Confucian Creation of Heaven

Philosophy and the Defense of Ritual Mastery

Häftad, Engelska, 1990

539 kr

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Explores the earliest Confucian texts to find coherent structural principles linking the various facets of Confucian doctrine. Its central theme is that the coherence of early Confucianism emerges only when doctrine is viewed as a function of the unique ritual practice of the early Confucian community.Demonstrating that the relation between practice and theory in early Confucianism is highly systematic, the author suggests that Confucianism represents a species of 'synthetic' philosophy, distinct from the analytical traditions of the West but equally rigorous in its attempt to disclose the foundations of understanding. He illustrates how theory served as an ancillary activity, expressing ethical insights derived from the systematic structure of core ritual practice, and legitimizing those insights in terms of teleological model of their efficacy in creating a divinely ordained political utopia. The central agenda of the early Confucians is pictured as the preservation and promotion of ritual skills and the aesthetic social perspectives they generate. Metaphysical and political theory serve as practical vehicles mediating between the skill-based philosophy of the early Confucian community and the changing features of the intellectual, social, and political environments in which that community had to survive.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum1990-06-01
Mått152 x 229 x 25 mm
Vikt499 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieSUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Antal sidor349
FörlagState University of New York Press
ISBN9780791401910

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AcknowledgmentsIntroductionI. Setting the Ritual Stage1. Pre-Confucian Heaven 1. The Ritual Antecedents of Ruism1.1. the Three Pillars of the Western Chou1.2. The Patterning of Chou Society2. T'ien as the King's Good 2.1. T'ien as a Royal Adversary2.2. The Injustice of T'ien2.3. Creating a New T'ien2. Masters of the Dance 1. the Ritual Basis of Ruism 1.1. Rationales for Ritual1.2. The Decline of Ritual1.3. Confucius' Career1.4. Legitimizing Li2. The Political Role of Ruism2.1. The Bifurcated Doctrine of Ruism2.2. The Missing History of the Ru2.3. The Textual Imperative of Withdrawal3. The Community of Ru3.1. The Ruist Study Group3.2. The Ruist Syllabus3.3. Philosophers and Funeral Directors3. The Sage and the Self1. Practical Totalism: The Ruist Doctrine of Sagehood 1.1 Jen as Totalism1.2. The Single Thread1.3. The Ritual Path2. Sagehood and the Self 2.1. The Public Self2.2. The Social SelfII. The Confucian Creation of Heaven4. Two Levels of Meaning: The Role of T'ien in the Analects 1. The Nature of the Text2. The Implicit Theory of T'ien in the Analects 2.1. The Prescriptive Role of T'ien2.2. The Descriptive Role of T'ien3. Confucius' Doctrinal Silence5. Tactics of Metaphysics: The Role of T'ien in Metaphysics1. The Nature of the Text2. The Role of T'ien in Mencius' Political Doctrines and Career3. The Mencian Theory of T'ien: Human Nature and Personal Decree 3.1. Mencius and Li3.2. The Mencian Theory of Human Nature3.3.Hsing and Ming: The Interface and the Prescriptive and Descriptive Dimensions of T'ien6. Ritual as a Natural Art: The Role of T'ien in the Hsun Tzu 1. The Nature of the Text2. The Challenge of Naturalism 2.1. Late Warring States Naturalism3. The Thematic Unity of the Hsun Tzu3.1. The World of Thing as a Taxonomy3.2. The Natural Logic of Social Forms3.3. The Cardinal Valuelessness of Human Nature3.4. Educating the Sage3.5. Man's cosmic Role4. The Hsun Tzu's Theories of T'ien: the "Treatise on T'ien" 4.1. The Portrait of T'ien as Nonpurporsive Nature4.2. T'ien as Prescriptive Psychology4.3. Forming a Trinity with Heaven and Earth4.4. T'ien as a Historical Force4.5. Miscellaneous T'iensConclusion: Sagehood and PhilosophyAppendix A. The Origins of the Term "T'ien"Appendix B. A Theory of the Origins of the Term "Ju"Appendix C. Hsun Tzu, "Treatise on T'ien"NotesGlossaryAbbreviationsBibliographyIndex

"It looks at the Confucians as a school and at their sociological position, not simply at the ideas of the main thinkers. It proposes a conception of the school as developing their own way of conducting private life and rejects the claim (always hitherto accepted) that they were all yearning for public office and failing to get it. This is an entirely original approach." — A.C. Graham, Brown University