Robert Cummings Neville 
The Good Is One, Its Manifestations Many [EPUB ebook] 
Confucian Essays on Metaphysics, Morals, Rituals, Institutions, and Genders

Building on his long-standing work in metaphysics and Asian philosophy, Robert Cummings Neville presents a series of essays that cumulatively articulate a contemporary, progressive Confucian position as a global philosophy. Through analysis of the metaphysical and moral traditions of Confucianism, Neville brings these traditions into the twenty-first century. According to Confucianism, rituals define most of our relations with other individuals, social institutions, and nature, and while rituals make possible the positive institutions of high human civilization, they may also lead to harmful behaviors, including racism, xenophobia, and sexism. Neville argues that the amendment of rituals that institutionalize oppression is a positive task, which should be undertaken from within a skillfully ritualized life rather than in the form of external criticism. Confucianism, in Neville’s hands, is a left-wing, progressive, liberal political philosophy, one that can address institutionalized oppression and suggest a path for moving forward.

Innehållsförteckning

Preface



1. The Good Is One, Its Manifestations Many

Ultimacy and Value

Value in Form

Ethics



2. Contemporary Confucian Cosmopolitanism

Introduction

Decision-Making

Engaging Others

Attaining Wholeness

Identity and Value

Religion and Ontological Piety

Conclusion



3. Systematic Metaphysics and the Problem of Value

Systematic Metaphysics and Scientific Reductionism

Metaphysics and Our Civilization

A Contemporary Confucian Theory of Value



4. New Projects for Chinese Philosophy

Creative First-Order Issues

Re-sorting the Canon

Global Portability

Cosmogony

Cosmology

Ritual Studies

Ritual and Culture

Ritual and Politics



5. Philosophy’s Fight between Engagement and Distance: A Confucian Resolution

Philosophy and the Axial Age

Philosophy as Distance

Philosophy as Engagement

Philosophy in the Academy

Confucians in the Academy: Scholar-Officials

Philosophical Cultivation



6. William Ernest Hocking: The First Boston Confucian

Hocking as a Boston Confucian

Zhu Xi, Science, and World Philosophy

Zhu Xi’s Metaphysics

Zhu Xi and Buddhism Compared

Zhu Xi’s Lessons for Hocking

Hocking and Pragmatism



7. Cheng Chung-ying as a Constructive Philosopher

Cheng’s Contemporary Sources

Speculative Interpretation

Interpretation of Classic Texts

System

Philosophic Truth over Interpretation

Cheng’s Challenges



8. Wu Kuang-ming as One of Three Stooges

One of Three Stooges

Wu’s Daoism

Confucian Scotism

Comparison: Daoism and Confucianism



9. Spiritual Foundations of Chinese Culture

Introduction

An Ecological Model of Religion

Religion and Spirituality Defined

Chinese Culture Intact

Chinese Culture Not Intact



10. Selfhood and Value: Pragmatism, Confucianism, and Phenomenology

Experiential Frames and Phenomenology

Interactive Experience and Ritual: The Western Contribution of Confucianism

The Self



11. Individuation and Ritual

Ritual and Xunzi

Individuation

Otherness

Ritual Abuse



12. Authority in Social Institutions, Accountability, and Credibility

Sincerity in Authority

Communitarianism versus Individualism

Perceived Credibility and Sincerity

Conditions for Credibility



13. Confucianism and Toleration

What Is Confucianism?

Toleration, In-groups, and Out-groups

Toleration and Narrative

Toleration and Personal Respect

Toleration and Harmony: The Ethical Metaphysics of Principle

Some Confucian Morals of Toleration



14. Confucian Humaneness across Social Barriers

“Love with Distinctions”

Ritual Theory

Humaneness, Ritual, and Otherness



15. Confucianism and the Feminist Revolution: Ritual Definition and the Social Construction of Gender Roles

Introduction

Nature, Society, and Persons

Ritual

Gender Roles and Rituals

Observations on Transformation



Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Om författaren

Robert Cummings Neville is Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology and Dean Emeritus of the School of Theology at Boston University. He is the author of many books, including
Ultimates,
Existence, and
Religion, a trilogy advancing a systematic philosophical theology, and
Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World, all published by SUNY Press.