•  218
    How remonstration fails: filial piety and reprehensible parents
    Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture 40 109-131. 2023.
    Critics of Confucianism have long raised concerns about its focus on filial piety (xiao 孝). This concept entails traditional expectations, such as children dutifully serving parents, demonstrating outward respect, and subordinating personal desires to parental wishes. Critics find this problematic not only as an approach toward parents but also as a broader orientation toward authority figures. In response to such criticism, a common argument asserts that it misunderstands filial piety's true na…Read more
  •  3
    Aspects of Folk Morality: Objectivism and Relativism
    In Justin Sytsma & Wesley Buckwalter (eds.), A Companion to Experimental Philosophy, Wiley. 2016.
    Most moral philosophers work under the assumption that ordinary folk morality is committed to objectivism—that ordinary folk view morality in absolute terms. This datum concerning folk metaethics serves to constrain and shape philosophical metaethics, since those working in this field (e.g. objectivists, relativists, expressivists) feel compelled to make sense of it in their theories. In this chapter, I discuss why philosophers take on this commitment. I also outline the relevant experimental re…Read more
  •  5
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Humaneness and Justice in the Analects:On Tao Jiang's Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early ChinaHagop Sarkissian (bio)IntroductionOne of the central themes of Tao Jiang's Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early China is the contestation of the values of partialist humaneness and impartialist justice across diverse thinkers and texts throughout the classical period. His departure point is the Analects, which displays …Read more
  •  970
    What, Exactly, Is Wrong with Confucian Filial Morality?
    with Emma E. Buchtel
    Res Philosophica 100 (1): 23-41. 2023.
    Confucianism’s emphasis on filial piety is both a hallmark of its approach to ethics and a source of concern. Critics charge that filial piety’s extreme partialism corrupts Chinese society and should therefore be expunged from the tradition. Are the critics correct? In this article, we outline the criticism and note its persistence over the last century. We then evaluate data from the empirical study of corruption to see whether they support the claim that partialism corrupts. Finally, we report…Read more
  •  410
    How is analytical thinking related to religious belief? A test of three theoretical models
    with Adam Baimel, Cindel J. M. White, and Ara Norenzayan
    Religion, Brain and Behavior 11 (3): 239-260. 2021.
    The replicability and importance of the correlation between cognitive style and religious belief have been debated. Moreover, the literature has not examined distinct psychological accounts of this relationship. We tested the replicability of the correlation (N = 5284; students and broader samples of Canadians, Americans, and Indians); while testing three accounts of how cognitive style comes to be related to belief in God, karma, witchcraft, and to the belief that religion is necessary for mora…Read more
  •  262
    Meta-Theories, Interpretability, and Human Nature: A Reply to J. David Velleman
    Philosophy East and West 72 (1): 252-257. 2022.
    My thanks to David Velleman for a clear and constructive response to my comment. He raises two issues that might benefit from some further brief remarks. The first concerns the error-theory I put forth to explain why the early Confucians were not relativists. The second concerns the extent to which the Confucian notion of harmony is at odds with Velleman's notion of interpretability or coherence. I consider each in turn, below.
  •  322
    Well-Functioning Daos and Moral Relativism
    Philosophy East and West 72 (1): 230-247. 2022.
    What are the nature and status of moral norms? And what makes individuals abide by them? These are central questions in metaethics. The first concerns the nature of the moral domain—for example, whether it exists independently of what individuals or groups think of it. The second concerns the bindingness or practical clout of moral norms—how individuals feel impelled to abide by them. In this article, I bring two distinct approaches to these questions into dialogue with one another.
  •  370
    Virtuous contempt (wu 惡) in the Analects
    In Justin Tiwald (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Chinese Philosophy, Oxford University Press. forthcoming.
    Much is said about what Kongzi liked or cherished. Kongzi revered the rituals of the Zhou. He cherished tradition and classical music. He loved the Odes. Far less is said, however, about what he despised or held in contempt (wu 惡). Yet contempt appears in the oldest stratum of the Analects as a disposition or virtue of moral exemplars. In this chapter, I argue that understanding the role of despising or contempt in the Analects is important in appreciating Kongzi’s dao in two related though dist…Read more
  •  2586
    Confucianism and ritual
    In Jennifer Oldstone-Moore (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Confucianism, Oxford University Press. 2022.
    Confucian writings on ritual from the classical period (ca 8th-3rd centuries BCE), including instruction manuals, codes of conduct, and treatises on the origins and function of ritual in human life, are impressive in scope and repay careful engagement. These texts maintain that ritual participation fosters social and emotional development, helps persons deal with significant life events such as marriages and deaths, and helps resolve political disagreements. These early sources are of interest n…Read more
  •  423
    Skill and expertise in three schools of classical Chinese thought
    In Ellen Fridland & Carlotta Pavese (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Skill and Expertise, Routledge. pp. 40-52. 2020.
    The classical Chinese philosophical tradition (ca. 6th to 3rd centuries BCE) contains rich discussion of skill and expertise. Various texts exalt skilled exemplars (whether historical persons or fictional figures) who guide and inspire those seeking virtuosity within a particular dao (guiding teaching or way of life). These texts share a preoccupation with flourishing, or uncovering and articulating the constituents of an exemplary life. Some core features thought requisite to leading such a lif…Read more
  •  1033
    Do Filial Values Corrupt? How Can We Know? Clarifying and Assessing the Recent Confucian Debate
    Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 19 (2): 193-207. 2020.
    In a number of papers, Liu Qingping has critiqued Confucianism’s commitment to “consanguineous affection” or filial values, claiming it to be excessive and indefensible. Many have taken issue with his textual readings and interpretive claims, but these responses do little to undermine the force of his central claim that filial values cause widespread corruption in Chinese society. This is not an interpretive claim but an empirical one. If true, it merits serious consideration. But is it true? Ho…Read more
  •  408
    Folk moral relativism
    with John J. Park, David Tien, Jennifer Wright, and Joshua Knobe
    In Joshua Knobe & Shaun Nichols (eds.), Experimental Philosophy: Volume 2, . pp. 169-192. 2014.
    It has often been suggested that people’s ordinary folk understanding of morality involves a rejection of moral relativism and a belief in objective moral truths. The results of six studies call this claim into question. Participants did offer apparently objectivist intuitions when confronted with questions about individuals from their own culture, but they offered increasingly relativist intuitions as they were confronted with questions about individuals from increasingly different cultures or …Read more
  •  1132
    Moral objectivism and a punishing God
    Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 80 1-7. 2019.
    Many moral philosophers have assumed that ordinary folk embrace moral objectivism. But, if so, why do folk embrace objectivism? One possibility is the pervasive connection between religion and morality in ordinary life. Some theorists contend that God is viewed as a divine guarantor of right and wrong, rendering morality universal and absolute. But is belief in God per se sufficient for moral objectivism? In this paper, we present original research exploring the connections between metaethics an…Read more
  •  881
    Naturalizing ethics
    In Kelly James Clark (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism, Wiley. pp. 16-33. 2016.
    In this essay we provide (1) an argument for why ethics should be naturalized, (2) an analysis of why it is not yet naturalized, (3) a defense of ethical naturalism against two fallacies—Hume’s and Moore’s—that ethical naturalism allegedly commits, and (4) a proposal that normative ethics is best conceived as part of human ecology committed to pluralistic relativism. We explain why naturalizing ethics both entails relativism and also constrains it, and why nihilism about value is not an especial…Read more
  •  5
    An introduction to the volume bearing the same name, tracing the recent history of experimental moral psychology and summarizing the contributions to the volume.
  •  49
    Review of Individualism in Early China: Human Agency and the Self in Thought and Politics by Erica Fox Brindley.
  •  235
    Review of Foundations for Moral Relativism (review)
    Journal of Moral Philosophy 14 (1): 116-119. 2017.
    Review of David Velleman's Foundations for Moral Relativism.
  •  7
    In this chapter, we outline the methods and aims of experimental philosophy as a methodological movement within philosophy, and suggest ways in which it may be employed in the study of Chinese philosophy
  •  464
    Cultural evolution and prosociality: widening the hypothesis space
    Behavioral and Brain Sciences 1 (39). 2016.
    Norenzayan and colleagues suggest that Big Gods can be replaced by Big Governments. We examine forms of social and self-monitoring and ritual practice that emerged in Classical China, heterarchical societies like those that emerged in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and the contemporary Zapatista movement of Chiapas, and we recommend widening the hypothesis space to include these alternative forms of social organization.
  •  31
    Neuroethics Questions to Guide Ethical Research in the International Brain Initiatives
    with K. S. Rommelfanger, S. J. Jeong, A. Ema, T. Fukushi, K. Kasai, K. M. Ramos, Arleen Salles, I. Singh, Paul Boshears, and Global Neuroethics Summit Delegates
    Neuron 100 (1): 19-36. 2018.
    Increasingly, national governments across the globe are prioritizing investments in neuroscience. Currently, seven active or in-development national-level brain research initiatives exist, spanning four continents. Engaging with the underlying values and ethical concerns that drive brain research across cultural and continental divides is critical to future research. Culture influences what kinds of science are supported and where science can be conducted through ethical frameworks and evaluatio…Read more
  •  253
    Objectivity
    In Todd K. Shackelford & Vivian A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, . 2018.
    In this entry, we outline the ways in which evolutionary theory has implications for the objectivity of morality.
  •  983
    Aspects of folk morality: Objectivism and relativism
    In Wesley Buckwalter & Justin Sytsma (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Experimental Philosophy, . pp. 212-224. 2016.
    Most moral philosophers work under the assumption that ordinary folk morality is committed to objectivism—that ordinary folk view morality in absolute terms. This datum serves to constrain and shape philosophical metaethics, since those working in this field feel compelled to make sense of it. In this chapter, I discuss why philosophers take on this commitment. I also outline the relevant experimental research exploring whether, and to what extent, ordinary folk think of morality in absolute ter…Read more
  •  233
    We often find ourselves thinking of others as boring, nauseating, dim, dodgy, clumsy, or otherwise irritating or unpleasant. What’s the right thing to do when we have such thoughts? Some philosophers argue we ought to be civil and conceal them, lest others pick up on them and feel disrespected. Drawing on experimental psychology and classical Confucianism, I argue otherwise, suggesting that we ought to (literally) doubt such appraisals and be wary of their veracity.
  •  430
    Supernatural, social, and self-monitoring in the scaling up of Chinese Civilization
    Religion, Brain and Behavior 5 (4): 323-327. 2015.
    An invited commentary on Ara Norenzayan's Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict, focusing on whether early China constitutes an exception to his general theory.
  •  378
    Confucianism demands that individuals comport themselves according to the strictures of ritual propriety—specific forms of speech, clothing, and demeanor attached to a vast array of life circumstances. This requires self-regulation, a cognitive resource of limited supply. When this resource is depleted, a person can experience undesirable consequences such as social isolation and alienation. However, one’s cultural background may be an important mediator of such costs; East Asians, in particular…Read more
  •  21
    Review of Stephen C. Angle and Michael Slote (eds.), Virtue Ethics and Confucianism, Routledge, 2013, 271pp., $125.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780415815482.
  •  5532
    Ritual and Rightness in the Analects
    In Amy Olberding (ed.), Dao Companion to the Analects, . pp. 95-116. 2013.
    Li (禮) and yi (義) are two central moral concepts in the Analects. Li has a broad semantic range, referring to formal ceremonial rituals on the one hand, and basic rules of personal decorum on the other. What is similar across the range of referents is that the li comprise strictures of correct behavior. The li are a distinguishing characteristic of Confucian approaches to ethics and socio-political thought, a set of rules and protocols that were thought to constitute the wise practices of ancien…Read more
  •  824
    This is a translation of "Minor Tweaks, Major Payoffs" (2010) prepared by 黃玉娥 for the Journal of Chinese Philosophy and Culture for a special issue edited by Brian Bruya on cognitive science and early Chinese philosophy
  •  175
    Classical Confucian thought is full of discussion of human emotions, reflecting a preoccupation with the inner life-how one ought to feel 'on the inside', as it were. Yet alongside these passages are others that seem, by contrast, to be concerned with matters external to one's emotions and psychology: how one ought to dress, speak, walk, and talk. Yet passages such as these, which draw attention to details of individual expression and comportment, are not at all tangential when it comes to under…Read more
  •  756
    Confucius and the superorganism
    In Philip J. Ivanhoe, Owen Flanagan, Victoria S. Harrison, Hagop Sarkissian & Eric Schwitzgebel (eds.), The Oneness Hypothesis: Beyond the Boundary of Self, Columbia University Press. pp. 305-320. 2018.
    In this paper, I describe a sense of oneness that, while having its roots in a tradition of thought far removed from our own, might nonetheless be of relevance to persons today. It is not a oneness with all of humanity, let alone with all the creatures under the sky or all the elements of the cosmos. Nevertheless, it is a sense of oneness that transcends one’s own person and connects one to a larger whole. I will be calling this conception that of a superorganism, to borrow a phrase the natural …Read more