The philosophical feature of Confucianism and its position in inter-cultural dialogue: Universalism or non-universalism?

Abstract

Confucianism is a rather typical non-universalism, even though it does believe that its own doctrines are indeed the ultimate truth, and denies the validity of any higher, universalist meta-standard. Therefore, when facing the contemporary culture intercourse, Confucianism advocates genuine discourse: It rejects any cultural conflict to-the-death, refuses to engage in universalist competition and antagonism, and maintains a mutually-beneficial interaction with other cultures. However, it also adheres to a “free-to-terminate-relations” principle, which implies that any side is free to terminate, at any time, all potential and actual interactions, whenever it feels that its original cultural vitality is threatened. In other words, cultural interactions must only occur when the cultural uniqueness and independence of all participating sides is guaranteed.

摘要

儒家是一种典型的非普遍主义, 因为它尽管坚信自己的学说是终极真理, 但否认任何普遍主义的更高标准的有效性。 所以, 在当今的文化交往中, 儒家会主张一种真实的对话态度, 即不参与任何你死我活的文明冲突, 不搞普遍主义的竞赛与对抗。 儒家坚持一种 “允许中止交往” 的对话原则, 即对话的任何一方都可以随时中止可能的和现实进行着的交往, 如果它感到这种交往威胁到了它的原初文化生态的话。 也就是说, 文化间对话必须以保障对话的任何一方的文化独特性、 他者性为前提。