Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects

This paper aims to address when the wise person should participate in politics. The question is addressed through engagement with the Analects. Rather than provide interpretations of key terms in the Analects, we provide an account of wisdom that draws from themes in the Analects. The case is made t...

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Main Authors: MORROW, Sydney, RYAN, Shane
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3703
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spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-49612023-01-19T07:54:03Z Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects MORROW, Sydney RYAN, Shane This paper aims to address when the wise person should participate in politics. The question is addressed through engagement with the Analects. Rather than provide interpretations of key terms in the Analects, we provide an account of wisdom that draws from themes in the Analects. The case is made that the wise person is committed to participating in politics primarily because of the connection between wisdom and benevolence (ren 仁 in the Analects). We address challenges to the Confucian approach from the Zhuangzi concerning the potential harms of political participation. General political disengagement is not considered exemplary on the Confucian approach to wisdom, although when political engagement may be eschewed is explored. Finally, the case is made that while ren motivates the wise to participate politically, the wise also have a sense of timeliness that provides guidance as to when to refrain or withdraw from political participation. 2023-01-31T08:00:00Z text https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3703 info:doi/10.1111/phc3.12895 Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University wise person politics Analects wisdom benevolence Confucian approach political disengagement political engagement Zhuangzi timeliness Philosophy
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic wise person
politics
Analects
wisdom
benevolence
Confucian approach
political disengagement
political engagement
Zhuangzi
timeliness
Philosophy
spellingShingle wise person
politics
Analects
wisdom
benevolence
Confucian approach
political disengagement
political engagement
Zhuangzi
timeliness
Philosophy
MORROW, Sydney
RYAN, Shane
Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects
description This paper aims to address when the wise person should participate in politics. The question is addressed through engagement with the Analects. Rather than provide interpretations of key terms in the Analects, we provide an account of wisdom that draws from themes in the Analects. The case is made that the wise person is committed to participating in politics primarily because of the connection between wisdom and benevolence (ren 仁 in the Analects). We address challenges to the Confucian approach from the Zhuangzi concerning the potential harms of political participation. General political disengagement is not considered exemplary on the Confucian approach to wisdom, although when political engagement may be eschewed is explored. Finally, the case is made that while ren motivates the wise to participate politically, the wise also have a sense of timeliness that provides guidance as to when to refrain or withdraw from political participation.
format text
author MORROW, Sydney
RYAN, Shane
author_facet MORROW, Sydney
RYAN, Shane
author_sort MORROW, Sydney
title Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects
title_short Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects
title_full Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects
title_fullStr Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects
title_full_unstemmed Confucius, wisdom, and political participation: Benevolence and timeliness in the Analects
title_sort confucius, wisdom, and political participation: benevolence and timeliness in the analects
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2023
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3703
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