Please wait a minute...
Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front Phil Chin    2013, Vol. 8 Issue (1) : 120-139    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-002-013-0008-1
research-article
The Wiseman and the Sage: Metaphysics as Wisdom in Aristotle and the Neo-Confucian School of Principle
Rina Marie Camus()
Department of Philosophy, National Chengchi University, Taipei 11605, China
 Download: PDF(418 KB)   HTML
 Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks
Abstract

Among scholars of classical philosophy in the West, it is not uncommon to hesitate about the existence of metaphysics in non-Western philosophical traditions. At times, the dilemma seems due to culture-specific ideas or standards about what metaphysics is or how it should be done. Other times the problem seems to lie in a general lack of awareness about the methods and approaches of divergent philosophical traditions. This article explores an often ignored Aristotelian notion of metaphysics: That it is wisdom. If we acknowledge wisdom to be a common value or ideal found in different cultures, then characterizing metaphysics as wisdom promises to be more inclusive than prevalent ideas about it, being broad enough to allow for the appreciation of metaphysical insights and achievements in non-Western schools. I first examine Aristotle’s account of what wisdom consists of. I shall then test the inclusivity of this conception of metaphysics by showing how its characteristic features are manifest in the Neo-Confucian ideal of sagely learning.

Keywords metaphysics      wisdom      principle      theory      Aristotle      Neo-Confucian School of Principle     
Corresponding Author(s): Rina Marie Camus,Email:rinacamus@gmail.com   
Issue Date: 05 March 2013
 Cite this article:   
Rina Marie Camus. The Wiseman and the Sage: Metaphysics as Wisdom in Aristotle and the Neo-Confucian School of Principle[J]. Front Phil Chin, 2013, 8(1): 120-139.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-002-013-0008-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2013/V8/I1/120
[1] HU Xinkai. Complete Virtue and the Definition of Happiness in Aristotle[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2020, 15(2): 293-314.
[2] Filippo Costantini. Structuring Reality: The Metaphysics of Harmony in Zhang Zai’s Zhengmeng Philosophical System[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2020, 15(2): 223-241.
[3] NI Peimin. How Is the Kantian or Confucian Metaphysics Applicable to Human Dignity—Response to Wang Xiaowei[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2020, 15(1): 29-35.
[4] LAI Changsheng. My Ordinary Anti-Sceptical Beliefs Are Not Insensitive[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(3): 469-489.
[5] Thierry Meynard. What the “Failure” of Aristotelian Logic in Seventeenth Century China Teaches Us Today: A Case Study of the Mingli Tan [J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(2): 248-263.
[6] Rina Marie Camus. “Athl-Ethics”: Virtue Training in Mencius and Aristotle[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(1): 152-170.
[7] Lisa Raphals 瑞麗. When Virtues, Roles and Duties Fail: Early Greek and Chinese Accounts of Akrasia[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(1): 29-46.
[8] Giulio Tononi, Owen Flanagan. Philosophy and Science Dialogue: Consciousness[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(3): 332-348.
[9] Terence Horgan. Seventy Years in Philosophy of Mind: An Overview, with Emphasis on the Issue of Mental Causation[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(3): 300-331.
[10] FAN Ruiping. Principlism, Pragmatism, or Reconstructionist Confucianism? —Some Comments on Ni Peimin’s English Translation of the Analects [J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(2): 207-216.
[11] QIAO Qingju. Feng Youlan’s Research into the History of Philosophy and Philosophical Creation[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(1): 23-38.
[12] Ady Van Den Stock. The Semantics of Wisdom in the Philosophy of Tang Junyi: Between Transformative Knowledge and Transcendental Reflexivity[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(1): 39-54.
[13] ZHENG Kai. Ontology and Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2017, 12(3): 408-428.
[14] JeeLoo Liu. The B-Theory of Time and the Notion of Change in the Yijing[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2017, 12(1): 72-89.
[15] Mircea Dumitru. On Toleration, Charity, and Epistemic Fallibilism[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2016, 11(4): 671-679.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed