Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

12-2005

Abstract

Despite contemporary Confucianism's aspirations to be a world philosophy, there is an ethnocentric strand within the Confucian tradition, most glaringly exemplified in Han Yu's attacks on Buddhism. This paper re-assesses Confucian ethnocentrism in the context of contrary practices that indicate a more pragmatic attitude among Confucians toward cross-cultural interactions. It argues that while the ethnocentric tendency serves as constant reminder of the need for vigilance, and recognition of the difficulties of crossing cultural boundaries, there are nevertheless resources within Confucianism for constructing an ethics of communication that is urgently needed to deal with the moral problems of cultural pluralism. The paper analyses the role of various common Confucian virtues such as ren (benevolence, co-humanity), yi (appropriateness), li (ritual), zhi (wisdom) in communication, and argues that a virtue of flexibility is implicit in Confucius's insistence of bugu and could contribute significantly to a Confucian ethics of communicative virtues.

Keywords

Confucian ethnocentrism, Confucian ethics

Discipline

Philosophy

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

International Philosophical Quarterly

Volume

45

Issue

4

First Page

433

Last Page

445

ISSN

0019-0365

Identifier

10.5840/ipq200545450

Publisher

Philosophy Documentation Center

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.5840/ipq200545450

Included in

Philosophy Commons

Share

COinS