Justice as a constellation of fairness, harmony and righteousness

Journal of Chinese Philosophy

Volumn 24, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 497-519

  Chen, Xunwu ^a  

^a PACE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 61049357438     PISSN: 03018121     EISSN: 15406253     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6253.1997.tb00192.x     Document Type: Review

References (19)

1. John Rawls, "Justice as Fairness: Political Not Metaphysical," Philosophy and Public Affair, XIV, 2 (Summer 1985).
2. Lau Tze, Tao Te Ching, included in Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1963).
3. Confucius, Analects, (Beijing: China Book Bureau, 1974)
4. Chung-Ying Cheng, Knowledge and Value: Harmony, Truth and Justice, (Taipei: LianJing Publishing House. 1986). Hereafter Cheng 1986.
5. John Rawls, Political Liberalism (New York. Columbia University Press, 1993) p. 14n.
6. cited from James Buchanan, 'Report On The Seventh East-Eest Philosophers conference, "Justice and Democracy: A Philosophical Exploration. " Philosophy East & West, 46, 3(July 1996) p. 319.
7. Chu Hsi, The Recorded Words, included in Selected Works of Chinese Philosophy, ed. Wing-Tsit Chan, (TaiBei: GiLiu Book Company, 1993).
8. Mencius, The Doctrine of Mencius, ed. & note by Jiao Tun, (Shanghai: The commercial publishing house, 1922). Jen zheng is understood in this context as a just and gong dao government because as I shall understand it, ren zheng is not only not-being totalitarian, but also a government that is fair, and that is for the people and by the people (Mencius, 1B4-5 , 4A1-4, 4A14, 7A12).
9. Question mark indicates that the so called Confucianism here de facto has deviated from the spirit of true Confucianism.
10. Tu Weiming, Confucian Thought: Selfhood as Creative Transformation, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1986).
11. Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (Princeton: Princeton UP 1963).
12. It comes from the phrase "Ming Ming De. " I take the phrase 'MingMing De" as meaning "make the highest virtue shinning," not as translated by Chan "manifest their clear character" for two reasons. First, the term 'their in Chan's translation is misplaced. In the Chinese text, the "ming de" (the bright virtue) does not refer to the virtue of the ancient persons who wished, but to the greatest virtue of the universe, of the Great Tao. Second, in both the text and the Confucian tradition, "ming ming de" is associated with "pian tian chia" (having peace in the world under the Heaven) Thus, what ming ming de concerns is not to manifest the clear character of the ancient persons (i. e. , the King), but making the highest good and virtue shining in the universe.
13. Though the original text mentions only the family, I believe that what is said of the family can be justifiably applied to other basic institutions. This text addresses itself to individual persons. And in ancient China, an individual person normally took the institutions of which s/he was a part as her/his family. Thus if a person is a an army commander, the army he belonged was also a family to him. Thus, if he wished to contribute to the order and harmony of his country, he was to regulate well the army under his command.
14. Amy Gutmann, "Communitarian Critics of Liberalism," Philosophy & Public Affair, 3(summer 1985)
15. I owe this point to Professor Thomas Scanlon of Harvard University.
16. Zheng in this context means the "original. " Zheng yi here means the original righteousness as zheng tong means the original tradition, zheng zhong means the authentic.
17. Shi Ji: Dong Zhong Chu, (The Record of History: Dong Zhong Chu).
18. Chung-ying Cheng, New Dimensions of Confucian and Neo-Confucian Philosophy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991).
19. For details of the Habermas-Rawls debate, see The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. XCII, 3 (March 1995).