terms of the role of the economic institution Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Quantitative methodology aims to examine the impact of China’s export trade on income distribution and economic growth through linear regression analysis for the …
Review Of Ziporyn, Ironies And Beyond Oneness, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2014
Review Of Ziporyn, Ironies And Beyond Oneness, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Near the end of the second volume of the two books under review (hereafter referred to as Ironies and Beyond Oneness), Brook Ziporyn says that his goal has been to “provide the power to think a greater number of more greatly differing thoughts.... Truth is important, but it is important only because it makes things so much more interesting” (2/314). No one who reads these books with any charity can deny that he has achieved this goal—in fact, far exceeded it. Ziporyn takes on the deepest issues and most difficult texts from a …
Review Of Li, The Confucian Philosophy Of Harmony, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2013
Review Of Li, The Confucian Philosophy Of Harmony, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
The core argument of Chengyang Li’s new book is that harmony—understood in particular through the categories of “deep harmony” and “creative tension”—is the central idea of classical Confucianism. Part I contains five chapters that collectively explore the “philosophical concept” of harmony; the five chapters in Part II examine “harmony in practice” by looking at the ways that harmony structures Confucian thinking about person, family, society, world, and cosmos. The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony is a learned work, drawing on Li’s familiarity with a broader corpus of early Confucian texts than is often found in works on Confucian philosophy. I believe …
Review Of Li, The Confucian Philosophy Of Harmony, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2013
Review Of Li, The Confucian Philosophy Of Harmony, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
The core argument of Chengyang Li’s new book is that harmony—understood in particular through the categories of “deep harmony” and “creative tension”—is the central idea of classical Confucianism. Part I contains five chapters that collectively explore the “philosophical concept” of harmony; the five chapters in Part II examine “harmony in practice” by looking at the ways that harmony structures Confucian thinking about person, family, society, world, and cosmos. The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony is a learned work, drawing on Li’s familiarity with a broader corpus of early Confucian texts than is often found in works on Confucian philosophy. I believe …
Review Of Jiang: A Confucian Constitutional Order - How China’S Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2012
Review Of Jiang: A Confucian Constitutional Order - How China’S Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
How important is Jiang Qing, whose extraordinary proposals for political change make up the core of the new book A Confucian Constitutional Order: How China’s Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future? In his Introduction to the volume, co- editor Daniel Bell maintains that Jiang’s views are “intensely controversial” and that conversations about political reform in China rarely fail to turn to Jiang’s pro- posals. At least in my experience, this is something of an exaggeration. Chinese pol- itical thinking today is highly pluralistic, and for many participants Jiang is simply a curiosity—if indeed they are aware of him. …
Review Of Makeham: Learning To Emulate The Wise, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2012
Review Of Makeham: Learning To Emulate The Wise, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Not long ago, twentieth-century Chinese philosophy was little studied and poorly understood in non-Sinophone countries. Thanks in no small part to the energies of one person, John Makeham, this situation is improving rapidly. In less than a decade, Makeham has edited and contributed two chapters to New Confucianism: A Critical Examination, published Lost Soul: "Confucianism" in Contemporary Chinese Academic Discourse, inaugurated the “Modern Chinese Philosophy” series at Brill, and now edited Learning to Emulate the Wise, to which he contributes both introduction and epilogue as well as three chapters. As is well-known, the term “zhexue” …
Review Of Jiang: A Confucian Constitutional Order - How China’S Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2012
Review Of Jiang: A Confucian Constitutional Order - How China’S Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
How important is Jiang Qing, whose extraordinary proposals for political change make up the core of the new book A Confucian Constitutional Order: How China’s Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future? In his Introduction to the volume, co- editor Daniel Bell maintains that Jiang’s views are “intensely controversial” and that conversations about political reform in China rarely fail to turn to Jiang’s pro- posals. At least in my experience, this is something of an exaggeration. Chinese pol- itical thinking today is highly pluralistic, and for many participants Jiang is simply a curiosity—if indeed they are aware of him. …
Review Of Zhang, Kleinman, And Tu: Governance In Life In Chinese Moral Experience, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2011
Review Of Zhang, Kleinman, And Tu: Governance In Life In Chinese Moral Experience, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
The goal of the volume under review is to articulate the ways in which the governance of life in China has transformed over the last three decades. Under Mao, power was deployed toward the twin goals of maintaining “sovereignty” (i.e., Mao as ruler) and achieving utopian revolution; in the subsequent reform era, power has been increasingly exercised as “governmentality,” whereby the regime seeks to control and enhance the state’s population. The volume’s authors tend to agree that under the new configuration of power, citizens’ achievements of “adequate lives” has come to be valued as it was not under Mao. The …
Review Of Kurtz: The Discovery Of Chinese Logic, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2011
Review Of Kurtz: The Discovery Of Chinese Logic, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
At the heart of Joachim Kurtz’s new book is the remarkable fact that up until 1898, no Chinese or foreign scholar had so much as claimed that the Chinese tradition contained explicit concern with logic; and yet scarcely a decade later, it was broadly accepted in Chinese scholarly circles that early China had seen sophisticated developments in logic. Within another few decades, in fact, a consensus was emerging that China had a two- millennia-long tradition of logical thought. How was this possible? What meanings did “logic” have for the various actors in this “discovery of Chinese logic”? What does this …
Review Of Zhang, Kleinman, And Tu: Governance In Life In Chinese Moral Experience, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2011
Review Of Zhang, Kleinman, And Tu: Governance In Life In Chinese Moral Experience, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
The goal of the volume under review is to articulate the ways in which the governance of life in China has transformed over the last three decades. Under Mao, power was deployed toward the twin goals of maintaining “sovereignty” (i.e., Mao as ruler) and achieving utopian revolution; in the subsequent reform era, power has been increasingly exercised as “governmentality,” whereby the regime seeks to control and enhance the state’s population. The volume’s authors tend to agree that under the new configuration of power, citizens’ achievements of “adequate lives” has come to be valued as it was not under Mao. The …
Review Of Kurtz: The Discovery Of Chinese Logic, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2011
Review Of Kurtz: The Discovery Of Chinese Logic, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
At the heart of Joachim Kurtz’s new book is the remarkable fact that up until 1898, no Chinese or foreign scholar had so much as claimed that the Chinese tradition contained explicit concern with logic; and yet scarcely a decade later, it was broadly accepted in Chinese scholarly circles that early China had seen sophisticated developments in logic. Within another few decades, in fact, a consensus was emerging that China had a two- millennia-long tradition of logical thought. How was this possible? What meanings did “logic” have for the various actors in this “discovery of Chinese logic”? What does this …
Reply To Justin Tiwald, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2010
Reply To Justin Tiwald, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Justin Tiwald and I have been debating the meaning of li 理 for several years now. At each step along the way I have learned from his comments and questions, and I have done my best to refine or revise my position as seemed necessary. I am grateful both to Justin and to the editor for the opportunity to continue that conversation here. Tiwald has very clearly articulated an understanding of li that he calls the “coherence-only” view and ascribes to me. He then points out that there are reasons to doubt that this “coherence-only” view can be correctly attributed …
Piecemeal Progress, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2010
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 …
Reply To Justin Tiwald, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2010
Reply To Justin Tiwald, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Justin Tiwald and I have been debating the meaning of li 理 for several years now. At each step along the way I have learned from his comments and questions, and I have done my best to refine or revise my position as seemed necessary. I am grateful both to Justin and to the editor for the opportunity to continue that conversation here. Tiwald has very clearly articulated an understanding of li that he calls the “coherence-only” view and ascribes to me. He then points out that there are reasons to doubt that this “coherence-only” view can be correctly attributed …
A Reply To Ruiping Fan, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2009
A Reply To Ruiping Fan, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
I have been offered the chance for a brief reply to Professor FAN’s response to my review, and would like to make just two points. In the penultimate paragraph of his response, Professor FAN raises the question of the efficacy of Confucian moral commitments in contemporary China, and suggests that we can get evidence of this efficacy by comparing China with Eastern Europe. I agree that such a comparison may be very helpful, but suggest that it cannot be undertaken in a superficial way. For one thing, the differences between the two regions are more complicated than …
Review Of Woodruff: Ritual And Reverence, Stephen C. Angle
Jun 2005
Review Of Woodruff: Ritual And Reverence, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
It is a sad commonplace that works in moral philosophy rarely do much to make their readers more moral. Unusually gifted classroom teachers can sometimes make a difference in students' lives, though, and now and again there appears a piece of philosophical writing that makes a similar impact. Paul Woodruff has written an extraordinary book that has a chance of joining this select company. Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue wears its scholarship and philosophy lightly; in addi- tion to lucid exposition and argument, it employs anecdotes, readings of a range of poems, and in one chapter a question-and-answer format in …
Review Of Woodruff: Ritual And Reverence, Stephen C. Angle
Jun 2005
Review Of Woodruff: Ritual And Reverence, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
It is a sad commonplace that works in moral philosophy rarely do much to make their readers more moral. Unusually gifted classroom teachers can sometimes make a difference in students' lives, though, and now and again there appears a piece of philosophical writing that makes a similar impact. Paul Woodruff has written an extraordinary book that has a chance of joining this select company. Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue wears its scholarship and philosophy lightly; in addi- tion to lucid exposition and argument, it employs anecdotes, readings of a range of poems, and in one chapter a question-and-answer format in …
Review Of Cheng And Bunin: Contemporary Chinese Philosophy, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2001
Review Of Cheng And Bunin: Contemporary Chinese Philosophy, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
This handsome volume encompasses sixteen essays on leading twentieth-century Chinese philosophers, all specifically written for the collection, as well as an introduction by Bunin and a preface plus two essays (one on more recent trends, the other an over-all interpretation) by Cheng. Each of the main selections includes a bibliography listing the subject’s main works and important studies on the subject, as well as a list of ten discussion questions. The thoughtful design of the collection makes it clear that its goals go beyond simply conveying information: in Bunin’s words, it aims to furnish “a platform for further investigation and …
Review Of Neville: Portable Tradition, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2000
Review Of Neville: Portable Tradition, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
“Boston Confucianism” means two things, according to Robert Cummings Neville. The first is “the general project of bringing the Confucian tradition into play with the other great civilized traditions in the creation of a world civilization” [p. 1]. The second is “the work of the group of Confucian thinkers gathered in and around Boston under the leadership of Professor Tu Weiming” [p. 1]. Neville’s remarks about “tradition” and about Tu’s “leadership” make clear that he understands Confucianism to be something more than a typical philosophical doctrine. Consider also the following statement: “The long-run argument for the orthodoxy of Boston Confucianism …
Review Of Jensen: Manufacturing Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2000
Review Of Jensen: Manufacturing Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Confucianisms, according to Lionel Jensen, are the results of a four-century long process
of pious manufacture: pious, because aimed at truth rather than manipulation; manufacture,
because the work has been done out of materials close to hand. These materials are the texts,
words, and symbols out of which traditions are invented and re-invented. Jensen’s book is
simultaneously a meditation on the ecumenical goals of “traditionary invention” and a close
study of the specific ways in which sixteenth- and twentieth-century communities have
negotiated between inherited meanings and current circumstances. Its case studies splendidly
exemplify its broader theoretical themes; I will look …
Review Of Jensen: Manufacturing Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Dec 2000
Review Of Jensen: Manufacturing Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Confucianisms, according to Lionel Jensen, are the results of a four-century long process
of pious manufacture: pious, because aimed at truth rather than manipulation; manufacture,
because the work has been done out of materials close to hand. These materials are the texts,
words, and symbols out of which traditions are invented and re-invented. Jensen’s book is
simultaneously a meditation on the ecumenical goals of “traditionary invention” and a close
study of the specific ways in which sixteenth- and twentieth-century communities have
negotiated between inherited meanings and current circumstances. Its case studies splendidly
exemplify its broader theoretical themes; I will look …
