The “Manifesto” of New-Confucianism and the revival of virtue ethics

Abstract

In 1958, a group of New-Confucians issued “A Manifesto for a Re-Appraisal of Sinology and Reconstruction of Chinese Culture.” Equally in 1958, the British philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe published her classical paper “Modern Moral Philosophy.” These two papers have the same target — modern Western morality — and the solutions they proposed respectively. Yet Anscombe’s paper did not mention Confucianism, and the “Manifesto” ignored Aristotelian tradition of virtue. Furthermore, from 1960s to 1990s, the revival movement of Confucianism and the revival movement of Aristotelian ethics have not had much dialogue. This paper seeks to explain this phenomenon by comparing these two historically important documents. In particular it tries to understand why the “Manifesto” fails to see the similarities between Aristotle and Confucius.

摘要

1958年, 现代新儒家发表了«为中国文化敬告世界人士宣言»。 该宣言批判西方文化的缺陷, 并通过探索中国文化对世界人类问题的贡献而倡导中国文化的复兴。 同样在1958年, 英国学者安思康发表了«近代道德哲学»。 这两篇文献有着共同的批评目标—近现代西方道德, 而且, 各自提出的解决方案也有相似之处。 然而, 安思康并没有提及孔子, 而宣言也漠视亚里士多德传统。 进一步说, 从19世纪60年代到90年代, 由他们所分别推动的新儒学复兴与德性伦理学复兴这两大运动之间缺少对话和交流。 通过比较分析这两篇同年发表的历史性文献, 不仅可以找到两大复兴运动对话缺失的原因, 而且还可以解释为什么«宣言»没有能够发现孔子与亚里士多德在德性伦理学方面的一致性。