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. Philos. China    2015, Vol. 10 Issue (4) : 547-567    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-004-015-0045-6
Special Theme
Confucian Political Philosophy for Non-Confucians
Ralph Weber()
Institute for European Global Studies, University of Basel, Gellertstrasse 27, 4020 Basel, Switzerland
 Download: PDF(328 KB)  
 Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks
Abstract

Contemporary proponents of Confucian political philosophy often ignore the fact that any sizeable future Confucian political order will have to accommodate many “non-Confucians.” The guiding question of this paper is therefore the following: how could a Confucian political philosophy, if it can at all, adequately take into account a plurality of comprehensive worldviews? I first turn to John Rawls and his account of these terms and of reasonable pluralism more generally. I then examine some particularly relevant developments and criticism of Rawls’ account. Finally, I offer a discussion of some recent proposals for a Confucian political philosophy, and examine to what extent each recognizes the fact of pluralism, sees it as a challenge, and deals with it in a persuasive manner. The paper concludes with a depiction of two major stumbling blocks that might stand firmly in the way of such a pluralism-accommodating political Confucianism.

Keywords Confucian political philosophy      liberal democracy      pluralism      comprehensive worldviews      John Rawls     
Issue Date: 26 January 2016
 Cite this article:   
Ralph Weber. Confucian Political Philosophy for Non-Confucians[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2015, 10(4): 547-567.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-004-015-0045-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2015/V10/I4/547
[1] LI Xianjing. From Primary Goods to Capability[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2020, 15(2): 315-329.
[2] DONG Zili. Causal Relevance of Mental Properties: A Refutation of Kim’s Exclusion Argument[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2017, 12(4): 633-647.
[3] WANG Tao. Was John Stuart Mill a Pluralist?[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2017, 12(2): 278-294.
[4] Richard Shusterman. Somaesthetics and Chinese Philosophy: Between Unity and Pragmatist Pluralism[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2015, 10(2): 201-211.
[5] Rajesh C. Shukla. Justice and Civic Friendship: An Aristotelian Critique of Modern Citizenry[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2014, 9(1): 1-20.
[6] SU Dechao. Is God an Aspect?[J]. Front Phil Chin, 2012, 7(2): 284-303.
[7] HUANG Xianzhong. Justice as a virtue: An analysis of Aristotle’s virtue of justice[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2007, 2(2): 265-279.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed