The Tao of Confucian Virtue Ethics

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Bretzke ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Confucian Virtue

scholarly journals De and Virtue in Early Confucian Texts: Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Xinzhong Yao
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Confucian Virtue ◽  
New Type

Abstract The introduction to this special issue describes the emergence of the virtue ethics approach within the study of Confucian virtues in recent decades. It will first examine scholarly contributions to the discussion of Confucian virtue ethics and then raises questions concerning whether or not de 德 in early Confucian texts is identical with arête or virtue. It will then investigate the meaning and implication of de in Confucian contexts and make an argument for a new type of Confucian de ethics. It will finally come to the project on de and virtue ethics in early Confucian texts and define its purpose and boundaries.

scholarly journals 大疫當前: 訴諸儒家文明的倫理資源

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-107
Author(s):  
Ruiping FAN
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Foundation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Digital Commons ◽  
Confucian Virtue ◽  
Human Practices ◽  
Chinese Ethics ◽  
Political Decisions

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.本文論證對於新冠狀病毒疫情只做政治學論證是不夠的，還需要倫理學的反思，因為一個社會的倫理價值承諾才是對其現實政治的一種基礎性指導而不是相反。中華傳統文化的倫理精神同現代西方文化的倫理精神大異其趣。如果突出其不同特點的話，可以分別標識為儒家的天命美德倫理及其家庭主義與和諧主義的特點，針對現代的世俗原則倫理及其原則主義與自由主義的特點。東亞國家對於這次疫情的應對，至少在疫情明顯出現之後，總體上處理得較之西方國家更好，背後實有不同的倫理精神的反應和支撐。本文訴諸儒家美德倫理學的資源，宣導人類進行倫理學的範式轉向：我們需要和諧主義（而不是科學主義）的發展觀、美德主義（而不是原則主義）的決策觀、家庭主義（而不是契約主義）的天下觀。的確，不少人憂慮，這次疫情將會扭轉近些年的全球化發展趨勢，使國際社會進入互相敵對的、封閉的惡性競爭時代。儒家美德倫理學所攜帶的美德、和諧和和平的資訊，應該給予我們深遠的啟示。Why have some countries done better than others in dealing with the coronavirus crisis so far? One popular answer is in terms of politics: everything depends on state capacity, the level of political trust in society, and the quality of leadership. This paper suggests the need to go beyond politics and turn to ethics. If one does not delve into the ethical spirit and substance that underlie tangible political decisions and activities to combat the coronavirus pandemic in a state, one will fail to see the cultural momentum of the people’s responses in that state and miss the moral foundation of the social practices embedded within that state’s civilization in comparison with other civilizations. In particular, this paper argues that the spirit and substance of Chinese ethics differ from those of the contemporary mainstream Western ethics characteristic of secular principlism, which, although they possess important advantages and merits, suffer from a series of defects and failures, including untenable reductionism, a type of dogmatism, and even radicalism. In contrast, Confucian civilization provides the Chinese with a virtue ethics that is not principlism. It is rather an exposition of Confucian virtue (de), as a powerful but peaceful moral force, that is entrenched within the fundamental structures of the universe (as portrayed in the images of yin-yang, the eight trigrams, and the 64 hexagrams in the Classic of Change) and within the ritual activities of human beings (as described in the ceremonial and minute rituals in the three Confucian ritual classics) to shape the Confucian moral character. Confucian virtue principles and rules are implicit in such structures and the rituals to be formulated in connection with them, but they cannot be created through pure reason. They play their roles in human practices along with structures and rituals but can never exhaust their richness and profundity. The paper indicates that this virtue ethics contains a Confucian notion of harmonious freedom (that can counter scientific determinism) and a familist ethic (that can be adopted to check and balance runaway contractualism), which can be fruitfully used to direct political decisions and activities to combat the coronavirus pandemic and to accomplish peaceful and fruitful outcomes in society.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 9 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Shared fluency theory of social cohesiveness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Reber ◽  
Ara Norenzayan
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Processing Fluency ◽  
Unified Framework ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Social Domain ◽  
Mental Operation ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
The Social ◽  
Confucian Virtue ◽  
Societal Level

A shared fluency theory of social cohesiveness is outlined that accounts for disparate phenomena under a unified framework. This starts from the well-known metacognitive feeling of processing fluency (henceforth fluency), which is the subjective ease with which a mental operation is performed. Fluency is extended to the social domain, and the notion of shared fluency is introduced, consisting of two aspects: interpersonal fluency, or the ease with which two people coordinate their behavior, and shared object fluency, meaning that people exposed to the same objects can process these objects more easily. Fluency theory provides new insights in five domains: religious rituals, Confucian virtue ethics, military drill, culturally shared tastes, and place attachment. After a discussion of strengths and limitations of the shared fluency theory, it is concluded that low-level mechanisms, like fluency, may help explain complex social phenomena and open new avenues for feeling-based interventions relevant at a societal level.

Four challenges to Confucian virtue ethics in technology

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Bay
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
Technology Ethics ◽  
Confucian Virtue ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ethics Guidelines

Purpose As interest in technology ethics is increasing, so is the interest in bringing schools of ethics from non-Western philosophical traditions to the field, particularly when it comes to information and communication technology. In light of this development and recent publications that result from it, this paper aims to present responds critically to recent work on Confucian virtue ethics (CVE) and technology. Design/methodology/approach Four critiques are presented as theoretical challenges to CVE in technology, claiming that current literature insufficiently addresses: overall applicability, collective ethics issues, epistemic overconfidence within technology corporations and amplification of epistemic overconfidence by the implementation of CVE. These challenges make use of general CVE literature and work on technology critique, political philosophy, epistemology and business ethics. Findings Implementing CVE in technology may yield some benefits, but these may be outweighed by other outcomes, include strengthening hierarchies, widening inequities, increasing, rather than limiting, predictive activity, personal data collection, misinformation, privacy violations and challenges to the democratic process. Originality/value Though not directly advocating against CVE, the paper reveals hitherto unidentified and serious issues that should be addressed before CVE are used to inform ethics guidelines or regulatory policies. It also serves as a foundation for further inquiry into how Eastern philosophy more broadly can inform technology ethics in the West.

The Situationist Critique and Early Confucian Virtue Ethics

Ethics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 390-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Slingerland
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Confucian Virtue

軍醫生命倫理探析

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Fang YANG
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Confucian Ethics ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
Moral Cultivation ◽  
Moral Tradition ◽  
Confucian Morality ◽  
Confucian Virtue ◽  
Chinese Military ◽  
Military Physicians

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.生物技術在軍事領域中的應用構成了軍醫生命倫理生成的實踐基礎，對生命的本體追問和醫學人道反思則是軍醫生命倫理生成與發展的理論依歸。儘管東西方異質文化的道德差異使得中外軍醫倫理研究各有側重，但在論及軍醫生命倫理時並無本質差異。本文認為，國內軍醫倫理學不能只局限於研究內在品德的培育，而必須要探討不同境遇的倫理抉擇以及倫理困境的道德剖析。注重德性修養的中國傳統倫理與深入考察具體案例的當代西方倫理或許可以在方法論上互相借鑒、互相補充。當下軍醫生命倫理研究的視域主要涵蓋戰地安樂死、戰場器官移植、軍事醫學科研、疫苗使用、突發公共衞生事件、生態倫理等倫理問題。The modern world faces various military bioethical problems. A series of prominent issues – such as battlefield euthanasia, battlefield organ transplants, military medical research, the use of vaccines, emergent public health crises, and ecological ethical problems – challenge our moral conscience and our cultural commitments, both in the West and in China. Chinese bioethical scholars need to turn their attention to these important but thorny issues and provide ethically appropriate solutions by drawing on their intellectual and ethical resources.The recent history of military bioethical research in China shows that the character of such research is culture-laden. Influenced by the long-standing Confucian tradition that emphasizes virtue-cultivation, Chinese military bioethical studies have focused on issues such as to how to educate and promote the moral character of military physicians. However, they have overlooked – or at least have not given sufficient attention to – analyses of military bioethical dilemmas and contexts that are needed to develop adequate and feasible ethical solutions to the new problems facing today’s military. This academic situation should be improved to ensure that Chinese military bioethical research moves forward.It is true that Confucianism is a central moral tradition in China. It is also true that theoretical Confucian morality can be taken as virtue ethics, which emphasizes moral cultivation. However, it is not true that Confucian virtue ethics only focuses on issues of character development, ignoring specific ethical problems or conflicts. This essay takes the perspective that traditional Chinese Confucian ethics (which emphasizes moral cultivation) and modern Western ethics (which focuses on the application of general principles to particular contexts) should learn from each other and offer more comprehensive arguments and appropriate solutions to military bioethical issues. Indeed, Confucian moral practices – rituals (li) – are embedded in the everyday lives of people in general and the activities of military physicians in particular. These rituals provide concrete guidance in particular contexts, but they are not absolute moral rules. Confucianism calls for moral deliberation by exercising the virtues achieved through observing rituals. However, a principle of the middle way is that we should function according to the Confucian way of life. These intellectual and moral resources could be drawn upon to explore Chinese military bioethics.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 139 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

The Deontological Foundation of Neo-Confucian Virtue Ethics

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-353
Author(s):  
George J. Aulisio ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Virtue Theory ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Confucian Virtue

I show that Neo-Confucianism is practiced in two ways: (1) deontologically and (2) as a virtue ethical theory. When fully appreciated, Neo-Confucianism is a virtue ethical theory, but to set out on the path of the sage and behave like a junzi, Neo-Confucianism must first be practiced deontologically. I show this by examining the importance of Neo-Confucian metaphysics to ethical practice and by drawing out the major practical differences between “lesser learning” and “higher learning.” In my view, Neo-Confucianism can be practiced deontologically because some adherents may never move to practicing Neo-Confucianism as a virtue theory.

Situationism and Confucian Virtue Ethics

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah S. Mower
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Confucian Virtue
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document