Review of Confucian political ethics

• Main Author: TAN, Sor-hoon
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
• Subjects: Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2535; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3792/viewcontent/j.1540_6253.2008.01510.x.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

All chapters in this collection have been previously published.Revised, they are now assembled in this anthology to show “theabiding relevance of Classical Confucian Theory in the contemporaryworld” (p. x). Those interested in Confucianism will welcome havingthese resources in one convenient volume. The four-page prefacehighlights the importance of such discussions in view of the politicalrevival of Confucianism in mainland China and the need for anyonewho wishes to engage with East Asian societies to “understand theConfucian ethical thinking that informs social and political practicesin the region” (p. xi). The collection would have benefited from amore substantial introduction examining the idea of “political ethics”within the Confucian context, beyond merely noting and assuming amere conjunction or overlap of politics and ethics, as well as someclearer demonstration of how the four parts of “Civil Society,”“Boundaries and Justice,” “Ethical Pluralism,” “ContemporaryFeminism,” and “War and Peace” are related to one another withinthe framework of such distinctive political ethics.