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Replacing Liberal Confucianism With Progressive Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Replacing Liberal Confucianism With Progressive Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
The core thesis of this essay is that “progressive Confucianism” is a clear and viable category, a label for many though not all contemporary Confucians, which succeeds in capturing what is useful about so-called “liberal” Confucianism without suffering from various problems to which I show “liberal Confucianism” falls prey. The essay begins with examples of progressive Confucians being labeled as “liberal” in ways that are misleading. I next turn to the use of “liberal” by influential twentieth-century New Confucians and then look at some contemporary theorists who are often labeled “liberal Confucians.” Overall, for reasons having to do both with …
Virtue Ethics, Rule Of Law, And Self-Restriction, Stephen C. Angle
Virtue Ethics, Rule Of Law, And Self-Restriction, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
It is a provocative coincidence that 1958 saw the publication of both Elizabeth Anscombe’s “Modern Moral Philosophy,” an essay widely seen as initiating the revival of Western philosophical interest in virtue ethics, and the “Manifesto to the World’s People on Behalf of Chinese Culture,” a jointly-authored argument that Confucianism was still alive and had much to offer to the world. A great deal of research and debate has flowed from each of these sources over the last half-century, but so far there has been very little dialogue between modern Western virtue ethics and modern Confucianism.1 Scholars of ancient Confucianism …
Reply To Critics [Of Sagehood], Stephen C. Angle
Reply To Critics [Of Sagehood], Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
One could ask for no more generous yet stimulating a set of critics than Professors Swanton, Tiwald, and Marchal.1 In this short reply, I will take up each in turn.
Rethinking Confucian Authority And Rejecting Confucian Authoritarianism, Stephen C. Angle
Rethinking Confucian Authority And Rejecting Confucian Authoritarianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Early Confucianism saw "Tian" 天 or Heaven as the source of authority, as kings ruled in accord with its "mandate." The clearest communication of Tian's intentions comes through the actions of the "people" (min 民), whose well beingthus forms the bedrock of Confucian politics. The essay begins by rehearsing the strengths and the limitations of such a framework, as well as pointing to a tnesion concerning the status of "the people" that runs throughout traditional Confucianism. Next, I analyze Kang Xiaoguang's 康小光 contemporary Chinese effort to justify an authoritarian state by means of an only modestly revised version of …
Rethinking Confucian Authority And Rejecting Confucian Authoritarianism, Stephen C. Angle
Rethinking Confucian Authority And Rejecting Confucian Authoritarianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Early Confucianism saw "Tian" 天 or Heaven as the source of authority, as kings ruled in accord with its "mandate." The clearest communication of Tian's intentions comes through the actions of the "people" (min 民), whose well beingthus forms the bedrock of Confucian politics. The essay begins by rehearsing the strengths and the limitations of such a framework, as well as pointing to a tnesion concerning the status of "the people" that runs throughout traditional Confucianism. Next, I analyze Kang Xiaoguang's 康小光 contemporary Chinese effort to justify an authoritarian state by means of an only modestly revised version of …