Prolegomenon to a Theory of Philosophical Transposition,with Reference to Confucianism in America

What factors shape the movement of systems of thought from one historical‐cultural context to another? This paper provides a preliminary answer to this question by constructing an analytic framework drawn from the sociology of philosophy, and it uses this framework to consider the prospects for the contemporary transposition of Confucianism from China to America. The central, though still provisional, conclusion is that while global power dynamics matter, the particular conditions of the “philosophical fields” of both the original and the recipient locations are of primary importance in determining the extent and significance of any particular case of philosophical transposition. Therefore, due to the dynamics of the philosophical fields in both countries, it is unlikely that Confucianism will gain greater intellectual and political influence in the United States.     

仁学与人类文明

仁是儒学的核心。仁的基本精神或要义可以概括为七点 :仁的第一义是“生” ,第二义是“爱或博爱” ,第三义是“理” ,第四义是“全” ,第五义是“公” ,第六义是“一” ,第七义是“通”。生是万物存在的根据和始点 ,爱是生命的守护神并赖以同一的基础。只有公和仁爱 ,万物才能同一 ,万物同一了 ,无隔相通了 ,天下才会和谐而美满。这些既可视作仁学的内在逻辑 ,也是仁学具有普遍意义的超越之处。     

孝的多维心理结构：取向之异与古今之变

孝的内在结构具有多面性, 但以往孝的量表存在信效度不高、掺入研究者主观意图、遗漏重要因素等弊端。研究通过经典文本改编和被试自由生成而编制条目, 通过因素分析与效标分析等方法考察孝的结构( 总样本量 = 1725), 发现孝包含尊敬安乐父母、服从父母、和颜对待父母、守身不辱父母、陪伴父母、扬名以显父母、思慕父母、不干涉父母、劝谏父母, 九因素结构具有良好的信效度。不同因素与效标变量(家庭自我概念、家庭弹性、父母教养方式、亲子边界不当、自立人格、服从倾向)具有不同的关联模式。这些发现反映出儒学论孝的敬慕之别、敬顺之变。此外讨论了不同因素的古今变迁。     

Religious Geography and County‐Level Sex Ratios in China

The sex ratio at birth in China is highly imbalanced in favor of boys. Past research on sex ratios in China emphasizes economic factors for their weakening effect on the Confucian tradition of son preference. Research in the sociology of religion suggests that religious geography may affect sex ratios through the spill‐over of religious teachings to those living in areas dominated by a religious tradition. To assess this linkage, we investigate the relationship between religious geography and county‐level child sex ratios using the 2000 China Population Census and the 2004 China Economic Census, the most complete and recent data available on religious presence in China. Applying spatial analyses of 2,685 counties (over 90% of all counties), we find that counties with a greater presence of Daoist temples have more imbalanced (male‐biased) sex ratios, whereas a greater presence of Buddhist temples and Islamic mosques is associated with less imbalanced sex ratios.     

SCIENCE AND CONFUCIANISM IN RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

In contrast to Western science and religion, a topic which has been studied very much since the twentieth century, less research has been done on science and Confucianism. By way of a comparative viewpoint within the history of science, this article will deal with some aspects of science and Confucianism in retrospect, for instance, the Confucian origin of the idea of tian yuan di fang 天圓地方, the natural philosophy of qi, and the wu xing li tian zhi qi 五行沴天之氣 bringing abnormal astrological phenomena and reflecting a negative Confucian relation between politics, ethics, and nature. In the late Ming, Xiong Mingyu found that abnormal astrological phenomena, as atmospheric events, happened in the sublunar region rather than in the stars, and in the present time we can reinterpret the crisis of air pollution or global climate change as reflecting a negative Confucian relation between politics, ethics, and nature and as a warning of collective misbehavior in our use of modern scientific technologies.     

Karyn Lai, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Independent and Contextualised Self</Emphasis>, Aldershot,UK: Ashgate, 2006, 218 pp., ISBN: 0754633829, hb

Learning from Chinese Philosophies explores early Confucianism and Daoism in order to engage today’s problems. By bringing into thoughtful play Confucian ideas of self and society and Daoist understanding of situated self, the author uses the debate between the two philosophies to argue for her understanding of Confucian moral thinking and Daoist metaethics. According to Lai, Daoist metaethics question dichotomous frameworks and discuss the unity of opposites enabling dynamic interplay of nonantagonistic polarities. Lai not only rejects comparisons of Confucianism to consequentialist and deontological moral theories, but also the view that Confucian ethics is a form of virtue ethics. Instead, she argues that the Analects is a manual for moral decision making that requires skills “to unravel and analyse the complex features of particular situations and to pick out those which are morally relevant.” Together, Confucianism and Daoism offer views of interdependent relationality that help to reconceptualize contemporary problems and criticize existing thinking and practices. Lai applies what she has learned from these two Chinese philosophies in a critique of feminist care ethics. Despite a few flaws, this is a clearly written work with stimulating interesting ideas and it lives up to the promise of demonstrating the continued relevance of Chinese philosophies.

How Is the Kantian or Confucian Metaphysics Applicable to Human Dignity—Response to Wang Xiaowei

Using the opportunity of responding to Wang’s critiques, this short article clarifies a number of important points related to the topic of human dignity. It argues that, only in moving beyond his a priori reasoning by assuming humans to be rational agents can the Kantian theory of dignity be applied to actual humans; only in taking our moral potential as a recommended way of human self-identification can the is-ought dichotomy be resolved; only in respecting human dignity can punishment be justified; and only from its function in shaping our visions and attitudes can a teleological metaphysics be helpful.     

从“要”这个概念看儒道分野及儒道互渗──兼论易学研究的方法论问题

本文指出,早期易学史不是某个学派的一元传承史,而是多学派的多元发展史;不是单纯的殊途同归史,而是殊途同归和同途殊归的“双相”史;它甚至也不单纯是儒、道两条互不交错的“平行线”的发展史,而是更多学派及“亚学派”互斥又互渗、多条线索交织、呈现某种“网络化”图景的历史。我们应把“同时性分析”和“历时性分析”结合起来。“要”是道家的重要概念和方法论原则,儒家“博而寡要”,道家“秉要执本”。本文通过对比分析帛书《易传》和通行本《易传》对“要”这个概念的不同使用,对早期易学史中的儒道分野及儒道互渗进行了一些分析。     

论儒学与中国宗教信仰的关系

儒学是中国传统思想文化的主干和基础,在很大程度上决定了中国传统文化发展的精神方向,极大地影响了中华民族的民族性格,也使中国宗教信仰打上了儒家文化的深刻烙印,从而表现出其独有的特点。文章对儒家文化与中国宗教信仰之间的关系做出了探讨和分析,同时进一步揭示了文化与宗教之间相互渗透和无法分割的关系。