Public Reason Confucianism: A Construction

Abstract

If perfectionism is understood as the state's non-neutral promotion of a valuable way of life, Confucian political theory, often pursued as a pluralist correction to global monism of liberal democracy, is ineluctably perfectionist. But how can Confucian perfectionism, committed to particular Confucian values, reconcile with the societal fact of value pluralismwithinthe putative Confucian polity? This article argues that a potential tension between Confucian perfectionism and value pluralism can be avoided by making Confucian perfectionist goods the core elements of public reason with which citizens can justify their arguments to one another and by which the state can justifiably exercise its public authority to reasonable citizens who otherwise subscribe to various comprehensive doctrines. By defining a mode of Confucian perfectionism working through Confucian public reason broadly shared by citizens aspublic reason Confucianism, this article attempts to balance the Confucian polity's internal societal pluralism and the people's collective self-determination.

How Radical Is Too Radical? Public Perception of Taiwanese Environmental Nonprofit Organizations’ Activism*

“…Scholars focused on East Asian study also indicate that culture shapes the nature of politics and public opinion. For example, because of Confucianism, the public in East Asian countries are more likely to value harmony and hierarchical structure as well as respect authority, which in turn affects public opinion on social/political issues (Kim, ). However, cultures are often considered difficult to operationalize when incorporating them into models in studies (Thompson and Ellis, , ).…”

“…Instead of focusing on the general public in the United States, this study conducted an online survey in Taiwan. Compared to the United States and other Western countries, public perceptions of environmental activism are likely to be particularly important in East Asian countries, like Taiwan, that are influenced by Confucianism, which values harmony (Kim, ; Shi, ). Whether the mass public in Taiwan accepts protest‐based environmental activities that are often initiated by the Taiwanese ENPOs is worth investigating.…”

Public reason: A stranger in non-liberal and religious societies?

“…First, the argument requires that it is more specific and focused and for that reason needs to be narrowed down in terms of scope and applicability. The main interest of this article is to investigate public reason in Muslim-majority societies, though some research has been done in other non-liberal, specifically, Confucian contexts (Kim 2015;2016).…”

“…He considers it exclusively in a Confucian context and, hence, puts forward public reason Confucianism as one of its variations. See , e.g., Kim (2015;2016).…”

Irrational decision making: Cultural influence on environmental nonprofit organizations' advocacy strategies

“…Understanding the rationale behind ENPOs' advocacy strategies is particularly important in East Asian countries, such as Taiwan, in which the public values harmony and aggressive political movements are often controversial because of the influence of Confucianism (Kim, ; Shi, ). According to the Taiwan Social Change Survey conducted in 2014, more than 70% of the Taiwanese public considered aggressive protests such as occupying government institutions, roads, or streets unacceptable.…”