Challenging, with several powerful arguments, some of our deepest beliefs about rationality, morality, and personal identity, Parfit claims that we have a false view about our own nature. It is often rational to act against our own best interersts, he argues, and most of us have moral views that are self-defeating. We often act wrongly, although we know there will be no one with serious grounds for complaint, and when we consider future generations it is very hard to avoid conclusions (...) that most of us will find very disturbing. (shrink)

Mencius, who lived in the 4th century B.C., is second only to Confucius in importance in the Confucian tradition. The _Mencius_ consists of sayings of Mencius and conversations he had with his contemporaries. When read side by side with the _Analects_, the _Mencius_ throws a great deal of light on the teachings of ConfuciusMencius developed many of the ideas of Confucius and at the same time discussed problems not touched upon by Confucius. He drew out the implications of Confucius' moral (...) principles and reinterpreted them for the conditions of his time. As the fullest of the four great Confucian texts, the _Mencius_ has been the required reading amongst Chinese scholars for two thousand years, and it still throws considerable light on the character of the Chinese people. (shrink)

A record of the words and teachings of Confucius, _The Analects_ is considered the most reliable expression of Confucian thought. However, the original meaning of Confucius's teachings have been filtered and interpreted by the commentaries of Confucianists of later ages, particularly the Neo-Confucianists of the Song dynasty, not altogether without distortion.In this monumental translation by Professor D. C. Lau, an attempt has been made to interpret the sayings as they stand. The corpus of the sayings is taken as an organic (...) whole and the final test of the interpretation rests on the internal consistency it exhibits. In other words, _The Analects_ is read in the light of _The Analects._This results in a truer understanding of Confucius' thought than the traditional interpretation and paves the way for a re-assessment of its importance in the history of Chinese thought and its relevance to the present day world.This volume also contains an introduction to the life and teachings of Confucius, and three appendices on the events in the life of Confucius, on his disciples, and on the composition of _The Analects._. (shrink)

Confucian moral philosophy doesn't seem to provide a theory of excuses. I explore an explanatory hypothesis to explain how excuse conditions might be built into the Confucian doctrine of rectifying names. In the process, I address the issue of the motivation for the theory. The hypothesis is that the theory provides not only excuse conditions, but also exception and conflict resolution roles for an essentially positive morality rooted in the traditional code of 禮 li/ritual, transmitted from the ancient sage kings. (...) The relatively fixed content of this text-like moral code required aggressive interpretive leeway to cope with the problems endemic in rule deontological and etiquette-like normative schemes. (shrink)

This a general account of the school of Mo-tzu, its social basis as a movement of craftsmen, its isolated place in the Chinese tradition, and the nature of its later contributions to logic, ethics, and science. It assesses the relation of Mohist thinking to the structure of the Chinese language, and grapples with the textual dynamics of later Mohist writings, particularly in regard to grammar and style, technical terminology, the use and significance of stock examples, and overall organization. Includes edited (...) and annotated Chinese text with an English translation and commentary, a glossary, and a photographic reproduction of the unemended text from the Taoist Patrology. (shrink)

The author's primary aim is to help readers discover what is distinctive in Confucius & to learn what he can teach us.

Nozick analyzes fundamental issues, such as the identity of the self, knowledge and skepticism, free will, the foundations of ethics, and the meaning of life.

What is unique about China is the agreement on all sides that men are naturally equal. This is the second of our two central themes. ...

Originally a religious term, from the sixth century B.C. on, the word "t'ien," or "heaven," played a significant role in discourse among philosophical schools. The earliest of these was Juism . This study analyzes statements concerning T'ien in three early Juist texts: the Analects, Mencius, and Hsun Tzu. ;Previous analyses of the role of T'ien in Juism have viewed that role in terms of a model of evolving meanings of "t'ien" during the late Chou period, which claims that the term (...) originally denoted an anthropomorphic deity, but increasingly came to denote "Nature." Studies of the role of T'ien in Juist texts have explored whether this model fits those texts. ;This essay holds that to identify characteristically Juist meanings of the term "t'ien," we must do more than identify referential images which may have been associated with its uses in Juist texts. We should, instead, explore the function which uses of the term may have had in relation to the activities and goals of the early Juist school. ;The focus of those activities and goals has traditionally been understood as a political program. This study argues that early Juism was essentially a socially insular cult devoted to mastery of traditional ritual skills; political purism functioned to shelter the cult from political responsibilities and dangers. ;If this is correct, the role of T'ien in early Juist texts should reflect a disjunction between ritual and political spheres. And indeed we find that throughout the three texts analyzed, the term "t'ien" is generally employed to picture a supreme ethical entity--whether a god, Fate, or Nature--as a prescriptive basis for ritual practice in the present, or as a descriptive force ensuring that Juist political efforts will be futile in the present and successful in the future. ;Thus, in early Juist rhetoric, T'ien is used to justify Juism's ritual focus and legitimize its contemporary withdrawal from political activity. This is the characteristic instrumental meaning of the term "t'ien" in early Juist texts, remaining central despite changes in connotative imagery associated with the term in late Chou thought. (shrink)