Description
Is the Confucian tradition compatible with the Western understanding of human rights? Are there fundamental human values, regardless of cultural differences, common to all peoples of all nations? At this critical point in Communist China's history, eighteen distinguished scholars address the role of Confucianism in dealing with questions of universal human rights.
In essays exploring the relationship of contemporary human rights doctrine to the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, this volume investigates concepts such as the individual in relation to the state; the notion of "rights" in ritual and law; and justice, constitutionalism, and intellectual freedom in Chinese and Western traditions.
About the Author
Wm. Theodore de Bary is the author or editor of more than two dozen works on Asian civilizations, including Sources of Chinese Tradition and Sources of Japanese Tradition. Tu Weiming is the editor of China in Transformation and author of Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today, and Way, Meaning and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual.
Reviews
An ambitious book, dealing with human nature, according to classical Confucian philosophers, analogies between rights and rites, and Confucian influences in 20th-century China. -- Stefan B. Polter Asian Affairs This rich volume, a feast for the mind, a joy to the soul, is so wise in seeing that the human rights discourse is not the singular fruit of a peculiar liberal individualistic Western tradition, not the unique genetic child of Jews or Christians or Greeks. -- Edward Friedman Asian Thought and Society It reduces the lack of clarity that has characterized discussions of this subject to date. -- Lynn Struve China Quarterly The essays explore such vital subjects as the normative foundation of human rights claims, the relationship of the individual to the nation-state, rites as rights, due process, harmony versus freedom of thought, constitutionalism, and the rule of law... each one does stand on its own as a solid piece of scholarship. Choice This engaging book is propaedeutic to a study of how Confucianism might contribute to decisions respecting rights. -- Dale Maurice Riepe International Studies in Philosophy
Book Information
ISBN 9780231109376
Author Wm. Theodore De Bary
Format Paperback
Page Count 408
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
In essays exploring the relationship of contemporary human rights doctrine to the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, this volume investigates concepts such as the individual in relation to the state; the notion of "rights" in ritual and law; and justice, constitutionalism, and intellectual freedom in Chinese and Western traditions.
About the Author
Wm. Theodore de Bary is the author or editor of more than two dozen works on Asian civilizations, including Sources of Chinese Tradition and Sources of Japanese Tradition. Tu Weiming is the editor of China in Transformation and author of Living Tree: The Changing Meaning of Being Chinese Today, and Way, Meaning and Politics: Essays on the Confucian Intellectual.
Reviews
An ambitious book, dealing with human nature, according to classical Confucian philosophers, analogies between rights and rites, and Confucian influences in 20th-century China. -- Stefan B. Polter Asian Affairs This rich volume, a feast for the mind, a joy to the soul, is so wise in seeing that the human rights discourse is not the singular fruit of a peculiar liberal individualistic Western tradition, not the unique genetic child of Jews or Christians or Greeks. -- Edward Friedman Asian Thought and Society It reduces the lack of clarity that has characterized discussions of this subject to date. -- Lynn Struve China Quarterly The essays explore such vital subjects as the normative foundation of human rights claims, the relationship of the individual to the nation-state, rites as rights, due process, harmony versus freedom of thought, constitutionalism, and the rule of law... each one does stand on its own as a solid piece of scholarship. Choice This engaging book is propaedeutic to a study of how Confucianism might contribute to decisions respecting rights. -- Dale Maurice Riepe International Studies in Philosophy
Book Information
ISBN 9780231109376
Author Wm. Theodore De Bary
Format Paperback
Page Count 408
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
