Philosophy East and West

Joseph Chan has shown persuasively that, in a Confucian society, rights should exist as a “fallback apparatus.” I argue that in his philosophical framework, education must be a human right. Education is vital to the Confucian conception of the good life. Its significance far exceeds the instrumental value for political purposes. Any contemporary Confucian society must take education as a human right. Accepting such a fundamental right strengthens Chan’s Confucian perfectionism.