The article was submitted during the last year of the duration of the project (2017) and published in the beginning of 2018 (i.e. in the officially prolonged period of the project related research work). It deals with contemporary Chinese philosopher Li Zehou, who stands among the most influential Chinese philosophers working in the context of the Confucian revival. His notion of subjectality (zhutixing 主体性) is of paramount importance for current developments in the specific Chinese modernization theory. It belongs to the central concepts in Li's theoretical framework, around which his entire philosophical system is constructed. With his elaboration of this concept, Li expanded the problem of the self in post-revolutionary modernism. The present article analyzes the theoretical bases of this concept, exposes its importance in the scope of contemporary Chinese theory and shows why and how it represents a call for a new humanism. Through a multidimensional comparative perspective, the author also explains why the human subject, which is based upon Li's notion of subjectality, has the potential not only to transform (post-)modern alienation into a real “human condition,” that is, into spiritually fulfilled society of autonomous individuals but also to fill up the prevailing “vacuum of values.”
COBISS.SI-ID: 66184546
Modern Confucianism represents the most influential and most important discourse in the contemporary East Asian theory and is also a part of the new prevailing ideologies in the P.R. China. The present book deals with this philosophical and cultural stream of thought and offers a fresh and topical view on its development, including a survey, a detailed analysis and a critical commentary of the works written by the most important Confucian scholars from the 20th century. The author has clearly and concisely introduced, analysed and re-interpreted the works of these thinkers, including the critiques of them. In this context, she didn’t limit her work on philosophical approaches, ideas and methods of Modern Confucianism, but also illuminated political, social and ideological backgrounds of the so-called Confucian revival on the one hand, and its inherent connection with the theoretical foundations of the East Asian modernization on the other.
COBISS.SI-ID: 59249762
When dealing with the study of diverse Confucian traditions in eastern Asia, we are often confronted by the issue of the religious dimension of Confucianism and how can it be compared to the Western (or ‘general’) connotations of the term. Proceeding from the basic question as to how Confucianism sees itself, the paper focuses on the approaches of two representatives of the Modern Confucian intellectual movement, namely Mou Zongsan and Xu Fuguan. In addition, it also takes into consideration the various contemporary Confucian interpretations of the previously delineated problems, for instance Liu Shu-hsien’s or Chen Lai’s. Based on these discourses, the paper clarifies the reasons for Modern Confucian interpretations, according to which Confucianism is not a religion in the Western sense but a discourse that represents both a practical moral teaching and an abstract philosophy of immanent transcendence.
COBISS.SI-ID: 65472610
The present article deals with the work of Xu Fuguan, who is one of the most influential representatives of Modern Confucianism. It focuses upon his analysis and interpretation of some of the central concepts of Zhuangzi’s philosophy, which constitute his aesthetic thought. In this respect, this Modern Confucian philosopher aimed to elaborate on the modernization of Zhuangzi’s philosophical paradigms and their adaptation to the requirements of the modern era. In Xu’s view, Zhuangzi’s aesthetic thought relates to the aesthetic way of human life, where beauty applies to the realm of dao in which human beings are able to liberate their spirit and enjoy a way of life denoted as “free and easy wandering” (xiaoyaoyou). In Xu’s view, this is the highest and the most beautiful sphere of human existence, and is as such expressed in art. Xu found in Zhuangzi’s concepts of xinzhai and zuowang, as methods for achieving this highest level of being, some similarities with certain concepts of late 19th and early 20th century Western phenomenology. Although Xu was trying to be careful in drawing parallels between certain Western philosophies and Zhuangzi’s thought, he believed that there is some resemblance between them, especially regarding the question of why and in which way human consciousness (or the human heart-mind) is able to perceive the world aesthetically. The article aims to show some methodological problems and inconsistencies in this comparative approach, which underlies Xu’s aesthetic theory.
COBISS.SI-ID: 63349858
The monograph focuses on the official discourse of the People's Republic and the previous periods of Chinese history through the prism of Modern Confucian ideologies of nation and culture, while analyzing how the concept of Chinese nation was formed through the 20th Century and how its meanings have been changing. The analysis thus offers a historically based insight into the issue of Chinese national identity today, in the context of a globalized world.
COBISS.SI-ID: 283744768