Neo–Confucianism: Metaphysics, Mind, and Morality

"JeeLoo Liu is a gifted philosopher and an elegant writer. This book is a splendid introduction to Neo–Confucian ideas about the metaphysics of morality and related issues. The personalities are presented vividly and the ideas explained thoroughly. Liu succeeds in her goal of showing analytical philosophers how to engage with the richness of Chinese philosophy."

John Perry, Stanford University

"Philosophically sophisticated and beautifully written, this book is especially needed in the study of Chinese philosophy. It presents Chinese philosophy as philosophy, not just as Chinese ideas. JeeLoo Liu brings together neo–Confucian thought and the latest ideas in analytic philosophy with meticulous care. Written with philosophical rigor, extensive scholarship, and crisp exposition, the book is accessible to undergraduates, and provides them with diverse resources for further reading and investigation. An elegant introduction to neo–Confucianism."

Kam Por Yu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Neo–Confucianism: Metaphysics, Mind, and Morality engages the latest global scholarship to offer an articulate and penetrating analysis of Chinese philosophy in the Song–Ming era from the eleventh to seventeenth centuries and its application to Western philosophy. Chapters contextualize neo–Confucianism for contemporary analytic philosophy through a rigorous, cross–cultural approach to today′s most fundamental philosophical questions and debates. Divided into three parts, the volume outlines the metaphysical foundations of neo–Confucian moral philosophy and examines the relationship between human nature, human mind, and morality. Grounded in textual evidence from Chinese primary sources, the book incorporates a wealth of additional research from both Chinese and English secondary literature, and examines the ideas of eight major neo–Confucian philosophers, from Zhou Dunyi and Cheng–Zhu to Zhang Zai and Wang Fuzhi.

An accessible yet authoritative narrative by an esteemed scholar of Chinese philosophy, Neo–Confucianism: Metaphysics, Mind, and Morality presents an incisive and philosophically–engaging treatment of neo–Confucian thought and its relevance to the contemporary world.

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Part I Neo –Confucian Metaphysics: From Cosmology to Ontology 29

1 From Nothingness to Infinity: The Origin of Zhou Dunyi s Cosmology 31

2 The Basic Constituent of Things: Zhang Zai s Monist Theory of Qi 61

3 Cheng Zhu School s Normative Realism: The Principle of the Universe 85

4 Wang Fuzhi s Theory of Principle Inherent in Qi 103

Part II Human Nature, Human Mind, and the Foundation of Human Morality 123

5 Zhu Xi s Internal Moral Realism: Human Nature Is Principle 125

6 Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming s Doctrine of Mind Is Principle 139

7 Wang Fuzhi s Theory of Daily Renewal of Human Nature and His Moral Psychology 157

Part III The Cultivation of Virtue, Moral Personality, and the Construction of a Moral World 181

8 Zhang Zai on Cultivating Moral Personality 183

9 The Cheng Brothers Globaist Virtue Ethics and Virtue Epistemology 205

10 Zhu Xi s Methodology for Cultivating Sagehood: Moral Cognitivism and Ethical Rationalism 227

11 Wang Yangming s Intuitionist Model of Innate Moral Sense and Moral Reflexivism 245

12 Constructing a Moral World: Wang Fuzhi s Social Sentimentalism 265

References 285

Index 301

JeeLoo Liu is Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Fullerton. She is the author of An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy: From Ancient Philosophy to Chinese Buddhism (Wiley–Blackwell 2006), co–editor of Consciousness and the Self (2012), and co–editor of Nothingness in Asian Philosophy (2014). She is currently the Executive Director of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy.