What Do We Compare When We Compare Religions? Philosophical Remarks on the Psychology of Studying Comparative Religion Abroad

The issue of comparison is a vexing one in religious and theological studies, not least for teachers of comparative religion in study abroad settings. We try to make familiar ideas fresh and strange, in settings where students may find it hard not to take “fresh” and “strange” as signs of existential threat. The author explores this delicate pedagogical situation, drawing on several years' experience directing a study abroad program and on the thought of figures from the Western existentialist tradition and Chinese Confucian philosophy. The article focuses particularly on “oh events” – defined as moments when one learns one has something to learn and something to unlearn. The author argues that the experience of shame that is typical of oh events can become a valuable resource for cross‐cultural learning and personal transformation, if teachers assist students to reflect on the experience as a sign of differing, but potentially harmonizable, cultural expectations. This essay is published alongside of six other essays, including a response from John Barbour, comprising a special section of the journal (see Teaching Theology and Religion 18:1, January 2015).     

A Review of The Anthropology of Eastern Religions: Ideas,Organizations, and Constituencies

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the cultural factors that may lead to plagiarism by ESL students from Confucian-influenced societies and suggests steps that can be taken to address “cultural plagiarism,” hoping to aid students in their transition into a Western educational culture.     

两汉兰陵经学管窥

两汉时期, 兰陵地区经学兴盛, 《诗》、《书》、《礼》、《易》、《春秋》等儒家经典代相传授, 大批造诣精深的经师出现, 形成了鲜明的学术上的特质与风格, 并对两汉学术乃至社会的发展产生了重要的影响。     

儒家的修身思想体系探微

儒家文化中的“修身”思想作为一种底蕴深厚的文化现象,本身具有完备的理论体系。这个体系以“人性论”为思想基础,以“仁”为核心,以“礼”为判断标准,以“修己”为基本模式,以“博学”、“正己”、“尚义”、“中和”、“多思”、“慎独”、“重节”、“重行”为主要内容,以立“圣人之德”为最高精神境界,形成了既有坚实的思想基础、又有丰富的实际内容的文化体系。     

儒家德育课程思想对现代思想道德教育的价值

探讨儒家德育课程思想,不仅可以使我们充分认识儒家思想的精华和糟粕,而且可以使我们从中探求其之所以长期占据我国传统思想文化统治地位的原因,寻求其中所蕴含的深刻的民族文化心理,对我国当前思想道德教育提供有益的借鉴和启示。     

EAST ASIA AND HUMAN KNOWLEDGE—A PERSONAL QUEST

This essay is a reflection on the ways we understand East Asia, as well as how East Asia is related to our knowledge construction. In spite of the personal tone, which I use strategically to formulate arguments in a carefully designed narrative flow, the article remains critical throughout and its conclusion is clear: exploration of the essence of East Asian civilization can constitute a meaningful effort to reevaluate and even restructure our current world of knowledge.     

A Right of Rebellion in the Mengzi?

Mengzi believed that tyrannical rulers can be justifiably deposed, and many contemporary scholars see this as grounding a right of popular rebellion. I argue that the text of the Mengzi reveals a more mixed view, and does so in two respects. First, it suggests that the people are sometimes permitted to participate in a rebellion but not permitted to decide for themselves when rebellion is warranted. Second, it gives appropriate moral weight not to the people’s judgments about the justifiability of rebelling, but rather to certain affections and behaviors that closely track their life satisfaction. I contend that in both respects the permissions Mengzi grants the people fall short of a proper right of rebellion. I conclude that the more historical account of Mengzi’s “just revolt theory” suggests an intriguing division of deliberative labor, and note some of the advantages of this account.     

穆斯林学者眼中的儒教与孔子——回儒对话:基于文化自觉之上的文明对话

文明对话成为当今世界的主题和话语交流的关键词,这是全球化驱动之下的一种必然的文化现象。特别是20世纪90年代以来,发生在东亚—太平洋区域的超越世界近代以降西方中心主义的“回儒对话”值得关注,这种基于文化自觉之上的两大古老文明间的对话意义尤其深远。中国穆斯林学者和国外穆斯林学者对儒教所持的不约而同的文明对话的态度与分析范式又值得研究和借鉴。