Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Review Of Woodruff: Ritual And Reverence, Stephen C. Angle
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
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 John Makeham: New Confucianism - A Critical Examination, Stephen C. Angle
Review Of John Makeham: New Confucianism - A Critical Examination, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
At the heart of New Confucianism: A Critical Examination is a question of definition: How should we understand the contested notion of “New Confucianism”? Is it a matter of genealogy, philosophical doctrine, political orientation, or personal experience? Does it matter in what terms individuals identified themselves or whether they saw themselves as part of a shared intellectual movement? Who, ultimately, gets to answer these questions? Of course there is much more in the essays than these questions — including, most notably, astute analyses of several philosophers’ ideas, thought-provoking reflection on some of the roles played by Buddhism in modern Chinese …
Review Of Makeham - New Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Review Of Makeham - New Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
At the heart of New Confucianism: A Critical Examination is a question of definition: How should we understand the contested notion of “New Confucianism”? Is it a matter of genealogy, philosophical doctrine, political orientation, or personal experience? Does it matter in what terms individuals identified themselves or whether they saw themselves as part of a shared intellectual movement? Who, ultimately, gets to answer these questions? Of course there is much more in the essays than these questions — including, most notably, astute analyses of several philosophers’ ideas, thought-provoking reflection on some of the roles played by Buddhism in modern Chinese …
Decent Democratic Centralism, Stephen C. Angle
Decent Democratic Centralism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Are there any coherent and defensible alternatives to liberal democracy? The author examines the possibility that a reformed democratic centralism-the principle around which China's cur- rent polity is officially organized-might be legitimate, according to both an inside and an out- side perspective. The inside perspective builds on contemporary Chinese political theory; the outside perspective critically deploys Rawls's notion ofa "decent society " as its standard. Along the way, the authorpays particular attention to the kinds and degree ofpluralism a decent society can countenance, and to the specific institutions in China that might enable the realization of a genuine and/or decent …
Sagely Ease And Moral Perception, Stephen C. Angle
Sagely Ease And Moral Perception, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
In what is probably the most famous description of a sage in all of Chinese philosophy, the Analects tells us that when Confucius reached the age of seventy, he was able to “follow his heart’s desire without overstepping the bounds” (Analects 2.4). It seems that Confucius came to be able to act properly without even trying. Now one might well suspect that at least some of the time, acting properly is easy for most of us. When not faced with a difficult choice or temptation, perhaps we get along fine. The Analects is nonetheless making a very strong claim, even …
Concepts, Communication And Relevance Of Philosophy To Human Rights: A Reply To Peerenboom, Stephen C. Angle
Concepts, Communication And Relevance Of Philosophy To Human Rights: A Reply To Peerenboom, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Randy Peerenboom has paid me the enormous compliment of thinking it worthwhile to engage in sustained, critical dialogue with my book. In this response to his review essay, I attempt to return the compliment. I focus on issues surrounding concepts and communication, since that is where Peerenboom puts his emphasis. Near the end, I look at what is at stake in our discussions of Raz, touch on the question of judgments and objectivity, and close with some thoughts about the relevance of history to my goals in the book.
Must We Choose Our Leaders? Human Rights And Political Participation In China, Stephen C. Angle
Must We Choose Our Leaders? Human Rights And Political Participation In China, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Is political participation a human right? If so, in what form and to what degree? One answer to these questions is that everyone has the human right to participate in universal, free, and fair elections for the country’s leaders — as well as the rights to organize political parties, to run for election, to express political views, and so on. This answer is suggested by Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 and explicitly supported by the influential American philosopher Alan Gewirth [Gewirth 1978, p. 309]. If we are persuaded to accept this answer, then there looks to …
Review Of Makeham - New Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Review Of Makeham - New Confucianism, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
At the heart of New Confucianism: A Critical Examination is a question of definition: How should we understand the contested notion of “New Confucianism”? Is it a matter of genealogy, philosophical doctrine, political orientation, or personal experience? Does it matter in what terms individuals identified themselves or whether they saw themselves as part of a shared intellectual movement? Who, ultimately, gets to answer these questions? Of course there is much more in the essays than these questions — including, most notably, astute analyses of several philosophers’ ideas, thought-provoking reflection on some of the roles played by Buddhism in modern Chinese …
Review Of John Makeham: New Confucianism - A Critical Examination, Stephen C. Angle
Review Of John Makeham: New Confucianism - A Critical Examination, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
At the heart of New Confucianism: A Critical Examination is a question of definition: How should we understand the contested notion of “New Confucianism”? Is it a matter of genealogy, philosophical doctrine, political orientation, or personal experience? Does it matter in what terms individuals identified themselves or whether they saw themselves as part of a shared intellectual movement? Who, ultimately, gets to answer these questions? Of course there is much more in the essays than these questions — including, most notably, astute analyses of several philosophers’ ideas, thought-provoking reflection on some of the roles played by Buddhism in modern Chinese …
Sagely Ease And Moral Perception, Stephen C. Angle
Sagely Ease And Moral Perception, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
In what is probably the most famous description of a sage in all of Chinese philosophy, the Analects tells us that when Confucius reached the age of seventy, he was able to “follow his heart’s desire without overstepping the bounds” (Analects 2.4). It seems that Confucius came to be able to act properly without even trying. Now one might well suspect that at least some of the time, acting properly is easy for most of us. When not faced with a difficult choice or temptation, perhaps we get along fine. The Analects is nonetheless making a very strong claim, even …
Concepts, Communication And Relevance Of Philosophy To Human Rights: A Reply To Peerenboom, Stephen C. Angle
Concepts, Communication And Relevance Of Philosophy To Human Rights: A Reply To Peerenboom, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Randy Peerenboom has paid me the enormous compliment of thinking it worthwhile to engage in sustained, critical dialogue with my book. In this response to his review essay, I attempt to return the compliment. I focus on issues surrounding concepts and communication, since that is where Peerenboom puts his emphasis. Near the end, I look at what is at stake in our discussions of Raz, touch on the question of judgments and objectivity, and close with some thoughts about the relevance of history to my goals in the book.
Must We Choose Our Leaders? Human Rights And Political Participation In China, Stephen C. Angle
Must We Choose Our Leaders? Human Rights And Political Participation In China, Stephen C. Angle
Stephen C. Angle
Is political participation a human right? If so, in what form and to what degree? One answer to these questions is that everyone has the human right to participate in universal, free, and fair elections for the country’s leaders — as well as the rights to organize political parties, to run for election, to express political views, and so on. This answer is suggested by Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 and explicitly supported by the influential American philosopher Alan Gewirth [Gewirth 1978, p. 309]. If we are persuaded to accept this answer, then there looks to …