The Ways of Confucianism

David S. Nivison, The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy, edited with an introduction by Bryan W. Van Norden (La Salle, Il.: Open Court Press, 1996). Paperback: $19.95. Hardcover: $46.95. ISBN: 0-8126- 9340-X (Paper), ISBN: 0-8126-9339-6 (Cloth).

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Confucianism is one of the most influential philosophical traditions in the world, with profound and challenging insights on human nature, virtue, ethical cultivation and the foundations of both morality and civilization. In this collection of essays, most never before published, David S. Nivison presents nuanced and subtle interpretations of key thinkers from over two thousand years in the Confucian movement, ranging from Confucius himself, through his early proponents, Mencius and Xunzi, and on to medieval and late imperial Confucians, including Wang Yangming, Dai Zhen and Zhang Xuecheng.

Critics and even some fans of Confucianism at times present the tradition as a dry and monolithic movement. In contrast, Nivison brings out the exciting variety within Confucianism, manifested in often hotly contested debates over key issues: Is human nature good or evil? Does knowledge guarantee right action, or can humans do what is wrong when they know what is right? What role should teachers, classic texts, and our own moral intuitions play in ethical cultivation?

In elucidating these issues, Nivison brings to bear a rare combination of skills in both sinology and the Western philosophical tradition. He expertly wields the methodological tools of both classical philology and Anglo-American philosophy to weave a fascinating account of how Confucians have grappled with deep human issues, responded to their intellectual rivals (both inside and outside Confucianism), and evolved.

Nivison's essays will meet the high standards of specialists, yet they are also very accessible to the general reader. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Chinese philosophy, or ethics in general.

Praise for The Ways of Confucianism

The essays collected in this book are together an extraordinary achievement both in scholarship and in philosophy. David Nivison not only greatly enriches our knowledge of one set of Chinese philosophical traditions; he also shows us how familiar problems in Western ethics are cast in a new light by drawing upon the resources of Chinese philosophy. This is an exciting and indispensable book.
Alasdair MacIntyre
Professor of Philosophy, Duke University
Author of After Virtue

Nivison presents the Chinese philosophical texts he discusses with great clarity and insight, so that not only experts but also philosophers who aren't specialists in the field will be able to learn from this volume. Nivison's decision to elucidate central Chinese moral concepts by beginning with their roots in the early archaeological period, as manifested in oracle bones and bronzes, is particularly helpful . . . .
Eleanore Stump
Professor of Philosophy
St. Louis University

Professor Nivison is a "philosopher's philosopher" in Chinese studies. His sustained intellectual effort to think through the ethical implications of the Mencian project in Confucian humanism sets high analytical standards for students of Chinese thought. His elegantly crafted essays are a source of inspiration for reflective minds in Chinese intellectual history, Asian and comparative religion, and moral philosophy.
Tu Wei-ming
Professor, East Asian Languages
Harvard University
...this luminous, erudite volume is indispensable to students of Chinese thought and comparative philosophy.
Anthony C. Yu
Professor, Divinity School
University of Chicago

The Ways of Confucianism is an important book for creating a world-wide philosophical public within which both Chinese and Western philosophical ideas are viable resources for contemporary reflection.
Robert C. Neville
Director, School of Theology
Boston University

Front Cover

Introduction (by B.W. Van Norden)

Investigations in Chinese Philosophy

"Virtue" in Bone and Bronze
The Paradox of 'Virtue'
Can Virtue Be Self-Taught?
Golden Rule Arguments in Chinese Moral Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy

Motivation and Moral Action in Mencius
Philosophical Voluntarism in Fourth-Century China
Two Roots or One?
Problems in the Mengzi: 6A3-5
Problems in the Mengzi: 7A17
On Translating Mencius
Xunzi on "Human Nature"

Recent Centuries

The Philosophy of Wang Yangming
Moral Decision in Wang Yangming: The Problem of Chinese "Existentialism"
The Philosophy of Zhang Xuecheng
Two Kinds of "Naturalism": Dai Zhen and Zhang Xuecheng

The companion volume to The Ways of Confucianism is a collection of essays by leading scholars in philosophy and Sinology on the work of David Nivison: Chinese Language, Thought and Culture: Nivison and His Critics, edited by P.J. Ivanhoe. It is also available from Open Court Press.