In Stephen Angle’s Sagehood, he contends that Neo-Confucian philosophers reject ways of moral thinking that draw hard and fast lines between self-directed or prudential concerns (about what is good for me) and other-directed or moral concerns (about what is right, just, virtuous, etc.), and suggests that they are right to do so. In this paper, I spell out Angle’s arguments and interpretation in greater detail and then consider whether they are faithful to one of the chief figures in Neo-Confucian thought. (...) I begin by identifying some of the better-known ways in which moral philosophers give special treatment to prudential considerations, and say which of these Angle’s reading of the Neo-Confucians appears to rule out. After laying this groundwork, I proceed to test Angle’s interpretation against the moral thought of history’s most influential Neo-Confucian philosopher, Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200), arguing that even on Angle’s own reading, there are certain respects in which Zhu preserves the distinction, although by Angle’s lights these ways are perhaps less pernicious than their contemporary equivalents. I also look closely at how Angle uses the psychological structure of humane love (ren 仁) to undermine the prudence-versus-morality distinction. Here I suggest that the better way to phrase his point is to say that prudence drops out or becomes an ethically incoherent concept, which is something quite different from rejecting or collapsing the distinction between prudence and morality. (shrink)

In this essay, we explore the various aspects of hermeneutic relativity that have rarely been explicitly discussed. Our notion of “hermeneutic relativity” can be seen as an extension, with significant revisions, of Gadamer’s notion of Vorurteil. It refers to various choices and constraints of the interpreter, including beliefs concerning the best way of doing philosophy, what criteria are to be used to evaluate competing interpretations, and so on. The interpreter cannot completely eliminate the guidance and constraint originating from his/her “background.” (...) However, in principle the interpreter can “choose” to be guided by other constraints. Hence, we speak of “choices” or “commitments.” Hermeneutic relativity is the major cause for the variation of competing interpretations. (shrink)

How to read the Confucian Classics today? Scholars with philosophical training usually emphasize that the philosophical approach, in comparison with the classicist and historical ones, is the best way to read the Confucian Classics, for it can dig out as much intellectual resources as possible from the classical texts in order to show their modern relevance. Briefly, the philosophical approach runs as follows: first, to discover or identify the philosophical question inhered in the text; then to reconstruct the line of (...) thinking, reasoning, and argumentation revealed in the text, which will lead to the answer of the question; and finally evaluate the effectiveness of the answer by any possible criticism. In spite of the fact that the philosophical approach does help showing the Confucian classics are of great significance to modern people, some scholars seriously caution that this theorization would alienate Confucianism from its very practical concern about self-cultivation. Accordingly, traditional Confucian scholars adopted an existential approach to reading, that is using their personal experience to read, question, understand, and comprehend the meanings of the text, making their comprehension as something they find in themselves and thus will be at ease in it. So there seems to be a dichotomy between the modern philosophical approach and the traditional existential approach to reading of the Confucian Classics. In this paper, I shall argue that the dichotomy has never existed. In fact, traditional Confucian scholars read the Confucian canon in both the philosophical and existential ways. Song Confucian Zhu Xi’s ‘Method of Reading’ is a case in point. I shall then argue that these two approaches should be irreducible and inseparable so as to form a proper way of reading as well as teaching the Confucian Classics today. (shrink)

In this essay, we explore the various aspects of hermeneutic relativity that have rarely been explicitly discussed. Our notion of “hermeneutic relativity” can be seen as an extension, with significant revisions, of Gadamer’s notion of Vorurteil. It refers to various choices and constraints of the interpreter, including beliefs concerning the best way of doing philosophy, what criteria are to be used to evaluate competing interpretations, and so on. The interpreter cannot completely eliminate the guidance and constraint originating from his/her “background.” (...) However, in principle the interpreter can “choose” to be guided by other constraints. Hence, we speak of “choices” or “commitments.” Hermeneutic relativity is the major cause for the variation of competing interpretations. (shrink)

ABSTRACTOne significant feature of Jeong Yakyong’s丁若鏞 thought is his deconstruction of Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 moral universe based on li 理 and qi 氣. For Zhu Xi, the world in its entirety was a moral place, but Jeong Yakyong distinguished nonmoral domains from the moral domain. One question that follows in pursuing a comparison of their philosophies on this topic is what each thinker meant by ‘moral’ and, in particular, whether they meant the same thing. In this paper, I delve deeper (...) into this topic by comparing their respective perspectives on whether nonhuman animals are moral. Interestingly, they held exactly opposite views: Zhu Xi believed that certain actions on the part of nonhuman animals manifest moral values, whereas Jeong Yakyong claimed that none of the actions of nonhuman animals has moral value. In comparing their views, I introduce Mark Rowlands’ distinction between ‘moral subjects’ and ‘moral agents.’. (shrink)

An overview of Dai's ethics, highlighting some overlooked or misunderstood theses on moral deliberation and motivation.

This thesis investigates text memorization, a widely used yet under-explored language practice in foreign language teaching and learning in mainland China. The inquiry was conducted along two lines: to conceptually examine a number of issues central to the understanding of the practice of text memorization in the Chinese context, and empirically inquire into Chinese learners/teachers’ practices and perceptions of the inclusion of text memorization in foreign language learning and teaching. The review of literature shows that memorisation had been widely practiced (...) in other parts of the world until recently, including the Anglophone west. By challenging the belief that emphasis on memorisation stifles and creative thinking, which is believed to be one of the key aims of Western education, I argue that memorisation or memorised knowledge is not only legitimate in but constitutes an important part of learning. I also demonstrate that Confucius’ theory of learning, which allows the coexistence of emphasis on memorisation and critical thinking arguably can be of relevance to education in the 21st century. Also advanced in the conceptual study is the argument that the methodological considerations underlying ALM, despite its western origin, match up to some fundamental Chinese conceptions of learning and teaching. The empirical study reported in this thesis addresses the need for a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the practices and beliefs of Chinese learners and teachers regarding the use of text memorization in foreign language learning and teaching. This study bases its methodology on semi-structured interviews complemented by small-scale surveys. The data was collected from a group of Chinese learners and teachers affiliated with 10 schools and 6 universities at three different educational levels, i.e. junior high, senior high and college, which constitute the major part of foreign language education in China. Data collection was mainly based in a single Chinese inland capital city and lasted for one year and two months involving two fieldwork trips to China. Analyses of the data lead to two major findings. First, both learners and teachers hold overwhelmingly positive perceptions of the use of text memorization in foreign language learning and teaching. The practice was perceived to be beneficial not only because it assists learning in a number of ways but because it builds the learners’ sense of achievement and confidence. Second, the informants’ positive beliefs about text memorisation, though context-constrained, might be more attributable to their perception of benefits to their language learning and teaching than to the view that the practice is consistent with traditional Chinese culture and values. In sum, this inquiry promotes a ‘different-rather than-deficit’ perspective in understanding Chinese learners and their learning practice as well as problematizing the uncritical assumptions about the negative impact of a Confucian philosophy of education. (shrink)