Abstract
Faced with the ongoing tragedy of poverty in our world today, many have long called for a common standard of global justice. Such a standard should not be tied to any one particular strand of justice conceptualizations and it should yet be in harmony with the central motivating beliefs of the various concerned moral worldviews. The article reframes global justice thinking by approaching a core problem, namely motivating people to care for distant needy strangers, in a concrete intercultural manner: it sets out to study and compare the motivational underpinnings for an expansion of social justice, in an exemplary fashion, within two long-standing worldview traditions, namely Christian social ethics and contemporary Confucian ethics, in order to gain a more realistic impression of what a commonly shared and motivationally backed notion of global justice may look like. While the former expresses a universal concern for the poor, the latter has recently attracted interest, since Southeast Asian countries managed to lift millions of people out of abject poverty. As both traditions consider loving communal relationships to constitute the foundation of all justice considerations, the article inquires how this quest shapes each tradition’s way to motivate their adherents’ compliance with a vision of global justice.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amin, Samir. 1974. “Accumulation and Development.” Review of African Political Economy 1.1: 9–26.
Angle, Stephen C. 2012. Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bai, Tongdong. 2012. China: The Political Philosophy of the Middle Kingdom. London: Zed Books.
Bedford-Strohm, Heinrich. 2008. “Poverty and Public Theology: Advocacy of the Church in Pluralistic Society.” International Journal of Public Theology 2.2: 144–162.
Beitz, Charles R. 1983. “Cosmopolitan Ideals and National Sentiment.” The Journal of Philosophy 80.1: 591–600.
Bell, Daniel A. 2006. Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Bell, Daniel A., and Hahm Chaibong. 2003. Confucianism for the Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bell, Daniel M., Jr. 2004. “Deliberating: Justice and Liberation.” In The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics, edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Samuel Wells. Malden: Blackwell.
Benedict XVI. 2006. Deus caritas Est: God is Love. Encyclical Letter. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
______. 2009. Caritas in Veritate: Charity in Truth. Encyclical Letter. Washington, D.C.: Office of Publishing and Promotion Services, United States Catholic Conference.
Benhabib, Seyla. 1986. Critique, Norm, and Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press.
______. 2013. Situating the Self: Gender, Community and Postmodernism in Contemporary Ethics. Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press.
Berger, Peter L. 1988. “An East Asian Development Model?” In In Search of an East Asian Development Model, edited by Peter L. Berger. New Brunswick: Transaction Publ.
Boff, Clodovis, and Jorge V. Pixley. 1989. The Bible, the Church, and the Poor. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1949. Ethik. München: Chr. Kaiser.
Cahill, Lisa Sowle. 2002. “Toward Global Ethics.” Theological Studies 63: 324–344.
______. 2013. Global Justice, Christology and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chan, Joseph. 2001. “Making Sense of Confucian Justice.” Forum for Intercultural Philosophy 3. http://them.polylog.org/3/fcj-en.htm (last accessed on November 1, 2019).
______. 2003. “Giving Priority to the Worst Off: A Confucian Perspective on Social Welfare.” In Confucianism for the Modern World, edited by Daniel A. Bell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
______. 2009. “Is there a Confucian Perspective on Social Justice?” In Western Political Thought in Dialogue with Asia, edited by Cary J. Nederman and Takashi Shōgimen. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Chen, Huang-Chang. 1911/2002. The Economic Principles of Confucius and His School, vol II. Bristol: Thoemmes.
Chen, Weigang. 2014. Confucian Marxism: A Reflection on Religion and Global Justice. Leiden: Brill.
Chen, Xunwu. 2008. Justice, Humanity, and Social Toleration. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Ci, Jiwei. 2006. The Two Faces of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cline, Erin M. 2007. “Two Senses of Justice: Confucianism, Rawls, and Comparative Political Philosophy.” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 6.4: 361–381.
Curran, Charles E. 2002. Catholic Social Teaching: 1891–Present. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
De Soto, Hernando. 2001. The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. London: Black Swan.
Delanty, Gerard. 1997. “Habermas and Occidental Rationalism.” Sociological Theory 15.1: 30–59.
Fan, Ruiping. 2010. Reconstructionist Confucianism: Rethinking Morality after the West. Dordrecht: Springer.
Forrester, Duncan B. 2001. “Social Justice and Welfare.” In The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics, edited by Robin Gill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church. 1966. Boston: St. Paul Editions.
Groody, Daniel G. 2007. Globalization, Spirituality, and Justice: Navigating a Path to Peace. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Hall, David L., and Roger T. Ames. 1987. Thinking through Confucius. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hellsten, Sirkku K. 2015. “Ethics: Universal or Global? The Trends in Studies of Ethics in the Context of Globalization.” Journal of Global Ethics 11.1: 80–89.
Hicks, Douglas A. 2000. Inequality and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hoogvelt, Ankie M. 2001. Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hu, Biliang. 2007. Informal Institutions and Rural Development in China. London and New York: Routledge.
Huang, Yong. 2015. “Confucianism and the Perfectionist Critique of the Liberal Neutrality: A Neglected Dimension.” Journal of Value Inquiry 49: 181–204.
Jackson, Timothy P. 1992. “Christian Love and Political Violence.” In The Love Commandments: Essays in Christian Ethics and Moral Philosophy, edited by Edmund N. Santurri and William Werpehowski. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
John Paul II. 1988. Sollicitudo rei socialis: Encyclical Letter. Washington, D.C.: Office of Publishing and Promotion Services, United States Catholic Conference.
Lee, Ching Kwan. 2009. “From Inequality to Inequity: Popular Conceptions of Social (In)justice in Beijing.” In Creating Wealth and Poverty in Postsocialist China, edited by Deborah S. Davis and Feng Wang. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lee, Thomas C. 1995. “The Idea of Social Justice in Ancient China.” In Social Justice in the Ancient World, edited by K. D. Irani and Morris Silver. Portsmouth: Greenwood Press.
Legge, James, trans. 2011. The Works of Mencius. Reprint. New York: Dover Publications.
Li, Chenyang. 2008. “The Philosophy of Harmony in Classical Confucianism.” Philosophy Compass 3.3: 401–572.
______. 2014. The Confucian Philosophy of Harmony. New York: Routledge.
MacIntyre, Alasdair. 1984. Is Patriotism a Virtue? (The Lindley Lecture at the University of Kansa). Lawrence: Kansas University Press.
Metz, Thaddeus, and Daniel A. Bell. 2012. “Confucianism and Ubuntu: Reflections on a Dialogue between Chinese and African Traditions.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 38 (suppl.): 78–95.
Miller, David. 2007. National Responsibility and Global Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mittag, Achim. 2010. “Reconsidering Ren as a Basic Concept of Chinese Humanism.” In Traces of Humanism in China: Tradition and Modernity, edited by Carmen Meinert. Bielefeld: Transcript.
Moltmann, Jürgen. 2012. Ethics of Hope. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Naím, Moíses. 2000. “Fads and Fashion in Economic Reforms: Washington Consensus or Washington Confusion?” Third World Quarterly 21.3: 502–528.
Neville, Robert Cummings. 2008. Ritual and Deference. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Nosco, Peter. 2010. “Confucian Perspectives on Poverty and Morality.” In Poverty and Morality: Religious and Secular Perspectives, edited by Peter H. Hoffenberg and William Arthur Galston. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nussbaum, Martha. 2007. Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership. Cambridge: Belknap.
______. 2013. Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice. Cambridge: Belknap.
Nylan, Michael. 2001. The Five “Confucian” Classics. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Okeja, Uchenna B. 2013. Normative Justification of a Global Ethic: A Perspective from African Philosophy. Lenham: Lexington.
Oruka, Henry Odera. 1981. “Rawls’ Ideological Affinity and Justice as Egalitarian Fairness.” In Justice, Social, and Global, edited by L. Ericson. Stockholm: Gotab.
______. 1988. “The Philosophy of Foreign Aid: A Question of the Right to a Human Minimum.” Praxis International 4: 465–475.
Paul VI. 1967. Populorum Progressio: On the Development of Peoples. Encyclical Letter. Washington, D.C.: Office of Publishing and Promotion Services, United States Catholic Conference.
Paul XI. 1931. Quadragesimo Anno. Encyclical Letter. New York: Paulist Press.
Peerenboom, R. P. 1990. “Confucian Justice: Achieving a Humane Society.” International Philosophical Quarterly 30.1: 17–32.
Peng, Ito. 2008. “Welfare Policy Reforms in Japan and Korea: Cultural and Institutional Factors.” In Culture and Welfare State: Values and Social Policy in Comparative Perspective, edited by Birgit Pfau-Effinger, Michael Opielka, and Wim van Oorschot. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Pogge, Thomas W. 2010. World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. 2006. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. London: Bloomsbury.
Porter, Jean. 2001. “The Search for a Global Ethic.” Theological Studies 62: 105–121.
______. 2005. “Trajectories in Christian Ethics.” In The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics, edited by William Schweiker. Malden: Blackwell.
Rauhut, Andreas. 2017. “Expanding Motivations for Global Justice: A Dialogue between Public Christian Social Ethics and Ubuntu Ethics as Afro-Communitarianism.” Journal of Global Ethics 13.2: 138–156.
Ravallion, Martin, and Shaohua Chen. 2007. “China’s (Uneven) Progress against Poverty.” Journal of Development Economics 82: 1–42.
Rawls, John. 1996. Political Liberalism. Columbia: University Press.
______. 2001. The Law of Peoples. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rawski, Thomas G. 2011. “Is China’s Development Success Transferable?” In Reform and Development in China: What Can China Offer the Developing World?, edited by Ho-Mou Wu and Yang Yao. London: Routledge.
Richter, Antje. 2007. “Die Wahrnehmung von Armut im Alten China.” In China und die Wahrnehmung der Welt, edited by Antje Richter and Helmolt Vittinghoff. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Schilling, Dennis. 2010. “Human Equality in Modern Chinese Political Thought.” In Traces of Humanism in China: Tradition and Modernity, edited by Carmen Meinert. Bielefeld: Transcript.
Schweiker, William. 2004. Theological Ethics and Global Dynamics: In the Time of Many Worlds. Malden: Blackwell.
Sen, Amartya. 2010. The Idea of Justice. London: Penguin.
Shen, Vincent. 2007. “Globalization, Christianity and Confucianism: On Strangification and Generosity to the Other.” In Dialogues of Philosophies, Religions and Civilizations in the Era of Globalization, edited by Zhao Dunhua. Washington, D.C.: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.
So, Alvin Y. 2012. “Development Model.” In Handbook of Contemporary China, edited by William S. Tay and Alvin Y. So. Singapore: World Scientific.
Taylor, Charles. 2007. A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.
United Nations. 2015. “The Millennium Development Goals Report.” New York: United Nations.
United States Catholic Bishops. 1986. Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Van Til, Kent A. 2007. Less Than Two Dollars a Day: A Christian View of World Poverty and the Free Market. Grand Rapids: Eerdman.
Walker, Thomas M. 2008. “Who Is My Neighbour: An Invitation to See the World through Different Eyes.” In Global Neighbors: Christian Faith and Moral Obligation in Today’s Economy, edited by Douglas A. Hicks and Mark R. Valeri. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.
Walzer, Michael. 1983. Spheres of Justice. A Defense of Pluralism and Equality. New York: Basic.
______. 2010. “Afterword.” In Poverty and Morality: Religious and Secular Perspectives, edited by William A. Galston and Peter H. Hoffenberg. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wiredu, Kwasi. 1996. Cultural Universals and Particulars: An African Perspective. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Wong, David. 2013. “Chinese Ethics.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/ethics-chinese/ (last accessed on October 23, 2019).
______. 2017. “Comparative Philosophy: Chinese and Western.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/comparphil-chiwes/ (last accessed on October 23, 2019).
Wright, N. T. 2008. Surprised by Hope. New York: HarperOne.
Xiao, Yang. 1997. “Trying to Do Justice to the Concept of Justice in Confucian Ethics.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 24: 521–551.
Zhao, Tingyang. 2009. “A Political World Philosophy in terms of All-Under-Heaven (Tian-xia).” Diogenes 56.5: 5–18.
Funding
Open Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Rauhut, A. Working toward Global Justice: Confucian and Christian Ethics in Dialogue. Dao 19, 33–51 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-019-09702-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-019-09702-2