-
56Does Aristotle's political theory rest on a 'blunder'?History of Political Thought 13 (2): 189-202. 1992.We may sum up the five roles which human beings might play in the existence of the polis in the following way: (1) Human nature plays the role of the inner principle of change which explains the type of human relation a polis takes (the polis as a type); (2) General patterns of human behaviours, together with patterns of societal conditions, play the role of material conditions which explain the variety of forms of polis; (3) Statesmen or politicians play the role of political craftsmen which ex…Read more
-
7Western Political Thought in Dialogue with Asia (edited book)Lexington Books. 2008.Western Political Thought in Dialogue with Asia is a unique collection of essays that examines the exchange of political ideas between Western Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. The contributors to the volume call for globalizing the scope of research and teaching in the history of political thought
-
10Five. Territorial Boundaries and ConfucianismIn David Lee Miller & Sohail H. Hashmi (eds.), Boundaries and Justice: Diverse Ethical Perspectives, Princeton University Press. pp. 89-111. 2002.
-
20Axiological Rules and Chinese Political PhilosophyJournal of Chinese Philosophy 34 (2): 161-178. 2007.
-
526Moral autonomy, civil liberties, and confucianismPhilosophy East and West 52 (3): 281-310. 2002.Three claims are defended. (1) There is a conception of moral autonomy in Confucian ethics that to a degree can support toleration and freedom. However, (2) Confucian moral autonomy is different from personal autonomy, and the latter gives a stronger justification for civil and personal liberties than does the former. (3) The contemporary appeal of Confucianism would be strengthened by including personal autonomy, and this need not be seen as forsaking Confucian ethics but rather as an internal …Read more
-
26Confucian Perfectionism: A Response to Kim, Angle, Wong, Li, Chiu, and AmesPhilosophy East and West 67 (1): 82-95. 2017.I would like to begin by thanking all the contributors to this symposium, especially Yvonne Chiu, who organized a book conference at the University of Hong Kong and edited this symposium. I am very grateful to the contributors for their thoughtful and challenging comments, from which I have learned a great deal. Within the limited space of this article, I regret that I am not able to address fully or adequately all the issues raised by the contributors. I thank Sungmoon Kim for raising challengi…Read more
-
75PerfectionismOxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. 2022.In contemporary Anglo-American political philosophy, perfectionism is widely understood as the idea that the state may, or should, promote valuable conceptions of the good life and discourage conceptions that are worthless or bad. As such, debates over perfectionism occupy a central place in contemporary political philosophy because political philosophers are deeply concerned about whether or not a liberal state is permitted to promote any particular ethical or religious doctrine or impose it on…Read more
-
11Is popular sovereignty a useful myth?In Melissa S. Williams (ed.), Deparochializing Political Theory, Cambridge University Press. pp. 149-173. 2020.Popular sovereignty is one of the most widespread but poorly understood notions in modern politics. Exalted as the highest principle of democratic legitimacy, the idea of popular sovereignty has been given various but broadly similar formulations. . . .
-
31Is Democracy Coming to Knock on China’s Door? A Reply to Jiwei Ci’s Democracy in ChinaDao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 21 (3): 451-466. 2022.Jiwei Ci’s Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis presents an extraordinarily rich set of ideas regarding the important subject of the prospect of democracy in China. The book argues that it is in the interest of the Chinese Communist Party to immediately begin to prepare China for democracy, as that is the only way to save the party and China from imminent crises of legitimacy, governance, and stability. Drawing upon Tocqueville’s discussion of equality of conditions in America, Ci argues that a…Read more
-
39How Should Liberal Democratic Governments Treat Conscientious Disobedience as a Response to State Injustice?: A ProposalRoyal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 91 141-167. 2022.This paper suggests that liberal democratic governments adopt a reconciliatory approach to conscientious disobedience. Central to this approach is the view – independent of whether conscientious disobedience is always morally justified – that conscientious disobedience is normatively distinct from other criminal acts with similar effects, and such distinction is worthy of acknowledgment by public apparatus and actors. The prerogative applies to both civil and uncivil instances of disobedience, a…Read more
-
38Public Reason Confucianism Without Foundation?Journal of Social Philosophy 50 (2): 134-144. 2019.
-
33Freedom, the Good, and China's Moral CrisisPhilosophy East and West 68 (2): 583-589. 2018.Although it is widely believed that post-Mao China has fallen into a moral crisis, there are few scholarly analyses of its nature, causes, and consequences. Jiwei Ci's Moral China in the Age of Reform–1 fills this gap by giving an unusually penetrating and insightful account of this crisis. There is much in Ci's account that one can find thought-provoking and enlightening. Any good analysis of a crisis not only gives a good diagnosis but also sheds light on a possible solution. While the diagnos…Read more
-
23The Ethics and Politics of Compassion and Capabilities (edited book)Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong. 2007.
-
1© 2014 Zou et al. Nrf2, a central regulator of the cellular defense against oxidative stress and inflammation, participates in modulating hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration. It is not clear, however, whether Nrf2 regulates hepatocyte growth, an important cellular mechanism to regain the lost liver mass after partial hepatectomy. To determine this, various analyses were performed in wild-type and Nrf2-null mice following PH. We found that, at 60 h post-PH, the vast majority of hep…Read more
-
16Confucian Attitudes toward Ethical PluralismIn Richard Madsen & Tracy B. Strong (eds.), The Many and the One: Religious and Secular Perspectives on Ethical Pluralism in the Modern World, Princeton University Press. pp. 129-153. 2009.
-
81Political Authority and Perfectionism: A Response to QuongPhilosophy and Public Issues - Filosofia E Questioni Pubbliche 2 (1). 2012.download
-
203Democracy and meritocracy: Toward a confucian perspectiveJournal of Chinese Philosophy 34 (2). 2007.
-
195Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern TimesPrinceton University Press. 2014.Since the very beginning, Confucianism has been troubled by a serious gap between its political ideals and the reality of societal circumstances. Contemporary Confucians must develop a viable method of governance that can retain the spirit of the Confucian ideal while tackling problems arising from nonideal modern situations. The best way to meet this challenge, Joseph Chan argues, is to adopt liberal democratic institutions that are shaped by the Confucian conception of the good rather than the…Read more
-
45'Self-Restriction' and the Confucian Case for DemocracyPhilosophy East and West 64 (3): 785-795. 2014.
-
University of Hong KongRegular Faculty