Frontiers of Philosophy in China 

About: Frontiers of Philosophy in China is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Western philosophy & Chinese philosophy. It has an ISSN identifier of 1673-3436. Over the lifetime, 356 publications have been published receiving 724 citations.

Acting for Reasons: Reply to Dancy

Abstract: This paper argues that we need to distinguish between two different ideas of a reason: first, the idea of a premise or assumption, from which a person’s action or deliberation can proceed; second, the idea of a fact by which a person can be guided, when he modifies his thought or behaviour in some way. It argues further that if we have the first idea in mind, one can act for the reason that p regardless of whether it is the case that p, and regardless of whether one believes that p. But if we have the second idea in mind, one cannot act for the reason that p unless one knows that p. The last part of the paper briefly indicates how the second idea of a reason can contribute to a larger argument, showing that it is better to conceive of knowledge as a kind of ability than as a kind of belief.

Human dignity as a right

Abstract: The concept of human dignity and the relationship between dignity and human rights have been important subjects in contemporary international academia. This article first analyzes the different understandings of the concept of dignity, which has left great influences in history (including the “theory of attribution-dignity”, the “theory of autonomy-dignity” or the “theory of moral completeness/achievement-dignity”, and the “theory of end-in-itself-dignity”); it then exposes the obvious defects of these modes of understanding; finally, it tries to define dignity as a moral right to be free from insult. Meanwhile, the relationship between human dignity and human rights is clarified as a result of this research: Rather than being the foundation of human rights, human dignity is one of human rights. The idea of dignity nevertheless has a particular status in ethics in that it embodies a kind of core moral concern, representing a basic demand rooted in the human self or individuality, and hence representing an important aspect of human rights. We may anticipate that sooner or later, the idea of human dignity will become, together with other human rights, the only intangible cultural heritage of human society.

The contemporary significance of Confucianism

Abstract: I have delivered speeches on the topic “The Contemporary Significance of Confucianism” several times, including in the 1980s and 1990s of the last century. Now, I will continue to address it in the twenty-first century. In addition to me, more and more scholars have started to address this topic. Why? I think there are two important reasons: One is that we are on the eve of the great revival of the Chinese nation. So now, we must review our historical and cultural tradition. Karl Jaspers presented the notion of “the Axial Age.” He thought that great thinkers emerged in ancient Greece, Israel, India, China, and other countries almost simultaneously around 500 B.C., and they all presented unique ideas on problems which concern all human beings. Aristotle and Plato in ancient Greece, Prophets of Judaism in Israel, Sakyamuni in India, and Laozi and Confucius in China independently initiated and formed distinctive cultural traditions. Through 2,000 years of development, these cultural traditions have become central to human intellectual wealth, but these different cultures in different regions developed independently at the beginning and did not originally influence each other. He says, until today mankind has lived all by what was thought and created during the Axial Age. In each new upward leap, it returns in recollection to this period and is fired anew by it. Even since then, it has been the case that recollections and reawakening of the potentialities of the Axial Period—renaissances—always afford a spiritual impetus. The return to the root is the continuous thing in China, India, and West (see Jaspers 1989, p. 14). For instance, the Europeans in the renaissance looked back at the origin of their culture, ancient Greece, which revived European civilization and left its mark on global culture. Similarly, Song and MingNeo-Confucianism in China was stimulated by Indian Buddhism; the Confucian thinkers, by “recalling” Confucius and Mencius in the pre-Qin period, had promoted the ingenious Chinese philosophy to a new height. When we enter into the new millennium, the world’s intellectual circle has started to appeal for the arrival of “a New Axial Age.” Thus, it has become important to review and research ancient thoughts and wisdom and recall the origin of our own culture in order to respond to the new, diverse world culture. Secondly, in the new century, our country has brought forward a great project to build a “harmonious society.” Fei Xiaotong has raised the issue of “cultural self-consciousness.” In order to build a “harmonious society,” we have to know our own “culture.” What is “cultural self-consciousness”?

Moral Psychology of Shame in Early Confucian Philosophy

Abstract: In Western traditions of virtue ethics, specifically in the Greco-Roman tradition of aretaic moral excellence, a virtue is characterized as a carefully developed and refined inner ability that reflects the personal and practical excellence of a moral agent. It is a fully developed disposition that comes out of careful process of cultivation and results in the well-rounded character and the flourishing life of a person.

Whither “Confucian Management”?

Abstract: This article asks whether “Confucian Management” may be seen as the dominant influence in contemporary China. The philosophical legacy of Confucius on modern management theory and practice has received a good deal of attention in recent times, and here I attempt to assess its possible continuity. In order to carry out this task, I apply a bibliometric analysis called the “Culturomics” approach, looking at the literature on “Chinese Management” published in Mandarin in the last century, from 1900 onwards. After the presentation of the empirical data, the discussion section is set out, followed by the article’s conclusions.