Confucianism and American Pragmatism

Abstract

One area of the East-West comparative philosophy that has received a good deal of attention in recent years is the relationship between Confucianism and American Pragmatism. Scholars engaging these traditions have argued that they are mutually elucidating and mutually reinforcing. Often, upon locating resonance(s) between a Confucian philosopher and an American Pragmatist philosopher, scholars combine the conceptual resources of the two, developing a Confucian-Pragmatist hybrid concept or theory. Some critics have been skeptical of the alleged compatibility between Confucian and American Pragmatism, holding that proper understanding of Confucian and American Pragmatist traditions reveals an unbridgeable incommensurability between the two. This article describes the state of the comparative scholarship on Confucianism and American Pragmatism, identifying thematic trends and areas of debate. In addition, some lines of scholarship that might augment this area of comparative philosophy are suggested.

Thoreau and the Confucian Four Books

“…I agree with Ross that Confucius and Thoreau both believe that governing should be guided by virtue. Indeed, this is the view I presented when proposing “an alternate reading—one more compatible with Thoreau's own thought…if a state is governed by the principles of reason, the government ought to feel shame at the presence of poverty and misery among its people” (2017, p. 43). In the context of his quoting Confucius in “Resistance to Civil Government,” however, Thoreau refers not to what those who govern ought to feel or do, but to what an individual citizen—and hypothetically, what he, Thoreau—ought to feel or do in the midst of a corrupt government, asserting his position in opposition to that which he ascribes to Confucius.…”

“…I have previously examined Thoreau's use of quotations from his translations of Pauthier in “Civil Disobedience”—an excerpt from the Analects and an excerpt from the Mencius (2017, Chap. 2).…”

“…Ross claims that I believe this passage demonstrates a “fundamental disagreement between Thoreau and Confucius,” an interpretation that he regards as “most certainly wrong” (2018, p. 94). This charge is unfounded, however, as I claim Thoreau rejects what he regards as Confucius's position ; he seems to read Confucius as normatively prescribing shame to the citizenry (2017, p. 43). Because Thoreau does not endorse this sort of behavior, he rejects the Confucian sentence as he reads it .…”

“…In The Philosophy of Emerson and Thoreau : Orientals Meet Occidentals , Shoji Goto claims that “Confucian thoughts on state and morals are deeply rooted in Thoreau's thoughts” (2007, p. 127). Similarly, in Confucianism and American Philosophy , I argue for the plausibility of Confucian influence on Thoreau's thought about civil disobedience (2017, Chap. 2).…”