Li Zehou’s Reconception of the Classical Confucian Concepts of Autonomy and Individuality: With a Focus on Reading the Analects Today

Li Zehou coins the term “guanxi-ism” (relationalism) to confirm the Confucian self with its two aspects of social relations and independent character, while elaborating the classical Confucian notions of individuality, autonomy, and self-realization in his many works, especially in Reading the Analects Today. Li argues that Confucius interprets external ritual as a person’ own internal intention and drive, and as a result elevates social and ethical regulations as personal emotions and the autonomous power of decision. With a certain transformative construction, Li expects that this Confucian project can be efficiently applied in developing humanity and reconstructing the cultural order in today’s world.

How the COVID-19 Pandemic Was Halted on the Korean Peninsula

The purpose of the article is to reveal the most effective ways that helped the people of the Korean Peninsula quickly halter COVID-19 in the early 2020. To put it simply, to the author’s mind, the Koreans were saved from this terrible pandemic not only by the efficient state measures but also by long and deeply rooted Confucian self-consciousness. This philosophical and ethical teaching is accumulated verified experience of survival of a fairly small Korean nation surrounded by powerful and not always peaceful neighbors rather than pressure from above. Koreans are accustomed to think that they are able to survive only on the basis of conscious collectivist interaction, and they often have to sacrifice personal benefit to advance the common good.

Democratic Self-Cultivation

In this paper I draw on the concept of Confucian self -cultivation to strengthen John Dewey’s democratic education project. For Dewey, democracy is primarily a form of associated living, marked by the broad sharing of interests and rich communication among social groups. In appealing to Confucian philosophy to bolster Dewey’s educational project I adopt the framework of global Intercultural philosophy, placing philosophical approaches from different cultural traditions together to augment intellectual resources and advance philosophical understanding. This approach initially dictates a comparative method: “setting into dialogue sources from across cultural, linguistic, and philosophical streams” (Littlejohn, n.d.). I draw particularly upon the Analects of Confucius, the collected works of John Dewey, and standard interpretive works. But I go beyond mere comparison, to argue for an enriched form of democratic education, bolstered by Confucian insights, and suitable for contemporary Western democracies.

Cultivating Capacity for Happiness as a Confucian Project in Contemporary China

Searching for happiness (xingfu) in contemporary China is noticeably mediated, in discourse and practice, by a revival of Confucian learning, especially Confucian self-cultivation. Drawing on personal observations, textual publications, and media documentation, this chapter illustrates how the Confucian notion of happiness has been formulated to articulate the diverse experience and desires among different social strata in post-reform China. The author argues that happiness engagement in contemporary China has acquired a distinctive Confucian moral-affect of self-cultivation, and in the meantime, Confucianism as an actively practiced tradition has been regenerated, transformed, and made closely relevant to the contemporary living for Chinese people.

The Vulnerability of Integrity

This chapter begins with a description of the Confucian self and then discusses the porous nature of this self with regard to the connections and boundaries that are seen to exist between the individual and others. The majority focuses on integrity, which is explained in terms of de德‎. The notion of de德‎ highlights the charismatic aspects of integrity such that integrity in an early Confucian context is understood as a power to motivate others to perform their roles in relationships. This power is obstructed or weakened in situations of irresolvable value conflict. De德‎ is a social value associated with the way in which moral actions enable the realization of the self, which is partially constituted by relationships. Integrity, as such, is vulnerable to irresolvable value conflicts and unfortunate situations because in those circumstances moral action is impeded such that meaningful relations cannot be maintained.