Civility as Political Constraint

Res Publica - The everyday virtue of civility functions as a constraint upon informal social pressures. Can civility also be understood, as John Rawls has proposed, as a distinctively political...     

Assessing Workgroup Norms for Civility: The Development of the Civility Norms Questionnaire-Brief

Purpose

This research describes the development and validation of the Civility Norms Questionnaire-Brief (CNQ-B), a 4-item measure designed to assess workgroup climate for civility. Climate for civility is defined as employee perceptions of norms supporting respectful treatment among workgroup members.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Five samples (N?=?2,711) of adult employees, including two from distinct organizations and three from multiple organizations, responded to the CNQ-B and additional measures.

Findings

Evidence for the internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity of the CNQ-B was observed. Additionally, evidence for the criterion-related and incremental validity of the CNQ-B was demonstrated as it was a significant predictor of later-assessed incivility experiences and accounted for significant variability in work attitudes beyond incivility experiences and related measures.

Implications

The CNQ-B is a psychometrically sound instrument despite being composed of only four items. The CNQ-B can be used by researchers and practitioners alike to assess climate for civility, to study climate for civility as a precursor to incivility experiences, and to target workgroups that could benefit from interventions (e.g., training) to enhance civility and reduce incivility.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first studies to conduct a rigorous psychometric assessment of a measure of workgroup climate for civility that is grounded in theory and research on workplace civility and incivility. At four items, the CNQ-B is the shortest assessment tool currently available that is designed for this purpose.     

论战国时期儒家的变礼思想——以国家政权转移的理论为中心

春秋后期到战国以来,礼发生了一次转变,由重视日常仪节的礼仪转向重视国家制度的礼制。儒家通过礼制的损益变革,提出了诸如禅让、革命、王鲁和选举等关于国家政权转移的理论,对礼作新的解释,以此实现社会的变革。     

Confucian Cosmopolitanism

Scholars in the humanities and social sciences are keenly aware of and often deeply engaged with more global or cosmopolitan approaches to their respective fields; nevertheless, theories of cosmopolitanism remain exceedingly controversial and arise exclusively from Western philosophical sources. Recently, Martha Nussbaum presented a contemporary Western liberal cosmopolitan theory and sought to integrate it with a call for multicultural education. In this essay, I describe, analyze, and criticize Nussbaum's conception of cosmopolitanism and argue that it does not sit comfortably with her laudable advocacy of multicultural education. I then draw upon resources within the Confucian tradition to sketch two alternative conceptions of cosmopolitanism, which I argue are both more powerful than what Nussbaum proposes and better support the kind of multicultural education she so eloquently advocates.     

儒家社群主义略论

As a social and political thought, communitarian ideas appeared in the Pre-Qin Confucianism. By the Song Dynasty, it had become a systematic theory, namely, the learning of the “four books.” As a social and political theory, not only can Confucian communitarianism contribute to Western liberalism, but it can also be an intellectual resource for the development of democracy in East Asian countries and regions. The future of the Confucian communitarianism lies in its critique of itself and its discourse with Western liberalism, by which Confucianism evolves from communitarianism into liberalism. __________ Translated from Wenshizhe 文史哲 (Literature, History and Philosophy), 2006, (4): 31–37     

理雅各的儒教一神论

理雅各以系统译介儒教经典而成为19世纪欧洲汉学之权威。他认为儒教是信仰真正上帝(God)之宗教,应由基督教补充与完成。本文分析理氏著译中有关中国上帝崇拜之论述,孔子宗教品格与形象之变化,以及理氏对儒教宗教性的判定,藉此对理氏儒教研究中基督教意识形态与传教动机的介入与影响作出反思。     

Confucian Moral Realism

In this paper I construct Confucian moral realism as a metaethical theory that is compatible with, or even derivable from, traditional Confucianism. The paper is at once interpretative and constructive. In my analysis, Confucians can establish the realist's claims on moral properties because they embrace the view of a moralistic universe. Moral properties in Confucian ethics not only are presented as objective, naturalistic properties, but also are seen as ‘causally efficacious’. There are several theses commonly endorsed by contemporary moral realists. I will explain how many of the remarks by Confucius, Mencius, in Yijing, The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean can be understood as implicit endorsements of these theses. I will also analyze the theses specific to Confucian moral realism. The paper will end with a brief defense of this form of realism.     

孔子的"仁"

孔子的“仁”属于一个伦理学范畴,也是一个政治学范畴,还是一个修身学的范畴,“仁”具有“爱一切人”的含义,这与孔子的出身和所处的社会地位有关。     

儒家伦理与情感

The Confucian understanding of emotions and their ethical importance confirms and exemplifies the contemporary Western renewed understanding of the nature of emotions. By virtue of a systematic conceptual analysis of Confucian ethics, one can see that, according to Confucians, the ethical significance of emotions, lies in that an ethical life is also emotional and virtues are inclinational. And a further exploration shows that the reason for the ethical significance is both that emotions are heavenly-endowed and that there exists a union of emotions and reason in Confucian ethics. This will constitute a challenge to the so-called mainstream ethical theories which have been popularly engaged in seeking justifications for abstract moral rules. __________ Translated from Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Research), 2007, (3): 86–92     

儒学的人生境界论

中国儒学注重人、人生,尤其注重人生的价值,目的,追求实现人生理想、价值,达到人生目的、目标,这就是人们常常议论的人生境界论的问题。     

Political Implications of Confucian Familism

The family could be mobilized as a political resource for economic ‘development’. What kind of family would be compatible with a knowledge-based economy? We argue that authoritarian Confucian familism is incompatible with the knowledge-based economy; but it is possible to construct a different model of the ideal Confucian family which will be compatible with such an economy: a family ideal that emphasizes internal strengths of relationships rather than building barriers to keep out ‘undesirable influences’, that advocates a respect for authority that is authoritative rather than authoritarian.     

儒家为学体验新论

为学体验是儒学的首要哲学方法。儒家为己之学的取向决定为学贵在自得于心 ,以返回内心、回归本性为自然 ,注重通过有限的方式独立地、自主地体验无限的道体。为学体验强调在刻苦学习的基础上通过心性修养保持心灵的澄静莹洁 ,以达到与道为一的最高顿悟境界 ,即动静相生、知情欲融而为一的不动心境界。为学体验作为知行合一的工夫 ,是既包含感性、知性、理性的认识要素又超越于它们的哲学思维方式。为学体验达到与道为一意味着“通” ,即人类的心灵把自身融化于外在的客体之中 ,超越了主体和客体的对立。主客体融而为一的最高境界标志着生生不已的高度创造性的主体自由。     

儒家哲学的人文意义

儒家哲学以“仁”为核心之概念。孔子以“仁”为诸德之首、诸德之全,一方面是为人格之养成建构一个足以涵摄道德实践意义的系统,“苟志于仁,无恶矣!”(《论语·里仁》)仁的意义几乎等同于“善”,而“善”乃人格成全之美善——唯有在人格得以满全的情况下,“善”的意义才可能彻底地被实现出来。