The Confucian Creation of Heaven: Philosophy and the Defense of Ritual Mastery (Chinese Philosophy Culture)

Eno, Robert

ISBN 10: 079140191X / ISBN 13: 9780791401910

Published by State University of New York Pre, 1990

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Confucian Creation of Heaven: Philosophy and the Defense of Ritual Mastery (Chinese Philosophy Culture)
• Publisher: State University of New York Pre
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 079140191X
• ISBN 13: 9780791401910
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Explores the earliest Confucian texts to find coherent structural principles linking the various facets of Confucian doctrine. Its central theme is that the coherence of early Confucianism emerges only when doctrine is viewed as a function of the unique ritual practice of the early Confucian community.

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.