The Confucian Creation of Heaven: Philosophy and the Defense of Ritual Mastery

Eno, Robert

ISBN 10: 0791401901 / ISBN 13: 9780791401903

Published by State University of New York Press, 1990

About this Item

Albany, NY. Hardcover, 1990, 349 pages.

Seller Inventory # 040288

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Confucian Creation of Heaven: Philosophy and the Defense of Ritual Mastery
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791401901
• ISBN 13: 9780791401903
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

Demonstrating that the relation between practice and theory in early Confucianism is highly systematic, the author suggests that Confucianism represents a species of 'synthetic' philosophy, distinct from the analytical traditions of the West but equally rigorous in its attempt to disclose the foundations of understanding. He illustrates how theory served as an ancillary activity, expressing ethical insights derived from the systematic structure of core ritual practice, and legitimizing those insights in terms of teleological model of their efficacy in creating a divinely ordained political utopia. The central agenda of the early Confucians is pictured as the preservation and promotion of ritual skills and the aesthetic social perspectives they generate. Metaphysical and political theory serve as practical vehicles mediating between the skill-based philosophy of the early Confucian community and the changing features of the intellectual, social, and political environments in which that community had to survive.

About the Author

Robert Eno is Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University.