An epistemic case for confucian democracy

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between democratic participation and the well-being of the people-a fundamental aim of Confucian government. It argues that although the value of democratic participation for people's moral cultivation may be dubious (as suggested recently by Sungmoon Kim), democratic participation is key to meeting other salient aspects of people's wellbeing. Drawing on developments in Western epistemic analyses of democracy, this paper shows that the complexity of political issues in developed countries makes democracy an important decision-making process to enhance the wellbeing of most of the members of society.

Service, reciprocity, and remedy: From Confucian meritocracy to Confucian democracy

“…In this paper, my focus is not so much on Confucian democracy’s epistemic credentials but on the Confucian arguments for political meritocracy based on service and reciprocity. As far as the epistemic dimension of Confucian democracy is concerned, I generally agree with Ziliotti (2020). I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for pressing me to clarify the scope of this paper.…”

Breaking the Mold: Normative Hybridity as the Key to Contemporary “Non-Western” Political Theorizing

“…For instance, Angle and Slote (2013) and Van Norden (2007) argue that Confucian ethics is a form of virtue ethics. 16 Despite the originality of this proposal, I believe such a legislative system would have significant epistemic limitations in practice and these limitations can undermine the performance of the bicameral system in nonideal situations (Ziliotti 2023).…”