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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

邮发代号 80-983

Frontiers of Philosophy in China  2018, Vol. 13 Issue (2): 217-231   https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-007-018-0017-1
  本期目录
Confucian Ethics: Altruistic? Egoistic? Both? Neither?
HUANG Yong()
Department of Philosophy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China
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Abstract

Is Confucian ethics primarily egoistic or altruistic? There is textual support for both answers. For the former, for example, Confucius claims that one learns for the sake of oneself; for the latter, we can find Confucius saying that one ought to not impose upon others as one would not like to be imposed upon. This essay aims to explain in what sense Confucian ethics is egoistic (the highest goal one aims to reach is to become a virtuous person oneself) and in what sense it is altruistic (a virtuous person is necessarily concerned with the well-being, both external and internal, of others). The conclusion to be drawn, however, is not that Confucian ethics is both egoistic and altruistic, but that it is neither, since the Confucian ideal of a virtuous person is to be in one body with others so that there are really no others (since all others become part of myself), and since there are no others, there is no self either.

Key wordsConfucius    Analects    Egoism    Altruism    Ethics
出版日期: 2018-06-28
 引用本文:   
. [J]. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 2018, 13(2): 217-231.
HUANG Yong. Confucian Ethics: Altruistic? Egoistic? Both? Neither?. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(2): 217-231.
 链接本文:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/CN/10.3868/s030-007-018-0017-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/CN/Y2018/V13/I2/217
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