Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy

Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy PDF

Author: Bryan van Norden

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-06-11

Total Pages: 21

ISBN-13: 1139464396

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In this book Bryan W. Van Norden examines early Confucianism as a form of virtue ethics and Mohism, an anti-Confucian movement, as a version of consequentialism. The philosophical methodology is analytic, in that the emphasis is on clear exegesis of the texts and a critical examination of the philosophical arguments proposed by each side. Van Norden shows that Confucianism, while similar to Aristotelianism in being a form of virtue ethics, offers different conceptions of 'the good life', the virtues, human nature, and ethical cultivation. Mohism is akin to Western utilitarianism in being a form of consequentialism, but distinctive in its conception of the relevant consequences and in its specific thought-experiments and state-of-nature arguments. Van Norden makes use of the best research on Chinese history, archaeology, and philology. His text is accessible to philosophers with no previous knowledge of Chinese culture and to Sinologists with no background in philosophy.

Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy

Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy PDF

Author: Bryan William Van Norden

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 9780511301926

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In this book Bryan W. Van Norden examines early Confucianism as a form of virtue ethics and Mohism, an anti-Confucian movement, as a version of consequentialism. The philosophical methodology is analytic, in that the emphasis is on clear exegesis of the texts and a critical examination of the philosophical arguments proposed by each side. Van Norden shows that Confucianism, while similar to Aristotelianism in being a form of virtue ethics, offers different conceptions of 'the good life', the virtues, human nature, and ethical cultivation. Mohism is akin to Western utilitarianism in being a form of consequentialism, but distinctive in its conception of the relevant consequences and in its specific thought-experiments and state-of-nature arguments. Van Norden makes use of the best research on Chinese history, archaeology, and philology. His text is accessible to philosophers with no previous knowledge of Chinese culture and to Sinologists with no background in philosophy.

Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy

Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy PDF

Author: Bryan van Norden

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-09-13

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781107407329

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In this book, Bryan W. Van Norden examines early Confucianism as a form of virtue ethics and Mohism, an anti-Confucian movement, as a version of consequentialism. The philosophical methodology is analytic, in that the emphasis is on clear exegesis of the texts and a critical examination of the philosophical arguments proposed by each side. Van Norden shows that Confucianism, while similar to Aristotelianism in being a form of virtue ethics, offers different conceptions of “the good life,” the virtues, human nature, and ethical cultivation.

Ethics in Early China

Ethics in Early China PDF

Author: Chris Fraser

Publisher: Hong Kong University Press

Published: 2011-08-01

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9888028936

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Early Chinese ethics has attracted increasing scholarly and social attention in recent years as the virtue ethics movement in Western philosophy has sparked renewed interest in Confucianism and Daoism. At the same time, intellectuals and social commentators throughout greater China have looked to the Chinese ethical tradition for resources to evaluate the role of traditional cultural values in the contemporary world. Publications on early Chinese ethics have tended to focus inordinate and uncritical attention toward Confucianism, while relatively neglecting Daoism, Mohism, and shared features of Chinese moral psychology. This book aims to rectify this imbalance by including essays on Daoism and Confucianism, early Chinese moral psychology including widely neglected views of the Mohists and newly reconstructed accounts of the "embodied virtue" tradition, which ties ethics to physical cultivation. The volume also includes essays addressing the broader question of the value of comparative philosophy generally and of studying early Chinese ethics in particular. The book should have a wide readership among professional scholars and graduate students in Chinese philosophy, specifically Confucian ethics, Daoist ethics, and comparative ethics. Chris Fraseris associate professor of philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Dan Robins is assistant professor of Chinese philosophy at Stockton College of New Jersey.Timothy O'Learyis associate professor of philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Contributors include Roger Ames, Stephen Angle, Sin yee Chan, Jiwei Ci, Chris Fraser, Jane Geaney, William Haines, Chad Hansen, Manyul Im, P.J. Ivanhoe, Franklin Perkins, Lisa Raphals, Dan Robins, Henry Rosemont, Jr., David Wong, and Lee Yearley.

The Philosophy of the Mòzĭ

The Philosophy of the Mòzĭ PDF

Author: Chris Fraser

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2016-09-13

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 023152059X

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Mohism was an ancient Chinese philosophical movement founded in the fifth century BCE by the charismatic artisan Mòzi, or "Master Mo." Its practitioners advanced a consequentialist ethics, along with fascinating political, logical, and epistemological theories, that set the terms of philosophical argumentation and reflection in China for generations to come. Mohism faded away in the imperial era, leaving the impression that it was not as vital as other Chinese philosophical traditions, yet a complete understanding of Confucianism or Daoism is impossible without appreciating the seminal contribution of Mohist thought. The Philosophy of the Mòzi is an extensive study of Mohism, situating the movement's rise and decline within Chinese history. The book also emphasizes Mohism's relevance to modern systems of thought. Mohism anticipated Western utilitarianism by more than two thousand years. Its political theory is the earliest to outline a just war doctrine and locate the origins of government in a state of nature. Its epistemology, logic, and psychology provide compelling alternatives to contemporary Western mentalism. More than a straightforward account of Mohist principles and practice, this volume immerses readers in the Mohist mindset and clarifies its underpinning of Chinese philosophical discourse.

Virtue Ethics and Confucianism

Virtue Ethics and Confucianism PDF

Author: Stephen Angle

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-24

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1134068115

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This volume presents the fruits of an extended dialogue among American and Chinese philosophers concerning the relations between virtue ethics and the Confucian tradition. Based on recent advances in English-language scholarship on and translation of Confucian philosophy, the book demonstrates that cross-tradition stimulus, challenge, and learning are now eminently possible. Anyone interested in the role of virtue in contemporary moral philosophy, in Chinese thought, or in the future possibilities for cross-tradition philosophizing will find much to engage with in the twenty essays collected here.

Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy

Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy PDF

Author: Bryan W. Van Norden

Publisher: Hackett Publishing

Published: 2011-03-04

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1603846050

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This book is an introduction in the very best sense of the word. It provides the beginner with an accurate, sophisticated, yet accessible account, and offers new insights and challenging perspectives to those who have more specialized knowledge. Focusing on the period in Chinese philosophy that is surely most easily approachable and perhaps is most important, it ranges over of rich set of competing options. It also, with admirable self-consciousness, presents a number of daring attempts to relate those options to philosophical figures and movements from the West. I recommend it very highly.--Lee H. Yearley, Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Professor, Religious Studies, Stanford University

Conceptions of Virtue

Conceptions of Virtue PDF

Author: Kim Chong Chong

Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13:

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What determines rightness, and in specific situations, what is the right thing to do? Through revisiting classics of the Eastern canon such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, and the teachings of Mencius and Confucius, this collection of essays attempts to address the understanding of central philosophical and ethical questions about virtues, based on the assumption that there is no sharp East-West divide. The essays are thus grouped thematicallythe relation between virtue and rightness; the unity of the virtues and the way in which certain fundamental virtues hold the virtuous life together; and issues concerning virtue, self, and genderrather than by their origins from either the East (represented here by the Chinese and Indian traditions) or the West. While discussions of virtue and virtue ethics in recent Western philosophical literature have concentrated mainly on the nature of virtue ethics as an ethical theory vis--vis its rivals, Kantianism and consequentialism, a furthe

How Should One Live?

How Should One Live? PDF

Author: Richard A.H. King

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-07-27

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 3110252899

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Chinese and Greco-Roman ethics present highly articulate views on how one should live; both of these traditions remain influential in modern philosophy. The question arises how these traditions can be compared with one another. Comparative ethics is a relatively young discipline, and this volume is a major contribution to the field. Fundamental questions about the nature of comparing ethics are treated in two introductory chapters, followed by chapters on core issues in each of the traditions : harmony, virtue, friendship, knowledge, the relation of ethics to morality, relativism. The volume closes with a number of comparative studies on emotions, being and unity, simplicity and complexity, and prediction.