Other Philosophy Commons^™

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. …

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” …

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. …