Two Rival Interpretations of Xunzi's Views on the Basis of Morality

This essay examines the textual evidence and arguments for two rival ways of interpreting Xunzi's accounts of the origins and normative bases of ritual and the Way: a human-centered line of interpretation which maintains that the moral order constituted by the Confucian Way and its ritual tradi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Slater, Michael R. 1976- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2017]
In: Journal of religious ethics
Year: 2017, Volume: 45, Issue: 2, Pages: 363-379
Further subjects:B Heaven
B Morality
B Confucian Ethics
B Ritual
B Confucianism
B Xunzi
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This essay examines the textual evidence and arguments for two rival ways of interpreting Xunzi's accounts of the origins and normative bases of ritual and the Way: a human-centered line of interpretation which maintains that the moral order constituted by the Confucian Way and its ritual tradition was the artificial creation of a group of ancient sages, and a Heaven-centered line of interpretation which maintains, in contrast, that those same sages based the Confucian Way and its ritual tradition on a cosmic moral order that they discovered already existing in the world. It argues that the weight of textual evidence best supports a version of the former view, and shows that three representative versions of the latter view do not withstand critical scrutiny.
ISSN:1467-9795
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religious ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jore.12181