Confucian Ethical Practice as a Method of Creating and Sustaining Whiteheadian Beauty

I argue that Confucian ethical practice can be considered as a feasible method of creating and sustaining Whiteheadian beauty. I first investigate Whitehead’s understanding of value, beauty and morality. Next, I show the affinity between Confucius and Whitehead in their understanding of value, beauty, and morality through an analysis of the Analects (Lunyu 论语), focusing on the aesthetic aspects of Confucian ethics understood as role ethics. Finally, I argue that Confucian ways of moral self-cultivation can be viewed as methods that foster our disposition to create and sustain the beauty of experience.     

Memory,Rite, and Tradition： A Comparative Confucian-Christian Literary Analysis

I The Confucian Classics and Christian Scriptures speak often about the role ＂the past＂ plays in shaping individual and communal character, life, perception, morality and purpose. In both Christianity and classical Confucianism, memory, rite and tradition are each accorded a central place in preserving and interpreting the past as a dynamic force in the present. The first part of this paper studies points of thematic similarity in Christian and Confucian interpretation of memory, rite and tradition. In the second part of the paper, however, critical points of divergence are addressed; for behind the formal similarities lie deeper intellectual, relational and moral differences in understanding the nature and function of ＂the past＂ in determining both the present and the future. Comparative literary analysis provides a rich resource for contemporary application of the Confucian Classics and Christian Scriptures to discussion of cultural memory and global harmony. The comparative reading of ＇texts＇ also provides an important point of access for understanding the role literature itself plays in determining the form, content and power of memory, ritual and tradition in both Confucianism and Christianity.     

An Eco-Ethical Interpretation of Confucian Tianren Heyi

Opposed to a commonly held interpretation that Confucian discourse regarding tianren heyi (天人合一) is simply a human-centred philosophical fusion of humanity and nature, this article argues that the Confucian discourse is in fact composed of two contradictory orientations, one ren-centred (roughly equivalent to “anthropocentric”) and the other tian-centred (“nature-centric” in a specific sense), which generally correspond to the two major camps of environmental philosophy in the West in the twentieth century. It will be further argued that the two orientations of the Confucian view have different yet related functions with regard to environmental protection and conservation: the tian-centred understanding establishes a metaphysical and religious framework for Confucian eco-ethical norms, in which ecological prohibitions and policies are built into the political and religious infrastructure, while the ren-centred orientation adds practical values and meanings to the ontological care of the human relation to the environment. In modern times, the two orientations of Confucian eco-ethics are under further development, moving away from being dualistic philosophies and converging on the eco-ethical way of life. Contemporary Confucians are investigating how the two traditional “orientations” can be unified as one holistic perspective which could provide theoretical and practical guidance for our understanding of the human position in the universe, the harmony between humans and nature, and the value of environmental protection and conservation.     

先秦儒家孝德思想及其现代价值

孝是儒家文化的核心范畴,是传统道德的基本规范,也是中国人的精神标识。先秦儒家孝德思想是中国孝文化的源头,它发端于夏商,萌芽于西周而形成于春秋战国时期。先秦儒家孝德思想内容丰富,养亲、敬亲、谏亲、安亲与丧祭等内容自成系统。这一思想系统在传统社会中发挥了极其重要的作用,今天,我们必须站在正确的立场上运用科学的方法对其当代价值作出科学分析。     

先秦诸子政治态度平议

先秦诸子的丰富思想是士人创造的,他们创造的不同思想与其所持的政治态度密切相关。如果将先秦诸子对王权的政治态度做一基本分类,大体有依附型、疏离型、合作型三种类型。其中,法家、道家、儒家影响最大,分别体现为依附王权、疏离王权、与王权合作三种政治态度类型。     

文化承续与义理重构中的先秦儒家礼让观

先秦儒家传承春秋尚让传统并推陈出新:从礼治秩序的构建、社会理想的追寻、安身处世的需要阐释礼让的功能;通过揭示让仪的内涵、重塑让礼之要义、协调德制的张力,力图使让之礼仪重新焕发生机;转而关注让的根源、施教促让的方式与君子修养让德的方法来夯实根基,同时还通过惠民富民并彰明礼法、躬行表率以感召行让、德礼为先与政刑为辅等治道手段而期望民间兴让。"教学相长、修养让德→彰明礼义、躬行礼让→和乐安治、无讼俗美",构成了儒家君子的共同认知。"养民教民、德主刑辅→民众躬行礼让→和乐无讼"的治民思路具有强烈的儒家特色。     

道德感动与儒家示范伦理学

该著收录了作者近年来发表的关于儒家哲学的文章,试图结合中西方道德哲学中的主要概念、原则、理论框架等,重新解释儒家哲学的当代意义。作者认为,可以将儒家伦理学说的核心与基础理解为存在论意义上的“感动论”,而儒家的示范性道德人格的重要性就在于它能够感动、激励人们行善。     

儒家文化中的共情观

共情是个体设身处地地共享并理解他人的情绪情感的心理现象,是道德与利他行为的动机源泉。儒家文化作为中国传统文化的主体,蕴含着具有深远理论意义和生动实践意义的共情观。本文将共情的情绪与认知两种成分作为视角,对儒家经典文本中的共情观进行梳理、分析与比较,发现儒家文化中的"恻隐之心"、"一体之仁"、"忠恕之道"、"絜矩之道"等思想观点在作为人们日常生活中接物待人道德伦理观的同时,在社会交往、理解他人等方面与共情具有相同的心理机制以及心理学原理。基于此发现,未来在继续探究儒家核心观念"仁"等文本与共情的联系与区别的同时,还可以针对儒式文化中的共情观,进一步尝试实证性研究。     

“补儒易佛”

作为一位在中国传统文化中成长起来的士大夫,徐光启深受儒学的影响,他对基督教学说（时人称为“天学”）的理解,是在自己已经拥有的儒学背景中展开的。因此,要了解徐光启对天学的认识,必须了解他对天学与儒学关系的论述。1612年,徐光启为他与熊三拔合作翻译的《泰西水法》写了一篇序,其中这样说道：“余尝谓其教必可以补儒易佛。”     

“以中土之汉文,展天房之奥义”——王岱舆关于宗教对话途径的尝试

明未清初,王岱舆出于"不使天下公理废而不传"的目的,在阐释伊斯兰宗教思想时,有意识地将伊斯兰教与中国传统的儒、释、道文化进行比较,辨析它们的同异,揭示二者之间某些范畴学说的相近性并加以融合,从而开启了"以中土之汉文,展天房之奥义"的先河,促进了伊斯兰教在中国的传播和发展,也使中国与阿拉伯国家的联系更加密切,促进了中阿和回汉文化交流,对当代宗教对话有重要启示意义。