History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

HPC 16. To Become or Not to Become: the Confucians on Our Moral Natures

Morality is what makes us humans, for the Confucians. But does morality come from inside us, outside us, or both?

HPC 15. Flexing Your Moral Muscles: Xunzi on Moral Cultivation

Xunzi, a thinker who shaped the course of Confucian philosophy by showing how deliberate effort can overcome our wicked natural tendencies.

HPC 14. Every Man for Himself: Virtue and the Body

Several ancient Chinese texts speak of an egoist and hedonist known as Yang Zhu: did he pose a coherent challenge to the Confucians and other ethicists?

HPC 13. The Trembling Ox: Mengzi and the Compassionate Heart

In the Mengzi, the text that bears his name, Mengzi ("Mencius") holds that the human heart-mind is the wellspring of goodness.

HPC 12. Gentlemen’s Agreement: Confucian Virtue Ethics

Should the remarkable parallels between Aristotelian and Confucian ethics lead us to classify Confucianism as a type of “virtue ethics”?

HPC 11. Mark Csikszentmihalyi on Early Confucianism

In this interview, we learn how Kongzi become the pivotal sage of early Chinese history, and what new discoveries teach us about the Confucian tradition.

HPC 10. We’re a Pack Animal: Individual and Society in Confucianism

What does the Analects say about living as a human being? How are individuals embedded in society, and how do they develop their unique identities?

HPC 09. Family Values: Confucian Role Ethics

Confucianism puts relationships with family members at the core of their ethical thinking. Is this a strength or a weakness?

HPC 08. Confucius Says: Reading the Analects

Lessons we can take from the teachings of Kongzi (Confucius) in the Analects: challenging authorities, adhering to “benevolence (ren),” and practicing “propriety (li)” in ritual and everyday life.

HPC 07. Uncrowned King: Kongzi (Confucius) and the Analects

An introduction to Kongzi, the founder of Confucianism, and to the text that has come to represent his thought, the Lunyu (Analects).