Moral peace and moral pleasure in the Analects

Bibliographic Data

ID9690692
AuthorsPuqun Li (Kwantlen Polytechnic University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume60
Issue1
Pages145-168
Publication date2021-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDialogue (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0012-2173 • E-ISSN: 1759-0949
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s001221732100007x
OpenAlexW3138178481
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited20

This article examines Confucius’ ideas of moral peace ( an 安) and moral pleasure ( le 樂) in the Analects. It argues that an and le are two correlated aspects of a self-cultivated state of being ( jing-jie 境界) that is grounded on practising benevolence or human-heartedness ( ren 仁) and on following the Way ( dao 道). The state of an-le involves not only one's reason (i.e., knowing ren and dao ) and one's will (i.e., willing ren and dao ), but also one's love or ‘emotional liking’ ( hào 好) with respect to the practice of ren and dao . It is a state that resembles Kant's idea of intellectual contentment but, pace Philip Ivanhoe's recent interpretation of Confucius, it is different from Aristotle's concepts of pleasure and eudaimonia

Aesthetics · Contentment · Epistemology · Eudaimonia · Interpretation (philosophy) · Pleasure · State (computer science) · Chinese history and philosophy · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · War, Ethics, and Justification

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