Humanizm konfucjański. Zarys problematyki

Sławomir Nowosad

doi:10.25167/so.5079

Published: 2023-12-28

Vol. 23 (2023)

Confucian Humanism: An Outline

Sławomir Nowosad

Studia Oecumenica

Section: Dialogi międzyreligijne i procesy integracyjne

https://doi.org/10.25167/so.5079

Abstract

The paper presents several principal elements of humanism as seen in the light of Confucian philosophy. The author refers to Confucius’s Analects and to two other leading proponents of Confucianism – Mencius and Xunzi, as well as to contemporary relevant literature. The text first focuses on the understanding of human nature that has been assessed differently – as good or bad but always subject to the process of self-cultivation. Only the man that deserves the name of a gentleman (junzi) reaches full personhood. Man as a person is perceived not so much in terms of rationality and self-consciousness but rather as a human being with high moral faculties – fully developed humaneness (benevolence), righteousness and a strong moral will. In the Confucian humanist vision man is a naturally social being that is never separated from society and the whole reality, particularly embedded in and formed by the family. Due to the absence of a creation myth Confucianism is regarded as a secular concept of human life though not totally deprived of a transcendent dimension however specifically comprehended.

Keywords:

Humanism, Confucianism, morality, man, human nature, person, social life, Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Sławomir Nowosad, Social implications of Buddhist ethics , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 19 (2019)
Piotr Jaskóła, Zdzisław Józef Kijas, Sławomir Nowosad, Recenzje i omówienia , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 18 (2018)
Sławomir Nowosad, War – Just or Justifiable? A Christian Orthodox Perspective , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 16 (2016)
Sławomir Nowosad, Oliver O'Donovan. 2017. Entering into Rest. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 19 (2019)
Sławomir Nowosad, Paul Avis. 2016. The Vocation of Anglicanism. London-New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 19 (2019)
Sławomir Nowosad, Ágúst Ingvar Magnússon. 2019. Kierkegaard and Eastern Orthodox Thought: A Comparative Philosophical Analysis. Piscataway: Gorgias Press 2019. XI+307 , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 19 (2019)
Sławomir Nowosad, (Rec.) Gerald McKenny, Biotechnology, Human Nature, and Christian Ethics, New York: Cambridge University Press 2018, XIX+214 s. ISBN 978-1-1083-8591-6 , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 20 (2020)
Sławomir Nowosad, Non-Catholic Reactions to Veritatis Splendor , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 15 (2015)
Sławomir Nowosad, (Rec.) Charles Erlandson, Orthodox Anglican Identity: The Quest for Unity in a Diverse Religious Tradition, Eugene: Pickwick Publications 2020, XIX+204 s. ISBN 978-1-5326-7825-7. , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 21 (2021)
Sławomir Nowosad, [Rec.] Frank C. Senn (red.), Protestant Spiritual Traditions, t. 1–2, Eugene: Cascade Books 2020, t. 1: XIII + 281 s., ISBN 978-1725256866; t. 2: VIII + 272 s., ISBN 978-1532698293 , Studia Oecumenica: Vol. 23 (2023)

1 2 > >>

Download files

pdf (Język Polski)

Citation rules

Nowosad, S. (2023). Confucian Humanism: An Outline. Studia Oecumenica, 23, 267–281. https://doi.org/10.25167/so.5079

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

Bary Wm. Theodore de. 2000. Asian Values and Human Rights: A Confucian Communitarian Perspective. Cambridge [USA]-London: Harvard University Press.
Google Scholar

Brownell Susan. 2008. Physical Culture, Sports and the Olympics. W The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture. Red. Kam Louie, 339-360. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521863223.017
Google Scholar

Chan Wing-Tsit. 1963. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar

Chang Chi Yun. 2013. Confucianism: A Modern Interpretation. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/8574
Google Scholar

Cheng Chung-Ying. 2004. A Theory of Confucian Selfhood: Self-Cultivation and Free Will in Confucian Philosophy. W Confucian Ethics: A Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and Community. Red. Kwong-loi Shun, David B. Wong, 124-147. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606960.008
Google Scholar

El Amine Loubna. 2015. Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation. Princeton-Oxford: Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691163048.001.0001
Google Scholar

Feminist Encounters with Confucius. 2016. Red. Mathew A. Fouts, Sor-hoon Tan. Leiden-Boston: Brill.
Google Scholar

King Ambrose Yeo-chi. 2018. China’s Great Transformation: Selected Essays on Confucianism, Modernization and Democracy. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/book58632
Google Scholar

Konfucjusz. 2021. Dialogi, Warszawa: Hachette Polska.
Google Scholar

Li Chenyang. 2008. “The Philosophy of Harmony in Classical Confucianism”, Philosophy Compass, 3 (3) : 423-435. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2008.00141.x
Google Scholar

Liu Xiaogan. 2019. The Goodness in Human Nature: New Perspectives on Mencian Theory. W New Life for Old Ideas: Chinese Philosophy in the Contemporary World. Red. Yanming An, Brian Bruya, 183-224. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvzsmbt4.9
Google Scholar

Mencius [The Book of Mencius]. 2009. Red. Philip J. Ivanhoe. New York: Columbia University Press.
Google Scholar

Mote Frederick W. 1971. Intellectual Foundations of China. New York: Knopf.
Google Scholar

Mou Bo. 2009. Chinese Philosophy A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Google Scholar

Nowosad Sławomir. 2017. „Podstawowe pojęcia etyczne konfucjanizmu”. Roczniki Teologiczne, 64 (3) : 51-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rt.2017.64.3-4
Google Scholar

Ro Young-Chan. 1986. “The Place of Ethics in the Christian Tradition and the Confucian Tradition: A Methodological Prolegomenon”, Religious Studies 22 (1) : 51-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412500018035
Google Scholar

Rosemont Henry, Jr. 2004. Whose Democracy? Which Rights? A Confucian Critique of Modern Western Liberalism. W Confucian Ethics: A Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and Community. Red. Kwong-loi Shun, David B. Wong, 49-71. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606960.005
Google Scholar

Shun Kwong-loi. 2004. Conception of the Person in Early Confucian Thought. W Confucian Ethics: A Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and Community. Red. Kwong-loi Shun, David B. Wong, 183-199. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606960.010
Google Scholar

Sim May. 2007. Remastering Morals with Aristotle and Confucius, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497841
Google Scholar

Surie Poonam. 2020. China: Confucius in the Shadows. Abingdon: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003048244
Google Scholar

Tsai Daniel Fu-Chang. 2001. “How Should Doctors Approach Patients? A Confucian Reflection on Personhood”, Journal of Medical Ethics 27 (1) : 44-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.27.1.44
Google Scholar

Wang Yueqing, Bao Qinggang, Guan Guoxing. 2020. History of Chinese Philosophy Through Its Key Terms. Nanjing: Nanjing University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2572-8
Google Scholar

Weiming Tu, Okeda Daisaku. 2011. New Horizons in Eastern Humanism: Buddhism, Confucianism and the Quest for Global Peace. London-New York: I.B. Tauris. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755625635
Google Scholar

Wong David B. 2004. Rights and Community in Confucianism. W Confucian Ethics: A Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and Community. Red. Kwong-loi Shun, David B. Wong, 31-48. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511606960.004
Google Scholar

Wong Wai-ying. 2017. Confucian Ethics in Western Discourse. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Google Scholar

Xin Ru. 2007. “The Human Being in Chinese Civilization”, Diogenes 54 (3) : 69-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192107080716
Google Scholar

Yao Xinzhong. 2000. Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar

Zehou Li. 2010. The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Google Scholar