The multiple facets through which Confucianism manifested itself and is still being manifested implies that in order to be valid, any type of analysis must identify its principal forms and the mecanisms by which, in the context of modernization, it changed the course of cultural and sociopolitical dynamics in Far-Eastern societies. In addition, one must explain why and how only certain traits of Confucianism were utilized in modernization and evaluate its potential role in the future development of humanity.
Confucianism's long historical association with despotism has cast doubts on its compatibility with democracy, and raise questions about its relevance in contemporary societies increasingly dominated by democratic aspirations. "Confucian democracy" has been described as a "contradiction in terms" and Asian politicians have appropriated Confucianism to justify resistance to liberalization and democratization. There has been a lively debate over the question of whether democracy can be found in Confucianism, from ancient texts such as the Analects and Mencius, to Confucian institutions such as those recommended by Song dynasty Huang Zongxi. Philosophers have examined similarities and differences between Western ideas, such as autonomy, liberty, and rights, that are central to democratic theories on the one hand and Confucian ideas of virtue, ren (humaneness), yi (appropriateness), li (rite), zhi (wisdom), exemplary person and authority. Scholars have studied the biographical accounts of prominent Confucians to understand the Confucian ideal person and society. Works arguing that there are elements of democracy in Confucianism, or that some Confucian ideas could provide the basis for a contemporary Confucian democracy, differ in the kind of democracy they choose as models. Liberal democracy was the model of earlier works; with increasing criticisms of liberal democracy in the past decades, a growing number of works arguing for Confucian democracy seek alternatives to liberal democracies, many proposing some kind of communitarian democracy as having affinity with the Confucian philosophical orientation. Besides conceptions of democracy that view it in terms of political systems, Dewey's conception of democracy as the idea of community and primarily a moral ideal has also inspired attempts to reconstruct Confucian democracy.
First published in 1931. This re-issues the edition of 1972. This translation and Wilhelm's invaluable commentaries provide a concise and readable survey of Confucius, the man and his teachings. This volume translates The Life of Confucius from an ancient Chinese text, the Shih Chi, or The Historical Records by Sse-Ma Ch'ien, dating from the turn of the second century B.C.
The Confucian revival, which manifests itself in the modern Confucian current, belongs to the most inf luential and important streams of thought in contemporary Chinese philosophy and represents a crucial part of the new prevailing ideologies in P. R. China. Although many books and articles on this topic are available in Chinese, academic studies in Western languages are still few and far between. The present article aims to introduce this stream of thought which is grounded in the conviction that traditional Confucianism, understood as a specifically Chinese social, political, and moral system of thought can, if renewed and adapted to meet the conditions of the modern era, serve as the foundation for an ethically meaningful modern life. Simultaneously, modern Confucian philosophers also aim to provide a spiritual antidote to the alienation which is seen by them as a collateral effect of the capitalistic glorification of competition and the single-minded pursuit of profit. The scholars belonging to this stream sought to reconcile 'Western' and 'traditional Chinese' values, in order to create a theoretical model of modernization that would not be confused or equated with 'Westernization'.
Abstract This paper discusses commerce in Early Confucianism. It argues that the virtuous Confucian agent engages with the world in different ways, including in commerce – it is another way of acting with virtue. This conception is compared with two roughly contemporary approaches in economics, the thought of Wilhelm Röpke and the Humanomics project by Vernon Smith. In both, virtue is constitutive to commerce. However, they differ substantially in the exact relationship between virtue and commerce. While in Early Confucianism commerce is a way for the agent to unfold and cultivate virtues, in Röpke, virtues are a corrective to the utilitarianism in commerce. In Humanomics, agents engaging in commercial relations find shared virtues.
Early twenty first century Vietnam has witnessed the emergence of constitutional discourse in line with some ideas and institutions of western liberal constitutionalism. This movement has unfortunately led the constitutional discourse to underestimation of the relevance of the local culture. In Vietnam, Confucianism is an integral component of the national culture. It has a long tradition and has continued to influence on different aspects of the modern society in the nation. As constitutionalism must be ultimately underpinned by culture values and political tradition, the relations of Confucianism to the promotion of constitutionalism in Vietnam should be taken into account. This account adopts a balanced approach to the relationship between Confucianism and constitutionalism. It supports the integrationist approach, which attempts to marry the best elements of Confucianism with the best elements of western constitutionalism to produce a distinctive form of constitutionalism suitable to the local context. However, to carry out the integrationist project, it is important to determine what can be integrated, and to do this, the integrationist approach must be combined and balanced with the indigenist and critical approaches. On the side of Confucianism, it is necessary to identify constitutionalist elements, and this requires us to, from an indigenist perspective, discover constitutionalist values in the Confucian tradition. On the side of western constitutionalism, it is necessary to, from a critical view, identify its disadvantages and advantages so as to select the most suitable elements for the integrationist project. General speaking, this study defends the thesis of the positive relationship of Confucianism to constitutionalism with particular reference to the case of Vietnam. The study firstly systematically discovers classical philosophical foundations of Confucian constitutionalism. It then examines the practice of Confucian constitutionalism in imperial Vietnam. Subsequently, it demonstrates the antecedent projects of integration of Confucianism with Western constitutionalism in the modern history of Vietnam. Finally, the study contemplates the possibility of further integration of Confucianism and western constitutionalism in contemporary Vietnam by proposing the Constitutional Academy as a mixed model of constitutional enforcement. This inquiry is significant in several ways. Firstly, it contributes to our better understanding of the history and development of Confucianism, constitutionalism, and their relationship in Vietnam. Secondly, it can further enhance the scholarship of the intellectual foundations and experimentations of constitutionalism in pre-modern East Asia. Finally, the findings in this study can have implications for further reflection on the global expansion of western liberal constitutionalism in non-western contexts, and the prospects of constitutionalism in an East Asian Confucian context. ; published_or_final_version ; Law ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy
