The Early Confucian Worry about Yuan

Journal of Value Inquiry 54 (2):257-271 (2020)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This article focuses on a psychological phenomenon discussed by the early Confucian: yuan 怨, which is often translated as “resentment”, “grievance”, “lament”, or “complaint”. I attempt to use the early Confucian discussions of yuan to shed light on an aspect of human psychology, namely, when one laments about certain conditions that obtain in such a way that she sees as beyond her control and negatively affects her. This is an unusual reactive attitude because one who has yuan takes the “passive stance.” This paper has four main sections: the first section makes textual observations of “yuan” in the early Confucian texts; the second section proposes a Confucian-inspired account of yuan and highlights the psychological state in which one who has yuan sees oneself as object; the third section discusses the problematic dimensions of yuan; the final section discusses the negative implications of the passive stance with respect to contemporary concerns: vulnerability, moral repair, and self-respect.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 101,551

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Yuan mo Ming chu "Wu xue san jia" si xiang te se ji ying xiang =.Xuming Gu - 2018 - Hangzhou: Zhejiang gong shang da xue chu ban she.
Born of Resentment: Yuan 怨 in Early Confucian Thought.Michael D. K. Ing - 2016 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 15 (1):19-33.
Wu Ch'eng: A Neo-Confucian of the Yuan.David Gedalecia - 1971 - Dissertation, Harvard University
Ru zong zheng yuan.Feihong Wang - 2011 - Xiamen Shi: Xiamen da xue chu ban she.
Kongzi su yuan.Yongxian Han - 1997 - Beijing: Jing xiao xin hua shu dian Beijing fa xing suo fa xing. Edited by Confucius.
Kong Meng zheng yuan =.Zhaoming Yang - 2019 - Jinan: Shandong ren min chu ban she.
Ju Hsüeh T an Yüan.Ch Ün-Chen Chou - 1984 - O Hu Ch U Pan She.

Analytics

Added to PP
2019-06-07

Downloads
63 (#338,626)

6 months
3 (#1,477,354)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Hiu Chuk Winnie Sung
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Citations of this work

Varieties of Philosophical Misanthropy.Ian James Kidd - 2021 - Journal of Philosophical Research 46:27-44.
Resenting Heaven in the Mencius: An Extended Footnote to Mencius 2B13.Daryl Ooi - 2021 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 20 (2):207-229.
A Mencian Account of Resentment.Daryl Ooi - 2022 - Philosophy Compass 17 (9):e12870.
An Apologia for Anger With Reference to Early China and Ancient Greece.Alba Cercas Curry - 2022 - Dissertation, University of California, Riverside

Add more citations

References found in this work

Freedom and Resentment.Peter Strawson - 1962 - Proceedings of the British Academy 48:187-211.
Freedom and Resentment.Peter Strawson - 1982 - In Gary Watson (ed.), Free will. New York: Oxford University Press.
Objectification.Martha C. Nussbaum - 1995 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 24 (4):249-291.

Add more references