Describing and analyzing the philosophical article “Virtue Ethics and Confucianism” by credible scholar Bryan W. Van Norden (professor of the Vassar College of the Chinese and Japanese Philosophy Department) from the anthology volume “Comparative Approaches to Chinese Philosophy”, it is important to note that it critically evaluates and represents the Confucianism philosophical thought. Therefore, one may suggest that the given paper is intended to reveal the key objectives of the article and draw up one’s conclusions based on them.
Bryan W. Van Norden is a specialist in Chinese philosophy; particularly he is interested in the virtue ethics and Confucianism topic, concerning moral and political thought. This article also covers the study in the sphere of the cross-tradition philosophy’s methodology. And indeed, at the beginning of his article, in the introduction part, the author points out to the reader: “In this essay, I shall sketch a comparative methodology that appeals to virtue ethics to help illuminate Confucianism” (Norden, 2003, p. 99). Norden’s work explores the ways in which Chinese philosophy’s Confucian traditions are interpreted by Western scholars with respect to the growth of Chinese discourse on the issue of human rights.
With the view to fulfill the above-established tasks, the author focuses on the works of such Chinese philosophers of the Confucianism thought as Confucius himself, Mencius and Xun Zi, and Dao – Xue School. He treats those philosophical resources as important and significant parts of global philosophical thought.
The given article covers the expressions and the rules of virtue ethics concerning the interaction between the Chinese and Western ethical philosophical thoughts. Discussing the two objections of his article, Norden represents the notion to the reader called “through thick and thin”.
Here he compares early Confucianism with Aristotelianism, Platonism, and Kantianism. Therefore, he concludes that “… Aristotelianism and Confucianism disagree significantly over many major issues” (Norden, 2003, p.100), concerning the role of the family as the part of society, the obedience, and the acknowledgment of the proper lifestyle. Those distinctions are simply explained by the factors named “thick” and “thin” by the author.
Analyzing the issue of the lexical fallacy, Norden figures out that the term “de” frequently used in the Confucianism philosophical thought’s work can be translated as the “virtue”. However, there is a certain distinction. According to the author, the term “de” at the beginning of the word represents the “ethical force that a person has, which can have a transformative effect on others” (Norden, 2003, p. 101).
Tracing the author’s idea, one may point out another important assumption recovered in the article which lays on the statement that there are no particular notions in the Classical Chinese for the illustration of the philosophical term. Some scholars, like Henry Rosemont, suggest that if there are no terms for illustration of any philosophical concept, then the concept can not exist. In the given article, Norden holds the contrary position to Rosemont’s principle, proclaiming it totally erroneous. He provides examples of the famous Ancient Greek philosopher, like Anaximander and Anaximenes, drawing the parallel between them and Chinese philosophers of Confucianism thought.
After that Norden explains the meaning of virtue ethics concerning Confucianism and Chinese philosophical thought as a whole. One may point out that the author relates this term to the phenomena of consequentialism and deontology, concerning Western debates over the given problem. Norden says that “Related to the distinction between consequentialism and deontology is the distinction between ‘argent – neutral’ and ‘argent – relative’ ethical considerations” (Norden, 2003, p. 103). Here the author also discusses the works of such famous scholars as Bernard Williams and Thomas Nages related to the issue of the interest.
In his article, Norden discusses the Confucian commitment to agent-relative prohibitions, referring to Mencius’ disciples, in which he tells about the violation of ethical principles in order to achieve some good results – “bend afoot to straighten the yard” (Mencius, cited in Norden, 2003, p. 104).
The author also refers to Confucius’s ideas about the family and hierarchical obedience, and family obligations, which are in direct proportion to ethical matters. This assumption is proved by Confucius’ doctrine of the “graded love” – the agent-relative obligations. According to Confucius to be “upright” for the son and father means the situation when “…fathers cover up for their sons, and sons cover up for their fathers…” (Confucius, cited in Norden, 2003, p.104).
Following this Norden describes such components of the Confucianism Chinese philosophical thought as “flourishing” and “the virtues”. In order to explain the depth of the term “flourishing” to the reader, the author provides the synonym notions of it established by Aristotle – “eudaimonia” in Greek and by Aquinas – “beatitudo” on Latin. He generalizes all of the above-provided facts in order to draw up the conclusion concerning the assumption of the virtues, which are simply appear to be the steady dispositions of feeling and thinking processes, the possession of which makes a great contribution to the flourishing life’s leading, the main objective of the Confucianism.
Works Cited
Norden, B. “Virtue Ethics and Confucianism,” for Bo Mou, ed, Comparative Approaches to Chinese Philosophy, London: Ashgate Publishing, 2003, pp. 99-121.