Why Confucianism Matters for the Ethics of Technology

Abstract

There are a number of recent attempts to introduce Confucian values to ethical analysis of technology. These works have not, however, attended sufficiently to one central aspect of Confucianism, namely ritual (“Li”). Li is central to Confucian ethics, and it has been suggested that the emphasis on Li in Confucian ethics is what distinguishes Confusion ethics from other ethical traditions. Any discussion of Confucian ethics for technology, therefore, remains incomplete without accounting for Li. This chapter aims to elaborate on the concept of Confucian Li and discuss its relevance to ethics of technology. Particularly, by referring to Li’s communicative, formative, and aesthetic functions, this chapter formulates an approach to ethics of technology with an emphasis on community, performance, and the aesthetic, and it demonstrates how this approach proceeds with the ethical analysis of technology. In doing so, the chapter attempts to answer the question of why Confucianism matters in ethics of technology.

Challenges and Perspectives of Intercultural Ethics In the Theory of Global Management

“…Harmony in both cultures is understood as the harmony of various musical components, which eventually becomes an important principle of the social plane, especially in the cases of education and harmonizing human relationships. In the ideal case of Confucian ethics, the harmonious life of individual people should fully meet or harmonize with the requirements of the general social order, and eventually this harmony would pass into a perfect resonance between heaven and earth (Chen et al, 2020;Wong, 2020). Similar notions of pluralistic harmony and resonance can be found in the ethical systems of Taoism and Buddhism.…”

“…Confucius defines the hierarchically organized family as the most important foundation of society (Chen et al, 2020;Ma et al, 2020). Confucian ethics are also virtue ethics (Wong, 2020). The main virtues (de) in Confucian ethics: humanity (ren), loyalty (zhong), filial piety (xiao), honesty (xin), justice (yi), reciprocity (shu), respect (rang), courage (yong) and goodness (shan) (Ma, 2020).…”

Advancing Data Justice Research and Practice: An Integrated Literature Review

“…464 Davidson, 1984;Dresner, 2011 465 Ibid. 466 Ames, 2010;Berberich et al, 2020;Li, 2006;McStay, 2021;Wong 2012Wong , 2020Wong & Wang, 2021;Yao & Yao, 2000;Yu &Fan, 2007 467 Carter andMcCarthy, 2014;Hershock, 2021;Hongladarom, 2007Hongladarom, , 2016bKalupahana, 1987;Nishitani, 1982;Vallor, 2016468 Simpson, 2017Lewis et al, 2020;Tallbear, 2019469 Eze, 2008Gyekye, 1992;Kalumba, 2020;Mbiti, 1970;Menkiti, 1984;Mhlambi, 2020;Ogunbanjo & Bogaert, 2005; Wariboko & Falola, 2020 470 Dewey, 1927470 Dewey, , 1997470 Dewey, [1933 471 Apel, 1984472 Habermas, 1987[1981, 2008 473 Honneth, 1995474 Buber, 1958, 1963 475 Levinas, 1969Levinas, , 1978Levinas, , 1987Levinas, , 1993Levinas, , 1998Levinas, , 1999 Indigenous Data Sovereignty…”

Living Well Together Online: Digital Wellbeing from a Confucian Perspective

“…Pak-Hang Wong has recently argued that for Confucians 'technology can be 'ritualized' to support people's ethical development'. 50 'Confucian Li', for Wong, 'can be used as a normative standard for ethical analysis of technology, or it can be used to inform the design and use of technologyor, more proactively, it can be used to ritualize technology so that it serves to guide users' and the society's responses with reference to Li'. 51 Wong's idea of Confucian ritualising technology is problematic.…”