Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy

Description

In this book Bryan W. Van Norden examines early Confucianism as a form of virtue ethics and Mohism, an anti-Confucian movement, as a version of consequentialism. The philosophical methodology is analytic, in that the emphasis is on clear exegesis of the texts and a critical examination of the philosophical arguments proposed by each side. Van Norden shows that Confucianism, while similar to Aristotelianism in being a form of virtue ethics, offers different conceptions of 'the good life', the virtues, human nature, and ethical cultivation. Mohism is akin to Western utilitarianism in being a form of consequentialism, but distinctive in its conception of the relevant consequences and in its specific thought-experiments and state-of-nature arguments. Van Norden makes use of the best research on Chinese history, archaeology, and philology. His text is accessible to philosophers with no previous knowledge of Chinese culture and to Sinologists with no background in philosophy.

Bryan W. Van Norden is associate professor in both the philosophy and Chinese and Japanese departments at Vassar College. He has edited and contributed to Confucius and the Analects: New Essays and Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy. A Fulbright Fellow, he has also received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

'Brian Van Norden has made a remarkable and thought provoking contribution ... I strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Chinese philosophy and comparative philosophy.' Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy