The Way, the Right, and the Good

Bibliographic Data

ID14760482
AuthorsErin M Cline (University of Oregon, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume37
Issue1
Pages107-129
Publication date2009-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religious Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0384-9694 • E-ISSN: 1467-9795
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9795.2008.00368.x
OpenAlexW2024542033
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited23

This article argues that Kongzi's religious ethics suggests an alternative way of understanding the relationship between the right and the good, in which neither takes clear precedence in terms of being more foundational for ethics. The religious underpinnings of Kongzi's understanding of the Way are examined, including the close relationship between tian (“Heaven”) and the Way. It is shown that following the Way is defined primarily by the extent to which one's actions express certain virtues, and not whether one's actions are conducive to the best overall outcome or whether they are inherently right irrespective of consequences. It is then argued that the Way is seen as constitutive of both the right and the good, and that this understanding of the right and the good has important implications for contemporary virtue ethics, religious ethics, and political philosophy

Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Heaven · Moral philosophy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Tian · Virtue · Virtue ethics · Chinese history and philosophy · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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