Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2025

Abstract

This article explores the concept of vocation in the Analects. While most treatmentsof vocation focus on the Christian tradition, and while Confucian thought is oftenviewed as categorically nontheistic, Robert Merrihew Adams’s Finite and InfiniteGoods (1999) presents an illuminating comparative framework for tracing outKongzi’s religious ethical vision of how persons think, act, and feel when graspedby a sense of divine calling. I argue that in the Analects a vocation is compositelyconceived as: (1) a special divine imperative to an individual or a community (2) tolove particular goods within one’s actual circumstances (3) with nonconsequentialist,noncompetitive, and potentially counter-cultural commitment (4) such that one’smode of life participates in Heaven’s intent for human flourishing. Although divergingon their approaches toward filial and sociopolitical engagement, both Adams andKongzi envision self-transcending purpose, faithful devotion, and existential courageas marks of a vocationally attuned life.

Keywords

comparative religious ethics, Confucian ethics, dao, ming, tianming, vocation

Discipline

Ethics and Political Philosophy | Religion

Research Areas

Integrative Research Areas

Areas of Excellence

Growth in Asia

Publication

Journal of Religious Ethics

Volume

53

Issue

2

First Page

282

Last Page

300

ISSN

0384-9694

Identifier

10.1111/jore.70000

Publisher

Wiley

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.70000

Download

Share

COinS