The Good Is One, Its Manifestations Many

Robert Cummings Neville is Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology and Dean Emeritus of the School of Theology at Boston University. He is the author of many books, including Ultimates, Existence, and Religion, a trilogy advancing a systematic philosophical theology, and Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World, all published by SUNY Press.

Preface

1. The Good Is One, Its Manifestations Many
Ultimacy and Value
Value in Form
Ethics

2. Contemporary Confucian Cosmopolitanism
Introduction
Decision-Making
Engaging Others
Attaining Wholeness
Identity and Value
Religion and Ontological Piety
Conclusion

3. Systematic Metaphysics and the Problem of Value
Systematic Metaphysics and Scientific Reductionism
Metaphysics and Our Civilization
A Contemporary Confucian Theory of Value

4. New Projects for Chinese Philosophy
Creative First-Order Issues
Re-sorting the Canon
Global Portability
Cosmogony
Cosmology
Ritual Studies
Ritual and Culture
Ritual and Politics

5. Philosophy’s Fight between Engagement and Distance: A Confucian Resolution
Philosophy and the Axial Age
Philosophy as Distance
Philosophy as Engagement
Philosophy in the Academy
Confucians in the Academy: Scholar-Officials
Philosophical Cultivation

6. William Ernest Hocking: The First Boston Confucian
Hocking as a Boston Confucian
Zhu Xi, Science, and World Philosophy
Zhu Xi’s Metaphysics
Zhu Xi and Buddhism Compared
Zhu Xi’s Lessons for Hocking
Hocking and Pragmatism

7. Cheng Chung-ying as a Constructive Philosopher
Cheng’s Contemporary Sources
Speculative Interpretation
Interpretation of Classic Texts
System
Philosophic Truth over Interpretation
Cheng’s Challenges

8. Wu Kuang-ming as One of Three Stooges
One of Three Stooges
Wu’s Daoism
Confucian Scotism
Comparison: Daoism and Confucianism

9. Spiritual Foundations of Chinese Culture
Introduction
An Ecological Model of Religion
Religion and Spirituality Defined
Chinese Culture Intact
Chinese Culture Not Intact

10. Selfhood and Value: Pragmatism, Confucianism, and Phenomenology
Experiential Frames and Phenomenology
Interactive Experience and Ritual: The Western Contribution of Confucianism
The Self

11. Individuation and Ritual
Ritual and Xunzi
Individuation
Otherness
Ritual Abuse

12. Authority in Social Institutions, Accountability, and Credibility
Sincerity in Authority
Communitarianism versus Individualism
Perceived Credibility and Sincerity
Conditions for Credibility

13. Confucianism and Toleration
What Is Confucianism?
Toleration, In-groups, and Out-groups
Toleration and Narrative
Toleration and Personal Respect
Toleration and Harmony: The Ethical Metaphysics of Principle
Some Confucian Morals of Toleration

14. Confucian Humaneness across Social Barriers
“Love with Distinctions”
Ritual Theory
Humaneness, Ritual, and Otherness

15. Confucianism and the Feminist Revolution: Ritual Definition and the Social Construction of Gender Roles
Introduction
Nature, Society, and Persons
Ritual
Gender Roles and Rituals
Observations on Transformation

Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index