Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Confucian Political Order and the Ethics/Politics Distinction: A Reassessment

  • Published:
Dao Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The established view in Confucian scholarship today is that Confucian political order serves to promote the material and moral well-being of ordinary people (min 民). Loubna El Amine turns this view on its head by arguing that Confucian political order revolves not around the interest of the people but the demands of security, stability, and prosperity. Min are expected to be virtuous only to the extent that they help to sustain such an order. As such, Confucian politics does not follow from ethics in any straightforward manner. In this article, I argue against her revisionist reading. I argue that her account not only lacks arguments for her core thesis of the ethics/politics division, but also goes against Confucians’ concern over the universality of humanity, popular welfare, and the integrity of Confucian thought. I also draw on discussion on political realism to flesh out the sense in which classic Confucianism is realist.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ames, Roger. 2011. Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ames, Roger, and David Hall. 1999. The Democracy of the Dead: Dewey, Confucius, and the Hope for Democracy in China. Chicago: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angle, Stephen C. 2009. Sagehood: The Contemporary Significance of Neo-Confucian Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2012. Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy. London: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baderin, Alice. 2014. “Two Forms of Realism in Political Theory.” European Journal of Political Theory 13.2.: 132–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai, Tongdong. 2008. “A Mencian Version of Limited Democracy.” Res Publica 14.1: 19–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2019. Against Political Equality: The Confucian Case. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

  • Bell, Daniel A. 2016. The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy. Princeton : Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, Elton. 2019. “The Indispensability of Moral Cultivation in Confucian Politics.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 18.2: 269–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, Joseph. 2013. Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy For Modern Times. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • De Bary, William Theodore. 1996. The Trouble With Confucianism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • El Amine, Loubna. 2015. Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2017. “Ethics and Politics in Classical Confucian Thought: A Reply to David Elstein.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 67.3: 919–920.

  • ______. 2019. “Material Conditions, Hierarchy, and Order in Early Confucian Political Thought: A Response to Reviewers.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 18.2: 285–289.

  • Elstein, David. 2010. “Why Early Confucianism Cannot Generate Democracy.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 9.4.: 427–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2017a “Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation, by Loubna El Amine.” Philosophy East and West 67.3: 917–919.

  • ______. 2017b “A Reply to Professor El Amine.” Philosophy East and West 67.3: 920–921.

  • Fan, Ruiping. 2013. “Confucian Meritocracy for Contemporary China.” In East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective, edited by Daniel A. Bell and Chenyang Li. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Russell. 2016. “Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation. By Loubna El Amine. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015. 218p.” Perspectives on Politics 14.3: 856–857.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galston, William. 2010. “Realism in Political Theory.” European Journal of Political Theory 9.4: 385–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geuss, Raymond. 2008. Philosophy and Real Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gilabert, Pablo, and Holly Lawford-Smith. 2012. “Political Feasibility: A Conceptual Exploration.” Political Studies 60.4: 809–825.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, A. C. 1989. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. Chicago: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, David L., and Roger T. Ames. 1987. Thinking Through Confucius. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, Eirik Lang. 2019. “Relating the Political to the Ethical: Thoughts on Early Confucian Political Theory.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 18.2.: 277–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honig, Bonnie. 2016. Political Theory and the Displacement of Politics. New York: Cornell University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hutton, Eric. 2016. “Loubna El Amine, Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation, Princeton University Press, 2015, 218pp.” Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/classical-confucian-political-thought-a-new-interpretation/ (last accessed on May 26, 2022).

  • Kim, Sungmoon. 2019. Theorizing Confucian Virtue Politics: The Political Philosophy of Mencius and Xunzi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Knoblock, John. 1988. Xunzi: A Translation and Study of the Complete Works. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lau, Dim Cheuk. 1970. Mencius. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2000. Confucius: The Analects. London: Penguin.

  • Li, Chenyang. 1997. “Confucian Value and Democratic Value.” Journal of Value Inquiry 31.2.: 183–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Zehua 劉澤華. 2000. Monarchism in China 中國的王權主義. Shanghai 上海: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe 上海人民出版社.

  • Mou, Zongsan 牟宗三. 2015. Nineteen Lectures on Chinese Philosophy 中國哲學十九講. Taipei 台北: Xuesheng Shuju 學生書局.

  • Mouffe, Chantal. 2005. The Return of the Political. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murthy, Viren. 2000. “The Democratic Potential of Confucian Minben Thought.” Asian Philosophy 10.1: 33–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pines, Yuri. 2009. Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Period. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, Benjamin. 1985. The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, Sor-hoon. 2003. Confucian Democracy: A Deweyan Reconstruction. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Junyi 唐君毅. 2016. The Complete Works of Tang Junyi 唐君毅全集, vol. 9. Beijing 北京: Jiuzhou Chubanshe 九州出版社.

  • Tiwald, Justin. 2008. “A Right of Rebellion in the Mengzi?” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 7.3: 269–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Ellie Hua. 2019. “Ethics, Politics, and the Recognition of Agency in Early Confucianism: A Commentary on Loubna El Amine’s Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 18.2: 259–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Bernard. 2005. In the Beginning Was the Deed: Realism and Moralism in Political Argument. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Yatang 許雅棠. 2001. “The Constant Way—Political Thought in the Analects 常道──《論語》政治思想試說.” Soochow Journal of Political Science 東吳政治學報 13: 176–222.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Yutang Jin

Authors
  1. Yutang Jin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yutang Jin.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jin, Y. Confucian Political Order and the Ethics/Politics Distinction: A Reassessment. Dao 21, 389–405 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-022-09839-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-022-09839-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation