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Philosophers of the Warring States is an anthology of new
translations of essential readings from the classical texts of
early Chinese philosophy. It includes the Analects of Confucius,
Meng Zi (Mencius), Xun Zi, Mo Zi, Lao Zi (Dao De Jing), Zhuang Zi,
and Han Fei Zi, as well as short chapters on the Da Xue and the
Zhong Yong. Pedagogically organized, it offers philosophically
sophisticated annotations and commentaries as well as an extensive
glossary explaining key philosophical concepts in detail. The
translations are designed to be accurate yet accessible, with the
goal of opening up these complex but difficult texts to modern
readers without prior training in Chinese thought.
Recent scholarship has framed early Confucians as just war
theorists with relatively permissive criteria for the just use of
violence. Lead Them with Virtue: A Confucian Alternative to War
makes the case that such interpretations conflict with what Mencius
and Xunzi were trying to do. Kurtis Hagen argues that they both
strove to prevent war by contrasting the situations of their day
with idealized versions of the semi-mythic activities of
sage-kings, which represent appropriate use of the military. These
stories imply support for the offensive use of the military only
when actual war-with its characteristic horrors-would not ensue.
Following this logic, military interventions are just only in
circumstances that do not actually occur. Confucians advocate,
instead, a long-term strategy of ameliorating unjust circumstances
by leveraging the credibility and influence that stems from
consistently practicing genuinely benevolent governance. Passages
that imply pacifistic readings of these texts are routinely
dismissed by scholars as too naive to be taken seriously. Hagen
argues that the relatively pacifistic position implied by these
passages is not in fact naive, but is rather reasonable, and indeed
should be supported, at least by contemporary Confucians.
In a historical moment when cross-cultural communication proves
both necessary and difficult, the work of comparative philosophy is
timely. Philosophical resources for building a shared future marked
by vitality and collaborative meaning-making are in high demand.
Taking note of the present global philosophical situation, this
collection of essays critically engages the scholarship of Roger T.
Ames, who for decades has had a central role in the evolution of
comparative and nonwestern philosophy. With a reflective
methodology that has produced creative translations of key Chinese
philosophical texts, Ames-in conjunction with notable collaborators
such as D.C. Lau, David Hall, and Henry Rosemont Jr.-has brought
China's philosophical traditions into constructive cross-cultural
dialogue on numerous ethical and social issues that we face today.
The volume opens with two parts that share overlapping concerns
about interpretation and translation of nonwestern texts and
traditions. Parts III and IV - "Process Cosmology" and
"Epistemological Considerations" - mark the shift in comparative
projects from the metaphilosophical and translational stage to the
more traditionally philosophical stage. Parts V and VI - "Confucian
Role Ethics" and "Classical Daoism" - might best be read as Chinese
contributions to philosophical inquiry into living well or "ethics"
broadly construed. Lastly, Part VII takes Amesian comparative
philosophy in "Critical Social and Political Directions,"
explicitly drawing out the broader dimensions of social
constitution and the ideal of harmony. The contributors-scholars
working in philosophy, religious studies, and Asian studies-pursue
lines of inquiry opened up by the work of Roger Ames, and their
chapters both clarify his ideas and push them in new directions.
They survey the field of Chinese philosophy as it is taking shape
in the wake of Ames's contributions and as it carries forward a
global conversation on the future of humanity.
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