The Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Principles

Mingjun Lu holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Toronto. Lu is the author of Chinese-Western Comparative Metaphysics and Epistemology: A Topical Approach (Lexington Books, 2020) and The Chinese Impact upon Renaissance English Literature: A Globalization and Liberal Cosmopolitan Approach to Donne and Milton (Ashgate, 2015; Routledge, 2019).

Acknowledgements


 Introduction

 1 The Necessity of Joining Morals to Metaphysics


 2 The Consequences of Joining Morals to Metaphysics


 3 The Argument, Methodology, and Objective of the Project


 4 Significance of the Project—Metaphysical vs. Other Readings of the Chinese Moral System


 5 Plan of Study




part 1

A Comparative Approach to the Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Principles

1 The First Principle in Chinese Moral Metaphysics The Law of Nature or Innate Nature

 1 The First Principle in Chinese Moral Metaphysics: The Law of Nature or Innate Nature


 2 The Metaphysical Foundation of Chinese Morals


 3 The Morality of Innate Nature in Mencian and Aristotelian Ethics


 4 The Shared Metaphysical Foundation of Good and Evil


 5 Conclusion




2 The Aristotelian vs. Kantian Approach to Chinese Moral Metaphysics

 1 The Aristotelian Approach to the Metaphysics of Chinese Morals


 2 Problems with Mou Zongsan’s Kantian Approach to Confucian Metaphysics


 3 Key Divergences between Confucian and Kantian Moral Metaphysics


 4 The Kantian and Confucian Conceptions of Morality: The Deontological and the Natural


 5 Conclusion




3 The Metaphysics of the Moral End and Standard in Chinese and Aristotelian Teleological Virtue Ethics

 1 Aristotle’s Teleological Virtue Ethics


 2 Confucian Teleological Virtue Ethics


 3 Zhongyong as a Metaphysical Principle and Moral Standard


 4 Zhongyong versus the Aristotelian Mean


 5 Conclusion




part 2

The Metaphysics of Daoist and Confucian Moral Virtues

4 Metaphysical vs. Temporal Virtue in Daoist and Confucian Morals

 1 The Dao and Its Metaphysical Virtue


 2 Zhuangzi on the Relation of Morals and Metaphysics


 3 The Dao and Virtue in the Analects


 4 Metaphysical and Temporal Virtues in the Yi Commentaries


 5 Conclusion




5 The Metaphysical Foundation and Moral Cosmopolitanism of ren or Benevolence

 1 Chinese and Western Moral Cosmopolitanism


 2 Ren as the First Principle in Confucian and Mencian Ethics


 3 Cosmopolitan Benevolence in Daoist Philosophy


 4 Cosmopolitan Benevolence in Confucian and Mencian Ethics


 5 The Mind of Cosmopolitan Benevolence in Neo-Confucian Philosophy


 6 Benevolence and the Evil of Desire


 7 Conclusion




6 Yi or Justice/Justness as a Moral, Metaphysical, and Methodological Principle

 1 Original Goodness and the Dao of renyi


 2 The “Grand and Vital Force of Justice” and Its Temporal Manifestation as the Dao of renyi


 3 Jiyi (Accumulated Justnesses) as a Methodological Approach to Justice


 4 Two Key Barriers on the Path of Yi: Desire and Self-interest


 5 Conclusion




7 The Metaphysical Root and Ethical Republicanism of Chinese liyue or Ritual and Musical System

 1 The liyue System and Its Moral Scheme in the Zhouli


 2 The Metaphysical Foundation of the liyue System


 3 The Moral Implications of liyue in Confucian Ethics


 4 Liyue as an Institutionalized Means of Governance


 5 The Rule of liyue and the Rule of Law


 6 Chinese vs. Roman Ethical Republicanism


 7 Conclusion




8 Metaphysical and Moral Knowledge in Chinese zhi or Wisdom

 1 The Wisdom Obtained by xuanjian 玄鉴 (the Metaphysical Mirror)


 2 Zhi 智 as Knowledge of Universality and the Innate Conscience


 3 The Prudential Wisdom of zhizhi 知止 (Knowing Boundaries)


 4 Conclusion




part 3

The Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Imperatives

9 Confucian cheng or Truthfulness Cheng as the Dao of Heaven and the Dao of Man

 1 Cheng as a Metaphysical Concept in Confucian and Daoist Philosophy


 2 Cheng as a Methodological Approach to zhongyong


 3 Cheng (Truthfulness) and xin (Honesty or Trustworthiness) in the Analects and Mencius


 4 Cheng and Moral Cultivation in the Great Learning and Zhongyong


 5 Cheng 诚 (Truthfulness) and jing 敬 (Respect)


 6 Conclusion




10 The Law of Return and Self-Reflection The Freedom and Autonomy of the Confucian Self

 1 The Daoist Law of Return and Its Moral Implications


 2 Confucius on Self-Reflection and Self-Critique


 3 The Self in Mencius’s Moral Imperatives


 4 The Metaphysical Foundation of the Self in Neo-Confucian Philosophy


 5 The Moral and Epistemological Freedom and Autonomy of the Confucian Self


 6 The Epistemological Agency of the Reflexive and Self-Correcting Self


 7 Conclusion




  Epilogue




References


Index