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1170Confucianism and ubuntu: Reflections on a dialogue between chinese and african traditionsJournal of Chinese Philosophy 38 (s1): 78-95. 2011.In this article we focus on three key precepts shared by Confucianism and the African ethic of Ubuntu: the central value of community, the desirability of ethical partiality, and the idea that we tend to become morally better as we grow older. For each of these broad similarities, there are key differences underlying them, and we discuss those as well as speculate about the reasons for them. Our aim is not to take sides, but we do suggest ways that Ubuntu and Confucianism might have something to…Read more
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114Beyond Liberal Democracy: A Debate on Democracy and Confucian MeritocracyPhilosophy East and West 59 (4): 523-523. 2009.None.
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110Democracy with chinese characteristics: A political proposal for the post-communist eraPhilosophy East and West 49 (4): 451-493. 1999.Interviews Professor Wang, a political philosopher at Beijing University about the political reforms in China. Explanation on a democratic political system with Chinese characteristics; Confucian tradition of respect for a ruling intellectual elite; Relevance of Confucian scholar Huang Zongxi's proposal for reform
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105Book Review: Religion, Theology and the Human Sciences (review)Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 57 (1): 102-103. 2003.
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84A Communitarian Critique of LiberalismAnalyse & Kritik 27 (2): 215-238. 2005.Communitarian thinkers have argued that liberalism devalues community in modern societies. This essay assesses the three main strands of the contemporary debate betweeen communitarianism and liberalism: (1) the communitarian critique of the liberal universalism, (2) the communitarian critique of liberal individualism, and (3) the communitarian critique of liberal politics. In each case, it is argued that the debate has moved from fairly abstract philosophical controversies to more concrete engag…Read more
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80War, Peace, and China's Soft Power: A Confucian ApproachDiogenes 56 (1): 26-40. 2009.The contemporary Chinese intellectual Kang Xiaoguang has argued that Chinese soft power should be based on Confucian culture, the most influential Chinese political tradition. But which Confucian values should form the core of China’s soft power? This paper first explores the coexistence of state sovereignty and utopian cosmopolitanism through an analysis of Confucian tradition up to contemporary Chinese nationalism. It insists on the exogenous roots of the cosmopolitan ideal and its relations w…Read more
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73Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian ContextPrinceton University Press. 2006.Is liberal democracy appropriate for East Asia? In this provocative book, Daniel Bell argues for morally legitimate alternatives to Western-style liberal democracy in the region. Beyond Liberal Democracy, which continues the author's influential earlier work, is divided into three parts that correspond to the three main hallmarks of liberal democracy--human rights, democracy, and capitalism. These features have been modified substantially during their transmission to East Asian societies that ha…Read more
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67Catholic Ethicists on HIV/Aids Prevention: Edited by J F Keenan SJ. Continuum, 2000, US$24.95, pp 351. ISBN 0826412300 (review)Journal of Medical Ethics 28 (1): 59-60. 2002.
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46Chen, Lai, Tradition and Modernity: A Humanist View Trans. Edmund Ryden : Leiden: Brill, 2009, x + 386 pagesDao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 10 (3): 391-393. 2011.
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45Against Individualism: A Confucian Rethinking of the Foundations of Morality, Politics, Family, and Religion by Henry Rosemont JrPhilosophy East and West 67 (2): 565-568. 2017.Against Individualism: A Confucian Rethinking of the Foundations of Morality, Politics, Family, and Religion by Henry Rosemont Jr. is an important challenge to the dominant individualistic ethos of our age. It is not merely a critique of the idea of the rights-claiming, free and autonomous individual: Rosemont also puts forward a strong defense of an alternative idea of the relational person as role-bearing, interrelated, and necessarily responsible to other persons. I am generally sympathetic t…Read more
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44Li, Chenyang,The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony: London and New York: Routledge, 2014, xvi + 197 pagesDao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 14 (1): 143-146. 2015.
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442. Just War and Confucianism: Implications for the Contemporary WorldIn Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 23-51. 2006.
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43Reconciling Confucianism and NationalismJournal of Chinese Philosophy 41 (1-2): 33-54. 2014.Confucianism has made a comeback in mainland China over the last two decades or so. Politically minded Confucian revivalists see Confucianism as the core of national identity that differs from “foreign” traditions such as liberalism and they argue for replacing Marxism with Confucianism as the core ideology of the one-party state. But is the ancient tradition of Confucianism compatible with the modern tradition of nationalism? And is it possible to defend a morally appealing form of “Confucian n…Read more
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376. Taking Elitism Seriously: Democracy with Confucian CharacteristicsIn Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 152-179. 2006.
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2911. Justice for Migrant Workers? The Case of Migrant Domestic Workers in East AsiaIn Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 281-322. 2006.
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26Toward Confucian-Inspired Democratic Meritocracy: A Response to Yong Huang, Chenyang Li, and Binfan WangPhilosophy East and West 69 (2): 585-591. 2019.Let me first express my gratitude for the three detailed and informative critiques of my book The China Model. These critiques are themselves models of Confucian civility, even as they express sharp areas of disagreement. There does seem to be agreement that the ideal of a Confucian-inspired democratic meritocracy is a worthwhile political project, particularly in the Chinese political context, but Huang, Li, and Wang question my book's arguments in defense of this ideal. There are three kinds o…Read more
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26Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the WorldPrinceton University Press. 2020.A trenchant defense of hierarchy in different spheres of our lives, from the personal to the political All complex and large-scale societies are organized along certain hierarchies, but the concept of hierarchy has become almost taboo in the modern world. Just Hierarchy contends that this stigma is a mistake. In fact, as Daniel Bell and Wang Pei show, it is neither possible nor advisable to do away with social hierarchies. Drawing their arguments from Chinese thought and culture as well as other…Read more
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25The East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2013.The rise of China, along with problems of governance in democratic countries, has reinvigorated the theory of political meritocracy. But what is the theory of political meritocracy and how can it set standards for evaluating political progress? To help answer these questions, this volume gathers a series of commissioned research papers from an interdisciplinary group of leading philosophers, historians and social scientists. The result is the first book in decades to examine the rise of politica…Read more
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233. Human Rights and “Values in Asia”: Reflections on East-West DialoguesIn Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 52-83. 2006.
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22The ethics of international human rights non-governmental organizationsIn Thomas Cushman (ed.), Handbook of human rights, Routledge. pp. 444. 2012.
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19Toward Meritocratic Rule in China?: A Response to Professors Dallmayr, Li, and TanPhilosophy East and West 59 (4): 554-560. 2009.Let me first thank the critics for their insightful contributions to the debate. I hesitate to call the three professors “critics” since the areas of agreement may outweigh the areas of disagreement. But I should focus on areas of disagreement to further the debate, and that’s what I’ll try to do here. I’ll begin with a few remarks about methodology, then attempt to clarify my own view regarding democracy with “Confucian characteristics,” and my response will conclude with some reflections on al…Read more
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19Review: Human Rights and Social Criticism in Contemporary Chinese Political Theory (review)Political Theory 32 (3). 2004.
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158. Democratic Education in a Multicultural Context: Lessons from SingaporeIn Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 206-228. 2006.
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157. Is Democracy the “Least Bad” System for Minority Groups?In Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 180-205. 2006.
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14Social cohesion without electoral democracy: The case of ChinaPhilosophy and Social Criticism 46 (5): 553-562. 2020.Democratic elections, whatever the flaws, tend to produce a sense of social cohesion as ordinary citizens, treated as equals, gather together to select their country’s political leaders. In China,...
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14East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East AsiaPrinceton University Press. 2000.Is liberal democracy a universal ideal? Proponents of "Asian values" argue that it is a distinctive product of the Western experience and that Western powers shouldn't try to push human rights and democracy onto Asian states. Liberal democrats in the West typically counter by questioning the motives of Asian critics, arguing that Asian leaders are merely trying to rationalize human-rights violations and authoritarian rule. In this book--written as a dialogue between an American democrat named De…Read more
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114. The Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights NGOs: Reflections on Dialogues between Practitioners and TheoristsIn Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press. pp. 84-118. 2006.
Areas of Interest
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Applied Ethics |
Meta-Ethics |
Normative Ethics |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |
Continental Philosophy |
European Philosophy |