Growing Moral: A Confucian Guide to Life

Angle, Stephen C. 2002. Growing Moral: A Confucian Guide to Life. New York: Oxford University Press.

 

This book explores Confucianism as a way of life. (chap.9) It “suggest how to live as a

Confucian today.” (chap.1)

 

Chap 3 Being filial

“filial piety is an attitude of love and respect for one’s parents, feelings that are natural to have (at least to a degree, and at least partly in response to loving concern from one’s parents), and filial piety is expressed both through characteristic actions and in one’s demeanor.”

The question of bad parents. Kongzi’s discussion of “remonstrance”.

 

Chap 6 Reading in the right way

It notes how Kongzi interprets The Odes (Shijing): “Find inspiration in the Odes.”

“Reading in the right way will lead us to grow as moral beings, inspired to be closer to the sages, in part because of seeing the deep similarities between the sages and ourselves.” [这种阅读的解释学也和解释圣人、学习圣人有关]

 

Chap 10

It talks about Confucian political engagement.

inner sage, outer king. – “outer” action is a necessary part of the process of “inner” development.

“Resistance is one type of engagement—and at least on the surface its rejection of the existing “order” seems to make it incompatible with Greater Learning-engagement in one or both of two ways. On the one hand, one might resist the substance of a traditional order; on the other hand, one might carry out one’s resistance in a “disorderly” (at least in terms of traditional norms) manner.” [抵抗问题,公民抵抗问题?civil disobedience]

HK 2019 social movement. “In this context, the Confucian theorist and University of Hong Kong professor Joseph Chan published an op-ed in a local paper asking what Kongzi means when he says: “When the Way prevails, show yourself; when the Way is lost, conceal yourself.””

 

Chap 11

“there are important ideas within Confucianism that have a religious resonance, most obviously “tian,”… This is not based on an unreasoned “leap,” like certain versions of “faith,” but has a basis in one’s own experiences (as well as what one has heard and read about the experiences of others),…” [舜的研究,可参考]

 

Chap 12

“some forms of pretending—forcing oneself to act correctly, which I will call acting “conscientiously”—are valuable.” [可纳入真理问题的讨论:虚假]

“Confucians are also deeply worried about hypocrisy.”

“Confucians have a technical term that they use to identify when someone is not faking: “sincerity.””

 

Chap 14

It refers to the case about Shun and Xiang. The author’s explanation: “Shun’s response to these seemingly conflicting demands is exemplary because he both notices all the different dimensions and is able to arrive at the banishment-and-also-enfeoffment solution that does justice to all of them. This is what I mean by harmonizing all the relevant dimensions of value.”

“…even harmonious responses to conflicts often should include emotional recognition that something unfortunate has occurred. […] sorrow that is completely sincere, that manifests complete integrity with one’s situation,…” [Good point!还涉及王阳明的材料。]

 

Chap 15

Sagehood in Greek philosophy and Christianity.

“The example of sagely behavior that I have most often referred to is probably Shun’s interactions with his family. […] Shun’s continued love for them is thus anything but ordinary.”

 

Chap 16

“The death of anyone you know ruptures the network of relationships that helps to define who you are. When you share experiences, values, and even tensions with others this gives significance to your actions—and so when someone is gone, it is as if part of yourself has been lost as well.” [Other’s death is the partial loss of myself.]

 

Chap 17 Progressive Confucianism

“Confucianism is an evolving tradition.”

 

Chap 18 Gender

Confucianism and feminism.

“…the late-14th-century Empress Renxiaowen (1362–1407 CE). The empress authored a text called Teachings for the Inner Court that aims to instruct young women, particularly those aspiring to a role in the palace, how to cultivate their characters and manage their behavior.[…] women can be sages.”