Premium
The metaphysical background to early Confucian ethics
Author(s) -
Connolly Tim
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
philosophy compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.973
H-Index - 25
ISSN - 1747-9991
DOI - 10.1111/phc3.12637
Subject(s) - metaphysics , philosophy , epistemology , interpreter , literature , art , computer science , programming language
What is the metaphysical background to early Confucian ethics? Is there a distinctive picture of reality that informs texts such as the Analects , Mencius , and Xunzi ? Contemporary interpreters disagree on the answer to these questions, a division reflected not just in scholarly debates but in how early Confucian texts are introduced to larger audiences. This article will begin with a discussion of some general methodological issues involved in applying the term “metaphysics” to classical Chinese thought, and then examine a couple of prominent reconstructions of the metaphysical background to early Confucian texts.