The Vulnerability of Integrity in Early Confucian Thought

The Vulnerability of Integrity in Early Confucian Thought is about the necessity and value of vulnerability in human experience. In this book, Michael Ing brings early Chinese texts into dialogue with questions about the ways in which meaningful things are vulnerable to powers beyond our control, and more specifically how relationships with meaningful others might compel tragic actions. Vulnerability is often understood as an undesirable state; invulnerability is usually preferred. While recognizing the need to reduce vulnerability in some situations, The Vulnerability of Integrity demonstrates that vulnerability is pervasive in human experience, and enables values such as morality, trust, and maturity. Vulnerability is also the source of the need for care for oneself and for others. The possibility of tragic loss fosters compassion for others as we strive to care for each other. This book demonstrates the plurality of Confucian thought on this topic. The first two chapters describe traditional and contemporary arguments for the invulnerability of integrity in early Confucian thought. The remainder of the book focuses on neglected voices in the tradition, which argue that our concern for others can and should lead to us compromise our own integrity. In such cases, we are compelled to do something transgressive for the sake of others, and our integrity is jeopardized in the transgressive act.

About the Author :
Michael D.K. Ing is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University, and the author of The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism (Oxford University Press). He studies Confucianism with a particular emphasis on ethics and ritual from the 5th century BCE to 2nd century CE. He graduated from Harvard University with a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations in 2011.

Review :
"The book is well argued, well presented, and a pleasure to read The volume is an important contribution to the discussion of ancient Chinese thought and contemporary Confucian ethics."--Barbara Hendrischke, Religious Studies Review "[S]tudents of Chinese philosophy will benefit from considering its methodological stance, and readers of other academic as well as political and social circles would find in The Vulnerability of Integrity a culturally-unique reiteration of a plea, shared by several contemporary virtue ethicists, for the recognition of guilt and regret as markers not of moral failure but of moral stature."--Sharon Sanderovitch, Reading Religion "The Vulnerability of Integrity in Early Confucian Thought is an excellent addition to a growing number of works that draw on Confucian sources to enrich the contemporary ethical discourse. Ing's strengths as a thinker and a writer allow him to render the complex moral concepts and dilemmas described in classical Confucian sources intelligible to modern readers who are not necessarily well-acquainted with this tradition His efforts in making the works of early Chinese thinkers accessible to ethicists that are interested in learning about Confucianism but do not have the training to read the original texts render this book invaluable and deserving of the highest praise."--Ori Tavor, JAAR "Michael Ing has emerged as a leader in the movement to broaden our understanding of Confucianism to better reflect its diversity of ethical, psychological, and spiritual views. In this new book he powerfully demonstrates that many early Confucians accept the possibility of irresolvable value conflicts, and on this basis explore the valuable facets of vulnerability-explorations from which we can still learn today."--Stephen C. Angle, Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies and Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University "This book is a thoughtful and inspired exploration of important philosophical concepts such as vulnerability, trust, courage, care, and compassion in the context of Confucian ritual practice. In examining how moral agents use rituals to work through situations of conflict and potential harm, Michael Ing shows how individuals arrive at an optimal degree of vulnerability, one that enhances our lives through meaningful interactions with others. With persuasive clarity, Ing demonstrates how formulations on ancient Confucian rituals advance our contemporary understandings in ritual studies and the ethics of care."--Erica F. Brindley, Professor, Asian Studies and History, Pennsylvania State University "Michael Ing continues to make his singular contribution to Confucian moral psychology at a time when such fresh insights into the human experience are bringing Confucian philosophy into the mainstream of the ethical discourse. Concern for achieving ritual propriety in one's roles and relations works in complex ways to promote order and elegance in the communal living of irreducibly relational persons. This Confucian ethic of ritual, in contrast to the integrity provided by 'rule' or 'law, ' brings with it a degree of flexibility, adjustment, and innovation, but it is also a source of moral ambiguity and a personal vulnerability that has both positive and negative consequences for the Confucian project of personal cultivation."--Roger T. Ames, Humanities Chair Professor, Peking University