“…In the African and Chinese conceptions, this is not the case. The after-life is often understood to be a reflection and a continuation of one's own life on Earth and, indeed, a place where suffering can exist (PERKINS 2014;MBITI 1990).…”
Section: Towards a Sino-african Comparative Philosophy Of Religionmentioning
In this article, we will make the case for an intercultural philosophy of religion with a special focus on interculturality between Chinese and African philosophies. We will provide an overview of the kind of intercultural philosophy that has already been undertaken between the East and the South and point out that a philosophy of religion has been left out. We will then make the case for a global philosophy of religion approach and why Chinese and African philosophies of religion should engage in philosophical interchanges. We will then highlight some directions for carrying out such a philosophy and explain why the problem of evil may be better addressed from an intercultural perspective.
“…In the African and Chinese conceptions, this is not the case. The after-life is often understood to be a reflection and a continuation of one's own life on Earth and, indeed, a place where suffering can exist (PERKINS 2014;MBITI 1990).…”
Section: Towards a Sino-african Comparative Philosophy Of Religionmentioning
In this article, we will make the case for an intercultural philosophy of religion with a special focus on interculturality between Chinese and African philosophies. We will provide an overview of the kind of intercultural philosophy that has already been undertaken between the East and the South and point out that a philosophy of religion has been left out. We will then make the case for a global philosophy of religion approach and why Chinese and African philosophies of religion should engage in philosophical interchanges. We will then highlight some directions for carrying out such a philosophy and explain why the problem of evil may be better addressed from an intercultural perspective.
“…In the first passage, “retaining one's heart‐mind” is to keep one's natural, authentic self, avoiding being alienated by the external world. As Mencius says in other places, one must maintain one's “good heart‐mind” ( liangxin 良心) or “unmoved heart‐mind” ( budongxin 不動心) which should not be coerced, lost, or destroyed like the trees and their sprouts in Mount Ox (6A8, 2A2; Perkins, 2014, pp. 145–47).…”
Section: Knowing and Standing On Heaven's Mandate: Classical Confucian Reflections On Individual Existencementioning
The belief in heaven's mandate (tianming 天命) in earlier documents referred to divine‐ethical sanctions of political rulers. It later developed multiple implications such as an individual's destiny or fate and became one of the most fundamental concepts in Chinese intellectual and cultural history. In modern times, this concept has received long‐lasting attention in the field of Chinese philosophy, and almost all major scholars have more or less been involved in discussions and debates, especially on the topic of the classical Confucian conception of heaven's mandate. Their discussions on this topic have largely focused on two major controversies: (i) whether early Confucians view heaven's mandate as prescriptive ethical command or descriptive amoral fate, and (ii) whether their attitude toward heaven's mandate is voluntarist or fatalistic. While this scholarship has been fruitful and insightful, it has continued for almost a century with certain variants. Therefore, it is time to address this topic with new approaches and hermeneutic horizons. In this essay, I propose a new approach and horizon to viewing the classical Confucian conception of heaven's mandate as their reflections on individual existence and self‐realization under the constraints of mandate or destiny. I examine the texts associated with Confucius and Mencius such as the Analects and the Mencius, as well as some recently unearthed texts, to suggest that early Confucians accommodate individual initiative and self‐determination of life choices through their conceptualization of heaven's mandate. To them, the vocabulary of heaven's mandate empowers individuals, especially through situating their places in society and the cosmos. By knowing and standing firmly on one's mandate or destiny, the individual not only realizes the value of their existence but also goes beyond the ultimate destiny of death. This fresh reading of heaven's mandate is grounded in the context of the development of Confucian ideas in the early period and presents an optimistic vision of Confucian humanism.
“…Heaven and Earth appear to be closer to the Way than humans, and they are often referred to as embodying its principles (Chapters 5 and 7). However, even Heaven and Earth do not always comply with the principle of ziran (Perkins, , p. 113), as in Chapter 23: 希言自然,故飄風不終朝,驟雨不終日。天地。天地尚不能久,而況於人乎故從事於道者。( Laozi 23A/8/9).To speak seldom is natural. Thus, a gusty wind cannot last for the whole morning, and a sudden downpour cannot last for the whole day.…”
Section: Meaning Of the “Vessels”mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As the two above tables have shown (Level I), such conjecture was indeed justified. As for the meaning of the two terms, it was important to see that it is this ability to perform a specific task that makes the “uncarved wood” and “vessels” opposed notions (Perkins, , p. 110) and not considerations of “naturalness” and “artifice” that seem unrelated to them. It also became clear that the transition between the “uncarved wood” and the “vessels” is described in terms of “dispersing” ( san 散; Level I in Tables and ).…”
In this article, I argue that the Laozi 老子 offers a variety of cosmogenic accounts, including the one expressed by means of the artisan metaphors of “uncarved wood” (pu 樸), “vessels” (qi 器), and “cutting” (zhi 制). These metaphors and the images related to them often appeared in the given context in ancient Chinese literature depicting the physical emergence of the world as a process of progressive differentiation out of the original state of “chaos.” Thus, this account ultimately served as a cosmic justification for the establishment of distinctions and hierarchy within human society. However, as used in the Laozi, the artisan metaphors promulgate a type of social hierarchy that is characteristically informed by the values of ziran 自然 and wuwei 無為. My argumentation goes against the common tendency of Western scholars to regard the notions of craft appearing in the Laozi as relating exclusively to human activities, connoting “artifice,” that is, as detrimental to the “natural” run of the Way. By referring to the most prominent traditional commentaries of the work, I argue that this view was supported only marginally, if at all, in early China and that its emergence appears to be a reaction to and a rejection of the initial Western interpretation of the same terms, one that was heavily influenced by the Christian worldview.
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