A new translation and commentary of the Analects for contemporary audiences. The Analects of Confucius is arguably the single most influential work of Chinas cultural heritage. In this new English translation, Peimin Ni accomplishes the rare feat of simultaneously providing a faithful translation of the text, offering his own reading based on gongfu (practice) perspective, and presenting major alternative readings to help the reader understand how diverse interpretations and controversies arise. In addition to the inclusion of the original Chinese text, Ni adds a comprehensive introduction, a discussion of key terms, annotations, and extensive cross-references. In doing so, Ni makes the text accessible and engaging for todays audience. Understanding the Analects of Confucius is an outstanding work of sinological scholarship. Henry Rosemont Jr., author of A Readers Companion to the Confucian Analects Peimin Nis translation of the Analects has many virtues that make it stand out as an exemplary version of this most important Chinese text. Ni has chosen to present the text as a living document, embedded in two thousand years of commentarial conversation over its meaning, with todays readers very much part of that ongoing conversation. Stephen C. Angle, author of Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy
Annotation Ethical Virtuosity challenges you to identify, articulate, defend and live the personal values and ethical principles that define who you are and how you lead others. Renowned author Dr. Louie Larimer presents seven simple steps that lead to ethical virtuosity. You'll discover the meaning of ethics, integrity, character, personal accountability and moral courage and how they are relevant within today's business environment.
The Routledge Handbook of Soft Power (2nd Edition) offers a comprehensive, detailed, and ground-breaking examination of soft power – a key factor in cultural diplomacy, cultural relations, and public diplomacy. Interrogating soft power as influence, the handbook examines manifestations in media, public mind, policy, and theory – in a fraught geopolitical climate, one demanding reconceptualization of soft power’s role in state and civic society behaviour. Part I provides important new conceptualization and critical analysis of soft power from international relations, philosophical, and other social theoretical perspectives; analyses multiple methods of soft power measurement and makes proposals; and connects soft power innovatively with other concepts Part II addresses soft power and contemporary issues by examining new technology and soft power intentions, soft power and states’ performance during the global pandemic, and soft power and values Part III investigates cases from China, France, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kazhakstan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Türkiye, and the United States – some in combination. This innovative handbook is a definitive resource for inquirers into soft power desiring to familiarize themselves with cutting-edge debates and research. It will be of interest and value to students, researchers, and policy makers working in cultural relations, international communication, international relations, public diplomacy, and contiguous fields.
This book constitutes the outcome of an international conference held at the Otto-Mobes-Volkswirtschaftsschule, Graz-Stifting( Austria), from June 16 to 22, 1974. The conference was initiated by a project group working on determinants and controls of social science development at the In stitute for Advanced Studies and Scientific Research in Vienna and or ganized by the editors of this volume. It was held under the auspices of the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research. The main topics of the conference were those at the forefront of the 'state of argumentation' (to borrow from one of our contributors) in philosophy and sociology of science ever since the controversy between Thomas S. Kuhn and Sir Karl R. Popper has sharpened our awareness for the methodological and substantial presuppositions involved with questions of growth and development in science. Let us give two examples of those topics. The borderline between sociology of science and philo sophy of science has become more and more unclear; while the work of at least some philosophers of science comes to have an empirical flavour, sociologists of science are increasingly apt to include logical and methodo logical components of the research process as their objects of examina tion. Papers included in this volume testify to both tendencies.
Mencius’ many assertions from virtue “Being what I inherently possess” to “this [virtue] is what Heaven or Nature gives to me” clearly show the basic self-consciousness of virtue in pre-Qin Confucianism and the confirmation that virtue originates from Heaven or Nature. Then, what was the reason for the Chinese “Axis Age” thinkers to unanimously trace the origin of human virtue back to Heaven or Nature and the mandate of Heaven? Of course, for them, the source of human virtue is Heaven or Nature, which means that they realized that human being was the limit of cognition. Since in their view, the problem is itself a question that transcends human cognition or that human understanding can possibly clarify both virtue itself and the source of human virtue being beyond the bounds of human knowledge. Namely, tracing back virtue to its source is a quest that transcends the capacity of human understanding. However, those who have been influenced by modern cognitive theory and who constantly explore how Confucian thought emerged as well as how it took shape, cannot give a satisfying answer. Therefore, to trace the emergence and development of Confucianism through the perspective of the survival of agency and the foundation of the survival of agency is not only my own personal interest, but also one necessary for clarifying the development of Confucianism and the legitimacy of its existence.
Virtue was ubiquitous in early modern Europe, not because everyone behaved well, but in the sense that interest in the subject was pervasive and intense. In a changing society, the widening aspiration to nobility was justified by claims to different kinds of virtue and the theory of virtue was the established way of re-assessing accepted human values. In Latin-based languages and humanist culture, certain materially based qualities attributed to the artwork itself eventually became identified as 'virtuosity', and the 'virtuoso' emerged in 17th century Europe as an elite figure with a particular interest in and appreciation of works of art and other objects of virtue. This volume brings together a set of essays on the relevance of virtue to Netherlandish art, dealing with virtue as a popular subject of visual representation and opening up fascinating links and comparisons between the special qualities accorded to revered works of art with the claims of elite artists and beholders to privileged standing. Themes addressed range from a discussion of ways in which Dutch artists and writers adapted courtly and humanist notions of martial virtue to validate still life to an analysis of political and painterly virtue in a mythological painting by Cornelisz. van Haarlem; from an examination of Goltzius's 'Tabula Cebetis' as a representation of artistic virtue to an exploration of the virtues of amateur landscape in the seventeenth century Netherlands. The volume also reconsiders the relationship between virtue and 'net' and 'rouw' painting, particularly with reference to the definition of sprezzatura in Castiglione's 'Book of the Courtier'. Or readers can compare Rubens' self-identification with virtue through humanist friendship with Jan Brueghel the Elder's reference, as a court painter, to the virtue and diligence of both his conduct and his art. Within a wide range of subject-matter and approaches, the authors share a commitment to establishing the place of virtue at the heart of Netherlandish art.
Globalization involves a profound re-ordering of our world with the proliferation everywhere of rules and transnational modes of governance. This book examines how this governance is formed, changes and stabilizes. Building on a rich and varied set of empirical cases, it explores transnational rules and regulations and the organizing, discursive and monitoring activities that frame, sustain and reproduce them. Beginning from an understanding of the powerful structuring forces that embed and form the context of transnational regulatory activities, the book scrutinizes the actors involved, how they are organized, how they interact and how they transform themselves to adapt to this new regulatory landscape. A powerful analysis of the modes and logics of transnational rule-making and rule-monitoring closes the book. This authoritative resource offers ideal reading for all academic researchers and graduate students of governance and regulation.
This book investigates the various meanings of forgetting and their ethical dimension in the Daoist classic Zhuangzi. It responds to recent scholarship in the study of the ethics of forgetting, which has only emerged within the past two decades in the wake of the widespread memory-studies of the late 20th century. This book accomplishes two goals: First, it assimilates insights from contemporary scholarship, and specifically applies Ricoeur’s three areas of ethical examinations of forgetting, to the study of the Zhuangzi. It addresses a wide range of ethical themes related to acts of forgetting, such as the meaning of well-being and healing, the issue of personal identity and relational autonomy, the norm of spontaneity, naturalness and suitability, the capacities for being empathic, altruistic and responsive to others, and the values of accommodation, receptivity and all-inclusive friendliness. Second, it places forgetfulness in the wider context of the Zhuangzi’s ethical inquiry, and offers a novel understanding of this age-old notion and its exegetic tradition, bringing them into dialogue with Western philosophy and contributing to contemporary discourse on the ethics of forgetting. The first book to present a comprehensive examination on the ethical dimension and meanings of forgetting or forgetfulness in the Daoist philosophy of the Zhuangzi, this monograph will be of interest to researchers in Asian philosophy, religion and culture, moral philosophy or ethics, the study of memory and forgetting, and comparative or cross-cultural philosophy and ethics.
A deeply original exploration of the power of spontaneity—an ancient Chinese ideal that cognitive scientists are only now beginning to understand—and why it is so essential to our well-being Why is it always hard to fall asleep the night before an important meeting? Or be charming and relaxed on a first date? What is it about a politician who seems wooden or a comedian whose jokes fall flat or an athlete who chokes? In all of these cases, striving seems to backfire. In Trying Not To Try, Edward Slingerland explains why we find spontaneity so elusive, and shows how early Chinese thought points the way to happier, more authentic lives. We’ve long been told that the way to achieve our goals is through careful reasoning and conscious effort. But recent research suggests that many aspects of a satisfying life, like happiness and spontaneity, are best pursued indirectly. The early Chinese philosophers knew this, and they wrote extensively about an effortless way of being in the world, which they called wu-wei (ooo-way). They believed it was the source of all success in life, and they developed various strategies for getting it and hanging on to it. With clarity and wit, Slingerland introduces us to these thinkers and the marvelous characters in their texts, from the butcher whose blade glides effortlessly through an ox to the wood carver who sees his sculpture simply emerge from a solid block. Slingerland uncovers a direct line from wu-wei to the Force in Star Wars, explains why wu-wei is more powerful than flow, and tells us what it all means for getting a date. He also shows how new research reveals what’s happening in the brain when we’re in a state of wu-wei—why it makes us happy and effective and trustworthy, and how it might have even made civilization possible. Through stories of mythical creatures and drunken cart riders, jazz musicians and Japanese motorcycle gangs, Slingerland effortlessly blends Eastern thought and cutting-edge science to show us how we can live more fulfilling lives. Trying Not To Try is mind-expanding and deeply pleasurable, the perfect antidote to our striving modern culture.