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100Does Zhu Xi Distinguish Prudence from Morality?Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 12 (3): 359-368. 2013.In Stephen Angle’s Sagehood, he contends that Neo-Confucian philosophers reject ways of moral thinking that draw hard and fast lines between self-directed or prudential concerns (about what is good for me) and other-directed or moral concerns (about what is right, just, virtuous, etc.), and suggests that they are right to do so. In this paper, I spell out Angle’s arguments and interpretation in greater detail and then consider whether they are faithful to one of the chief figures in Neo-Confucia…Read more
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179Readings in Later Chinese Philosophy: Han to the 20th Century (edited book)Hackett. 2014.An exceptional contribution to the teaching and study of Chinese thought, this anthology provides fifty-eight selections arranged chronologically in five main sections: Han Thought, Chinese Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, Late Imperial Confucianism, and the early Twentieth Century. The editors have selected writings that have been influential, that are philosophically engaging, and that can be understood as elements of an ongoing dialogue, particularly on issues regarding ethical cultivation, human …Read more
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128Dai Zhen on Sympathetic ConcernJournal of Chinese Philosophy 37 (1): 76-89. 2010.I argue that Dai Zhen’s account of sympathetic concern is distinguished from other accounts of sympathy (and empathy) by several features, the most important of which are the following: First, he sees the awareness of our similarities to others as a necessary condition for sympathy but not a constituent of it. Second, the relevant similarities are those that are grounded in our common status as living creatures, and not in our common powers of autonomy or other traits that are often taken to be …Read more
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361Well-Being and DaoismIn Guy Fletcher (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being, Routledge. pp. 56-69. 2015.In this chapter, I explicate several general views and arguments that bear on the notion and contemporary theories of human welfare, as found in two foundational Daoist texts, the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi. Ideas drawn from the Daodejing include its objections to desire theories of human welfare and its distinction between natural and acquired desires. Insights drawn from the Zhuangzi include its arguments against the view that death is bad for the dead, its attempt to develop a workable theory…Read more
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94Sympathy and Perspective‐Taking in Confucian EthicsPhilosophy Compass 6 (10): 663-674. 2011.This article spells out a forgotten debate in Confucian ethics that concerns the finer points of empathy, sympathy, and perspective-taking (sometimes called ‘role-taking’). The debate’s central question is whether sympathy is more virtuous when it is automatic and other-focused – that is, when we engage in perspective-taking without conscious effort and sympathize without significant reference to our selves or our own feelings.
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37Introduction: A confucian philosophical agendaJournal of Chinese Philosophy 38 (s1): 3-6. 2011.Introduction to Confucian Philosophy: Innovations and Transformations, a supplement to the Journal of Chinese Philosophy.
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163A Right of Rebellion in the Mengzi?Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 7 (3): 269-282. 2008.Mengzi believed that tyrannical rulers can be justifiably deposed, and many contemporary scholars see this as evidence that that Mengzi endorsed a right of popular rebellion. I argue that the text of the Mengzi reveals a more mixed view, and does so in two respects. First, it suggests that the people are sometimes permitted to participate in a rebellion but not permitted to decide for themselves when rebellion is warranted. Second, it gives appropriate moral weight not to the people’s judgments …Read more
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73A Case for Chinese PhilosophyIn Amy Olberding (ed.), Newsletter on Asian and Asian-American Philosopher and Philosophies 8.1, . 2008.
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46Review of Daniel A. Bell, Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 1 (14). 2007.
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100Dai Zhen's Defense of Self‐InterestJournal of Chinese Philosophy 38 (s1): 29-45. 2011.This paper is devoted to explicating Dai Zhen’s defense of self-interested desires, over and against a tradition that sets strict limits to their range and function in moral agency. I begin by setting the terms of the debate between Dai and his opponents, noting that the dispute turns largely on the moral status of directly self-interested desires, or desires for one’s own good as such. I then consider three of Dai’s arguments against views that miscategorize or undervalue directly self-interest…Read more
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68Xunzi Among the Chinese Neo-ConfuciansIn Eric L. Hutton (ed.), Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Xunzi, Springer. pp. 435-473. 2016.This chapter explains how Xunzi's text and views helped shape the thought of the Neo-Confucian philosophers, noting and explicating some areas of influence long overlooked in modern scholarship. It begins with a general overview of Xunzi’s changing position in the tradition (“Xunzi’s Status in Neo-Confucian Thought”), in which I discuss Xunzi’s status in three general periods of Neo-Confucian era: the early period, in which Neo-Confucian views of Xunzi were varied and somewhat ambiguous, the “ma…Read more
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108Stephen C. Angle: Sagehood: The Contemporary Significance of Neo-Confucian Philosophy: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, xvi + 293 pages (review)Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 10 (2): 231-235. 2011.Review of Stephen C. Angle's Sagehood: The Contemporary Significance of Neo-Confucian Philosophy
Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Areas of Specialization
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Moral Psychology |
Chinese Philosophy |
Criminal Justice Ethics |
Virtue Ethics |
The Concept of Rights |
Foundations of Rights |
Well-Being |
Areas of Interest
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PhilPapers Editorships
Qing Neo-Confucianism |
Yan Yuan |
Dai Zhen |
Qing Neo-Confucianism, Misc |