The Problem of the Self in the Analects

Confucian Self-Cultivation and Daoist Personhood: Implications for Peace Education

“…Thus Confucius not only promotes a mutually advanced relationship between self and other but also refuses to impose the will of the self onto others. As Fingarette (1979) points out, Junzi seeks to actualize the Way but does not impose anything so that "an ideal community in which there is no coercion or imposition of one person's will upon another" (p. 136) becomes possible. Confucius speaks directly against using force and military violence (Analects of Confucius, 7.21) and advocates peacemaking in conducting affairs between states (Analects of Confucius, 14.16).…”

The Self and Li in Confucianism

“…Since the establishment of li is based on the Way of Heaven, does this mean, as Herbert Fingarette argues in his "The Problem of Self in the Analects," that human beings "walking the dao" require the exorcism of their particular will and the yielding of their "self" to the dignity of the Way? 17 This explanation of the self seems to suggest that Confucianism constricts personal autonomy, which is necessary if they are to make life meaningful by their own efforts:…”

The Radical Critique of Political Interest, 1966-1978

“…The contribution of Confucian ethical writings has been analyzed elsewhere (Munro, 1977;Fingarette, 1979), and may therefore be succinctly summarized: &dquo;interest&dquo; (//-~0 was conventionally discussed in terms of the polarity between &dquo;self' (si) and &dquo;public&dquo; (gong), usually in order to characterize (pejoratively) the desires of the individual as opposed to the needs of the group. To pursue selfish interests was to fail to recognize the integral relationship between the individual and the group of which the individual was a part, thus committing cognitive error as well as moral fault.…”