The Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Principles: (23 Modern Chinese Philosophy)

In The Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Principles, author Mingjun Lu seeks to construct and establish the metaphysics of Chinese morals as a formal and independent branch of learning by abstracting and systemizing the universal principles presupposed by the primal virtues and key imperatives in Daoist and Confucian ethics. Lu proposes that the metaphysical foundation of Chinese moral principles, as reinstated in this book, brings to light not only the universality of its core values and ideals but also a pivotal though hitherto neglected key to the enduring vibrancy of a civilization that has lasted several millennia.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements  Introduction  1 The Necessity of Joining Morals to Metaphysics  2 The Consequences of Joining Morals to Metaphysics  3 The Argument, Methodology, and Objective of the Project  4 Significance of the Project—Metaphysical vs. Other Readings of the Chinese Moral System  5 Plan of Study part 1 A Comparative Approach to the Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Principles 1 The First Principle in Chinese Moral Metaphysics The Law of Nature or Innate Nature  1 The First Principle in Chinese Moral Metaphysics: The Law of Nature or Innate Nature  2 The Metaphysical Foundation of Chinese Morals  3 The Morality of Innate Nature in Mencian and Aristotelian Ethics  4 The Shared Metaphysical Foundation of Good and Evil  5 Conclusion 2 The Aristotelian vs. Kantian Approach to Chinese Moral Metaphysics  1 The Aristotelian Approach to the Metaphysics of Chinese Morals  2 Problems with Mou Zongsan’s Kantian Approach to Confucian Metaphysics  3 Key Divergences between Confucian and Kantian Moral Metaphysics  4 The Kantian and Confucian Conceptions of Morality: The Deontological and the Natural  5 Conclusion 3 The Metaphysics of the Moral End and Standard in Chinese and Aristotelian Teleological Virtue Ethics  1 Aristotle’s Teleological Virtue Ethics  2 Confucian Teleological Virtue Ethics  3 Zhongyong as a Metaphysical Principle and Moral Standard  4 Zhongyong versus the Aristotelian Mean  5 Conclusion part 2 The Metaphysics of Daoist and Confucian Moral Virtues 4 Metaphysical vs. Temporal Virtue in Daoist and Confucian Morals  1 The Dao and Its Metaphysical Virtue  2 Zhuangzi on the Relation of Morals and Metaphysics  3 The Dao and Virtue in the Analects  4 Metaphysical and Temporal Virtues in the Yi Commentaries  5 Conclusion 5 The Metaphysical Foundation and Moral Cosmopolitanism of ren or Benevolence  1 Chinese and Western Moral Cosmopolitanism  2 Ren as the First Principle in Confucian and Mencian Ethics  3 Cosmopolitan Benevolence in Daoist Philosophy  4 Cosmopolitan Benevolence in Confucian and Mencian Ethics  5 The Mind of Cosmopolitan Benevolence in Neo-Confucian Philosophy  6 Benevolence and the Evil of Desire  7 Conclusion 6 Yi or Justice/Justness as a Moral, Metaphysical, and Methodological Principle  1 Original Goodness and the Dao of renyi  2 The “Grand and Vital Force of Justice” and Its Temporal Manifestation as the Dao of renyi  3 Jiyi (Accumulated Justnesses) as a Methodological Approach to Justice  4 Two Key Barriers on the Path of Yi: Desire and Self-interest  5 Conclusion 7 The Metaphysical Root and Ethical Republicanism of Chinese liyue or Ritual and Musical System  1 The liyue System and Its Moral Scheme in the Zhouli  2 The Metaphysical Foundation of the liyue System  3 The Moral Implications of liyue in Confucian Ethics  4 Liyue as an Institutionalized Means of Governance  5 The Rule of liyue and the Rule of Law  6 Chinese vs. Roman Ethical Republicanism  7 Conclusion 8 Metaphysical and Moral Knowledge in Chinese zhi or Wisdom  1 The Wisdom Obtained by xuanjian 玄鉴 (the Metaphysical Mirror)  2 Zhi 智 as Knowledge of Universality and the Innate Conscience  3 The Prudential Wisdom of zhizhi 知止 (Knowing Boundaries)  4 Conclusion part 3 The Metaphysics of Chinese Moral Imperatives 9 Confucian cheng or Truthfulness Cheng as the Dao of Heaven and the Dao of Man  1 Cheng as a Metaphysical Concept in Confucian and Daoist Philosophy  2 Cheng as a Methodological Approach to zhongyong  3 Cheng (Truthfulness) and xin (Honesty or Trustworthiness) in the Analects and Mencius  4 Cheng and Moral Cultivation in the Great Learning and Zhongyong  5 Cheng 诚 (Truthfulness) and jing 敬 (Respect)  6 Conclusion 10 The Law of Return and Self-Reflection The Freedom and Autonomy of the Confucian Self  1 The Daoist Law of Return and Its Moral Implications  2 Confucius on Self-Reflection and Self-Critique  3 The Self in Mencius’s Moral Imperatives  4 The Metaphysical Foundation of the Self in Neo-Confucian Philosophy  5 The Moral and Epistemological Freedom and Autonomy of the Confucian Self  6 The Epistemological Agency of the Reflexive and Self-Correcting Self  7 Conclusion   Epilogue References Index

About the Author :
Mingjun Lu holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Toronto. Lu is the author of Chinese-Western Comparative Metaphysics and Epistemology: A Topical Approach (Lexington Books, 2020) and The Chinese Impact upon Renaissance English Literature: A Globalization and Liberal Cosmopolitan Approach to Donne and Milton (Ashgate, 2015; Routledge, 2019).