In this engaging volume, Daniel Gardner explains the way in which the Four Books--_Great Learning_, _Analects_, _Mencius_, and _Maintaining Perfect Balance_--have been read and understood by the Chinese since the twelfth century. Selected passages in translation are accompanied by Gardner's comments, which incorporate selections from the commentary and interpretation of the renowned Neo-Confucian thinker, Zhu Xi. This study provides an ideal introduction to the basic texts in the Confucian tradition from the twelfth through the twentieth centuries. It guides (...) the reader through Zhu Xi's influential interpretation of the Four Books, showing how Zhu, through the genre of commentary, gave new coherence and meaning to these foundational texts. Since the Four Books with Zhu Xi's commentary served as the basic textbook for Chinese schooling and the civil service examinations for more than seven hundred years, this book illustrates as well the nature of the standard Chinese educational curriculum. (shrink)

Uberto Decembrio's Four Books on the Commonwealth (De re publica libri IV, ca. 1420), edited and translated by Paolo Ponzù Donato, is one of the earliest examples of the reception of Plato's Republic in the 15th century. This humanistic dialogue provides a thoughtful insight on themes such as justice, the best government, the morals of the prince and citizen, education, and religion. Decembrio's dialogue is dedicated to Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, the 'worst enemy' of Florence. Making (...) use of literary and documentary sources, Ponzù Donato convincingly proves that Decembrio's thought, sharing many points with the Florentine humanist Leonardo Bruni, belongs to the same world of Civic Humanism. (shrink)

Through a detailed analysis of de德 as used in the Four Books, this article is intended to examine the unity between two kinds of virtue manifested respectively through cultivating an admirable character in one’s self and enabling aretaic activities in the public sphere. By investigating how early Confucian masters integrate internal goodness and virtuous governance as the moral reasons for the common good and the flourishing of human community, we seek to reconstruct the ethics in the Four (...) Books that is focused on de as the gravity center. This leads in turn to an account of a particular kind of “virtue ethics” or better, de ethics, which has underpinned all Confucian discourses on personal character and political practices. (shrink)

This volume brings the first English translation of the Confucian classics Four Books for Women, with extensive commentaries, to the English-speaking world. Written by women for women's education, this work provides an invaluable look at the tradition of Chinese women's writing, education, history, and philosophy, from the 1st to the 16th century.

Henry David Thoreau read three English translations of the Confucian Four Books and produced undated translations from a French translation of these texts. This study examines the relationship between Thoreau and Confucian thought via his engagement with this set of translations. Selections from the English translations were reprinted in the “Ethnical Scriptures” columns of the Transcendentalist periodical, The Dial. This study examines this understudied column, considering the possible impact the passages made on Thoreau's thought. Next, Thoreau's translations from (...) the French are addressed, with the question of dating the translations explored, given its necessity for a robust appreciation of their role in the arc of his thought. Then, the connection between Confucian and Thoreauvian thought about civil disobedience is analyzed, with reference to a recent debate in the literature. Recommendations for further scholarship are offered, emphasizing links between Confucianism and Walden in general, and Mencius and Thoreau in particular. (shrink)

This volume presents the first English translation of the complete set of Confucian classic, Four Books for Women, with extensive commentary by the 17th century literati Wang Xiang, and introductions and annotations by translator Ann A. Pang-White. Written by women for women's education, the Confucian Four Books for Women spanned the 1st to the 16th centuries, and encompass Ban Zhao's Lessons for Women, Song Ruoxin's and Song Ruozhao's Analects for Women, Empress Renxiaowen's Teachings for the Inner (...) Court, and Madame Liu's (Chaste Widow Wang's) Short Records of Models for Women. A female counterpart to the famous Sishu (Four Books) compiled by Zhu Xi, Wang Xiang's Nü sishu provides an invaluable look at the long-standing history and evolution of Chinese women's writing, education, identity, and philosophical discourse, along with their struggles and triumphs, across the millennia and numerous Chinese dynasties. Pang-White's new translation brings the authors of the Four Books for Women to life as real, living people, and illustrates why they wrote and how their work empowered women. This volume reveals the history and evolution of Chinese women's writing, education, identity, and philosophical discourse over a span of 1,600 years. (shrink)

Confucian wisdom is commonly assumed to consist in the Confucian value perspective as humanism in a naturalistic outlook. In fact, Confucius and Mencius sketched out a far more interesting notion of wisdom (zhi) as rooted in cognizance and flexibility and expressed in sensitive discernment and the ability to read and respond to complex, changing circumstances--to read (and respond to) the writing on the wall. Whereas the notions of tradition and the Way are thought to weigh heavily in the Confucian perspective, (...) the deeper insight and innovative action of the "wise" can transform everything and recast tradition and the Way on a more adequate basis. In his commentaries and discourses on the Four Books, Zhu Xi grasped this notion of "wisdom" and explicated its connection to several related notions, including chung (hitting the mark), yi (appropriateness), quan (weighing, discretion), and chongyong (hitting the utmost propriety in the common situation). This inquiry reveals an innovative, critical spirit in classical Confucianism that has largely lain dormant since the rise and persistence of a bureaucratic, authoritarian China after the Qin-Han period. (shrink)

This article is to examine the way of harmony that is initiated in the Analects of Confucius, and further elaborated in the other three of the Four Books. It will argue that the Confucian harmony is a philosophy defining the relation between the self and the other and among the elements of the unity, that it is a way of living and behaving that leads to modesty and flexibility, and that it is a moral process starting from the (...) self and reaching the Middle Way. It concludes that the way of harmony is not only theoretically important for Confucian philosophy but also practically significant for Chinese culture because it later became central to the doctrinal foundation on which all philosophical schools operated. (shrink)

After introducing some scholarship on the value of Mao Qiling's (1623–1713) works, we present an account of canonization processes in order to understand the hermeneutic context of Mao's battle with the Cheng-Zhu orthodoxy. His work is an attempt to decanonizing Zhu Xi's Four Books, preferring instead an alternative relying on the Old Texts of the Taixue《太學》/Daxue《大學》 and Zhongyong 《中庸》. Mao argues against Zhu Xi's textual changes and interpretations on a number of bases, producing a hermeneutics of suspicion against (...) the Cheng-Zhu orthodoxy. Instead, Mao offers an alternative account of the sagely way, following precedents of Wang Yangming. (shrink)

Confucian wisdom is commonly assumed to consist in the Confucian value perspective as humanism in a naturalistic outlook. In fact, Confucius and Mencius sketched out a far more interesting notion of wisdom as rooted in cognizance and flexibility and expressed in sensitive discernment and the ability to read and respond to complex, changing circumstances--to read the writing on the wall. Whereas the notions of tradition and the Way are thought to weigh heavily in the Confucian perspective, the deeper insight and (...) innovative action of the "wise" can transform everything and recast tradition and the Way on a more adequate basis. In his commentaries and discourses on the Four Books, Zhu Xi grasped this notion of "wisdom" and explicated its connection to several related notions, including chung, yi, quan, and chongyong. This inquiry reveals an innovative, critical spirit in classical Confucianism that has largely lain dormant since the rise and persistence of a bureaucratic, authoritarian China after the Qin-Han period. (shrink)

This work builds on earlier works, which defend Confucianism against charges of sexism and present interpretations of Confucianism compatible with Feminism, but contributors go beyond the much discussed care ethics, and common arguments of how ren (humaneness) can ground an egalitarian humanism that include gender equality. Besides ethics and political philosophy topics, this volume includes discussions in other philosophical areas such as epistemology, metaphysics, and applied philosophy. Through the encounter of Feminism and Confucius’s perspectives, each contributor generates novel answers to (...) the questions addressed. In some cases, authors raise new questions about the chosen topic, inadequacies in how it has been addressed in previous Confucian or Feminist discourse, and/or challenges for either or both Confucianism and Feminism. (shrink)

The relation between art and morality is one of the vexed issues of aesthetics; it has a history at least from Plato and has been written about, or commented on, by most if not all the luminaries in aesthetics—it is not coincidence that one of the most influential papers on these debates is also one of the most cited papers of this journal. Also, the (im)pertinence of moral concerns for the assessment of artworks is arguably one of the most discussed (...) philosophical issues in the public opinion (albeit not always informed by philosophical insights). The prompt for this Special Issue was the publication, over a short space of time, of four books in the area: James Harold’s Dangerous Art: On Moral Criticisms of Artwork (2020), Erich Hatala Matthes’s Drawing the Line: What to Do with the Work of Immoral Artists from Museums to Movies (2022), Ted Nannicelli’s Artistic Creation and Ethical Criticism (2020), and Mary Beth Willard’s Why It’s OK to Enjoy the Art of Immoral Artists (2021). In this issue, each of these authors provides a précis of their own book, a criticism of one of the other books, and then a defence of their own work against this criticism. Although each book is, obviously, very different, there are some overlapping concerns that make for an especially productive interaction. In particular, one thread that runs through is the current vexed issue of what attitude an audience should take on a work of art in the light of facts about the moral character of its creator. With the wars over ‘cancel culture’ raging in the popular discourse, it is important to subject this issue to detailed philosophical examination. (shrink)

Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom: First Nation Know-How for Global Flourishing’s contributors describe ways of being that reflect a worldview that has guided humanity for 99% of human history; they describe the practical traditional wisdom stemming from Nature-based relational cultures that were or are guided by this worldview. Such cultures did not cause the kinds of anti-Nature and de-humanizing or inequitable policies and practices that now pervade our world. Far from romanticizing Indigenous histories, Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom offers facts about how human beings, (...) with our potential for good and evil behaviors, can live in relative harmony again. Contributions cover views from anthropology, psychology, sociology, leadership, native science, native history, native art. (shrink)

Introductory chapter to the book, Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom.

This chapter examines the tension between philosophical construction and classical interpretation. It analyses Zhu Xi’s very specific philosophical interpretations of early classics, such as the Four Books. As an example of the cross-cultural disputes among the East Asian Confucians, Huang introduces the middle-Tokugawa Confucians’ criticisms of Zhu’s abstract interpretations.

지혜는 본래부터 哲學과 불가분의 관계를 가지고 있고, 또한 철학이 가장 애호하는 개념이기도하다. 이 글에서는 중국철학에서의 지혜의 위상을 살펴본다는 차원에서 지혜의 의미를 포함하고 있는 智와 明이 儒學의 四書에서 어떻게 사용되는가를 검토했다.BR 공자가 강조한 正名論의 영향 때문인지 四書에서는 대체로 智와 明에 내재된 ‘지혜’라는 긍정적인 의미를 비교적 충실히 사용하는 경향을 보여준다. 四書 중에서 『論語』와 『孟子』에는 智에 관한 직간접적인 서술이 비교적 다양하게 포함되어 있다. 내용상으로 보면, 智와 仁의 관계, 智者의 모습, 智의 문제점, 그리고 智의 후천적 계발 가능성 등을 공통적으로 포함하고 있다. 반면에 『大學』에는 유학의 (...) 大綱을 간략하게 기록해서인지 智에 관한 직접적인 서술은 찾아보기 어려우나 간접적으로는 智와의 연계성이 『대학』 전체적으로 내포된 것으로 볼 수 있다. 『中庸』에는 다시 智者를 주제로 한 내용이 비교적 풍부하게 포함되어 있다. 그런데 智와 달리 明과 관련해서는 『논어』와 『맹자』 그리고 『대학』에는 주목할만한 내용이 많지 않다. 반면에 『중용』에는 明과 관련하여 四書 중에서 가장 의미 있는 내용이 포함되어 있다. (shrink)

이 논문은 『四書』와 칸트 철학에서 도덕성의 근거를 탐구하려는 것이다. 즉 인간의 본성에 내재적으로 주어진 本心 또는 仁義禮智의 四德과 칸트철학에서 가상계의 도덕성이 현상계 속에서 어떻게 실현되는지를 탐구하려는 것이다. 『四書』와 칸트 철학은 시공간적으로 직접적인 연관성은 없다. 그러나 인간에게 내재적인 도덕법칙을 구체적인 현실 속에서 어떻게 실현시킬 것인가는 모든 철학자들의 관심사이다. 『四書』와 칸트 철학에서는 도덕성의 내재성과 선천성을 강조한다. 이런 측면에서 『四書』와 칸트의 도덕성이 지닌 내적인 연관성, 도덕성의 근거, 도덕성의 내재성과 선천성 등을 밝히고자 한다. 그리고 도덕적 본성과 도덕법칙이 어떻게 실현되는가 하는 방식도 밝히고자 한다. 이를 (...) 통해서 『四書』와 칸트철학에서 근원적 본성과 도덕법칙을 실현하는 방식의 유사성을 드러내고자 한다. 칸트의 인식론에서는 인식대상은 사물 그 자체가 아니고 단지 우리에 의해서 구성된 사물일 뿐이라고 주장하는데 이것이 바로 코페르니쿠스적 전회이다. 따라서 우리는 단지 현상세계의 사물들만을 인식할 수 있을 뿐, 사물 그 자체를 인식할 수는 없다. 이런 점에서 우리는 인식의 한계를 넘어설 수가 없지만, 그러나 가상계(사물 자체)를 근원적으로 요청해야 한다. 인간은 현상계와 가상계의 두 세계에 살고 있는 이중성을 지니고 있다. 이러한 이중성은 인간의 도덕성의 조건 또는 토대이다. 밖으로 나타나지 않는 未發之中의 차원으로부터 밖으로 실현되는 發而皆中節의 차원으로의 이행은 칸트 철학에서 자연 인과성으로부터 자유 인과성으로 이행하는 것과 유사하다. 결국 현상계의 갖가지 욕망과 감정의 유혹을 극복하고 가상계의 도덕법칙을 실현시키는 것은 인간존재의 특권이다. 양심과 선의지의 명령에 따르는 도덕행위를 통해서 인간은 자유를 획득한다. 이렇게 함으로써 인간은 未發而中의 선천적 도덕법칙을 發而皆中節하고 道心을 유지할 수 있다. 未發而中의 이념적 차원의 도덕성을 현상계 속에서 실현할 수 있는가 여부에 따라 發而皆中節과 發而不中節로 나누어진다. 發而皆中節은 人欲之私를 버리고 天理之公을 擇善固執하여 允執厥中하는 행위이기에 道心이며 이렇게 선의지에 따른 행위, 양심에 따른 행위가 바로 養知 良能인 것이다. 『四書』와 칸트의 도덕성은 이런 측면에서 유사성을 지니고 있다. (shrink)

Traditional scholarship seems not to pay sufficient attention to the fact that Daxue 《大學》 has established a system of ethical and political philosophy on the basis of the idea of xin 心 (heart-mind) whereas the Zhongyong 《中庸》 has argued for the participation of the human person in the creativities of heaven and earth based on the onto-generative nature (xing 性) of the human person. How to explain this fact and interrelate and integrate these two systems become both a historical challenge (...) and a theoretical issue in the understanding of the Confucian philosophy of humanity as we find in the Lunyu 《論語》. (shrink)

본 논고는 지천 최명길의 『사문록』 가운데 「논어기의」의 『논어』 해석 경향과 그 사상적 특징을 검토한 것이다. 지천 최명길은 주자의 경전해석을 통설로 여겼던 당시의 학문적 흐름에 의탁하지 않고 경전 본의를 주체적으로 탐색하였다. 그는 이 과정에서 고주를 인용하고 일본의 고주본까지 검토하였으며, 더 나아가서 고주와 신주에도 의존하지 않는 자신만의 독창적인 해석을 제시하기도 하였다. 먼저 고주를 인용하고 참조한 사례로는 「태백」 20장 ‘재난불기연호당우지재어사위성(才難不其然乎唐虞之際於斯爲盛云云)’, 「이인」 18장 ‘사부모기간(事父母幾諫云云)’, 「안연」 7장 ‘족식족병민신지의(足食足兵民信之云云)’ 에 대한 해석을 들 수 있다. 또 주자 신주에 비판적으로 접근했을 뿐만 아니라 고주에도 얽매이지 않는 독창적인 해석을 (...) 부기한 부분으로는 「선진」 19장 ‘불천적불입어실(不踐跡 不入於室云云)’, 「계씨」 9장 ‘생이지지자상(生而知之者上云云)’, 「양화」 3장 ‘상지여하우불이(上智與下愚不移 云云)’에 대한 해석을 들 수 있다. 마지막으로 그가 양명학을 긍정할 수 있었던 사상적 경향을 살필 수 있는 부분으로는 「리인」 8장 조문도석사가의‘(朝聞道夕死可矣云云)’, 「태백」 4장 ‘군자소귀자삼(君子所貴者三云云)’ 에 대한 해석을 들 수 있다. 여기서 추출할 수 있는 최명길의 사상적 특징은 心과 道는 본래 분리될 수 없고 공부를 할 때는 마음 상의 본원 공부가 본질이고 우선이라고 보는 것이다. 그러나 이러한 견해는 그가 양명학을 긍정할 수 있었던 사유경향은 될 수 있지만 그의 양명학 수용여부나 철학적 특색에 대한 정확한 규명으로는 미흡한 점이 있다. 이 점을 좀더 명확히 규명하기 위해서는 『사문록』의 다른 편인 「맹자기의」와 「대학기의」 등의 해석내용을 아울러 고찰할 필요가 있다. 최명길의 「논어기의」에 대한 연구는 당시의 사서 해석 경향에 주자학 일변도가 아닌 다양성이 존재하는 일례를 검토하고 초기 양명학자로 거론되는 최명길의 사상적 특징을 고찰하여 한국 양명학의 전개를 재조망한다는 데 의의가 있다. (shrink)

This chapter examines the tension between philosophical construction and classical interpretation. It analyses Zhu Xi’s very specific philosophical interpretations of early classics, such as the Fo...

What do we aim at when we teach general introductory courses in moral philosophy? What should we aim at? In particular, should we focus on practice or theory? Should we make the study of ethics easy for the students, or should we alternatively aim at making the hardness of ethics attractive to them? This review discusses four recently published textbooks in ethics designed for beginners’ level courses. The books are different in organization and emphases. In each case, I (...) have given a short overview of the book’s contents, its aims and methods. I have also made some assessment about the usefulness of each: the philosophical territory it covers, the philosophical approach it puts forward, and the amount of preparation-work it leaves with the teacher. My overview thus gives the necessary information, and creates for the teacher the occasion for reflecting on—leaves the teacher with the task of deciding—what and how they want to teach. (shrink)

This article presents four pieces of textile decorated with Egyptian Book of the Dead texts and vignettes which are in the possession of the John Rylands Library, Manchester. As demonstrated, these manuscripts are forgeries made with the help of templates from the Description de l’Égypte. The article presents the evidence for this conclusion and traces the path of the hieroglyphic and hieratic texts on textiles into the library.