Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Judgment In Confucian Ethics

Review of Jonathan Dancy’s Ethics Without Principles, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004, 229 pp., ISBN: 978–0–19–929768–9, pbk.

  • Published:
Sophia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

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.

Notes

  1. Contemporary scholars who have worked or are working in this area in the English language include Kim-Chong CHONG, Antonio S. Cua, Roger T. Ames, Philip J. Ivanhoe, David S. Nivison, Heiner Roetz, Kwong-loi SHUN, and David B. Wong.

  2. See, for example, Chong (1999); Cua (1978, 1989).

  3. See, for example, Ivanhoe (2000a); Nivison (1996a); Shun (1989).

  4. See, for example, Hall and Ames (1987 esp. pp. 110–27); Ivanhoe (1991, 2000b); Neville (1986); Roetz (1993); Wong (1996).

  5. Cheng (1972); Chong (1998); Hall and Ames (1987: 83–110); Lai (2003, 2006).

  6. These include the Analects, Ames and Rosemont (1998), Mencius, D.C. LAU (2003) Works of Xunzi, Knoblock (1998). Here, I focus the discussion primarily on the Analects. Readers familiar with the other texts will be able to identify similar issues arising in these other texts.

  7. Translated by Julia Ching (1978) from German. Original text by Helmuth von Glasenapp (1954). Kant und die Religionen des Osten. Beihefte zum Jahrbuch der Albertus-Universitat, Konigsberg/Pr. (Kitzingen-Main: Holzner verlag, pp. 105–106). Annotations added by translator. In her paper, Ching focuses on fundamental differences in the structures and dynamics of early Chinese philosophy and Kantian philosophy.

  8. I would have preferred to use the phrase “paradigmatic people”. However, there are no paradigmatic women in the pre-Qin Confucian texts.

  9. Here, I use the phrase ‘return to some form of principle-based ethics’ following Dancy’s view that principles-based ethics is widespread both in the theoretical commitments of the dominant culture and in practice.

  10. See, for instance, Shun (1989); Wong (1991); Nivison (1996a).

  11. See for example Cua (2005); Goldin (1999); Hagen (2007); Knoblock (1998); Nivison (1996b); Wong (1996).

References

  • Ames, R. T., & Rosemont Jr, H. (1998). The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, Chung-ying (1972). On Yi as a Universal Principle of Specific Application in Confucian Morality. In Philosophy East and West, 22, 269–280

  • Ching, J. (1978). Chinese Ethics and Kant. Philosophy East and West, 28(2), 161–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chong, Kim-Chong (1998). Confucius’s Virtue Ethics: Li, Yi, Wen and Chih in the Analects. In Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 25, 101–130

  • Chong, Kim-chong (1999). The Practice of Jen. In Philosophy East and West, 49(3), 298–316 (July)

  • Cua, A. S. (1971). The Concept of Paradigmatic Individuals in the Ethics of Confucius. Inquiry, 14, 41–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cua, A. S. (1978). Dimensions of Moral Creativity. USA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cua, A. S. (1989). The Status of Principles in Confucian Ethics. In Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 16, 273–296.

  • Cua, A. S. (2005). Human Nature, Ritual, and History: Studies in Xunzi and Chinese Philosophy (Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy). Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, P. R. (1999). Rituals of the Way: The Philosophy of Xunzi. Chicago: Open Court Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagen, K. (2007). The Philosophy of Xunzi: A Reconstruction. Chicago: Open Court Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, D. L., & Ames, R. T. (1987). Thinking Through Confucius. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanhoe, P. J. (1991). Character Consequentialism: An Early Confucian Contribution to Contemporary Ethical Theory. In Journal of Religious Ethics, 19(1), 55–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanhoe, P. J. (2000a). Confucian Moral Self Cultivation. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivanhoe, P. J. (2000b). Virtue, Nature, and Moral Agency in the Xunzi. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoblock, J. (1998). Xunzi: A Translation and Study of the Complete Works. California: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai, K. L. (2003). Confucian Moral Cultivation: Some Parallels with Musical Training. In Kim-Chong CHONG, Sor-Hoon TAN and Chin Liew TEN (eds) The Moral Circle and the Self: Chinese and Western Perspectives. Chicago: Open Court Publishing

  • Lai, K. L. (2006). Li in the Analects: Training in Moral Competence and the Question of Flexibility. In Philosophy East and West, 56(1), 69–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai, K. L. (2007). Understanding Confucian Ethics: Reflections on Moral Development. In Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics, 9(2), 21–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lau, Dim-Cheuk. (2003). Mencius. Bilingual Edition. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press.

  • Neville, R. C. (1986). The Scholar-Official as a Model for Ethics. In Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 13, 185–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nivison, D. S. (1996a). Motivation and Moral Action in Mencius. In D. S. Nivison, contributor B. W. Van Norden. The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Chicago: Open Court Publishing, pp. 91–119.

  • Nivison, D. S. (1996b). (Ed.) The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese philosophy. Chicago: Open Court Publishing.

  • Roetz, H. (1993). Confucian Ethics of the Axial Age. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryle, G. (1945). Knowing How and Knowing That. In Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 1–16.

  • Shun, Kwong-loi (1989). Moral Reasons in Confucian Ethics. In Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 16, 317–343.

  • Wong, D. B. (1991). Is there a Distinction between Reason and Emotion in Mencius? In Philosophy East and West, 41(1), 31–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, D. B. (1996). Xunzi on Moral Motivation. In P. J. Ivanhoe (Ed.), Chinese Language, Thought, and Culture: Nivison and his Critics (pp. 202–33). Chicago: Open Court Publishing, pp. 202–233.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of History and Philosophy, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Karyn L. Lai

Authors
  1. Karyn L. Lai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karyn L. Lai.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lai, K.L. Judgment In Confucian Ethics. SOPHIA 48, 77–84 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-008-0086-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-008-0086-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation