Courses

EALL/RS 363
Introduction to Confucianism

Fall 2008 / TR 9:30-10:45 / 2104 Chamberlin

Introduction to Confucianism: Confucius and his Critics

Outline

This course examines the development of Confucianism in pre-Buddhist China using a dialogical model that emphasizes its interactions with competing viewpoints. Particular attention will be paid to issues of morality and human nature, stressing the way that varieties of Confucianism were rooted in more general theories of value. Please note that this course is only offered for three credits.

Required texts

Ivanhoe, Philip J. Confucian Moral Self-Cultivation, 2nd ed. (Hackett, 2000)
Lau , D.C. , trans. The Analects (Penguin Books, 1979)
Lau , D.C. , trans. Mencius (Penguin, 1970)
Palmer, Martin, trans. The Book of Chuang Tzu (Arkana, 1996)
Watson, Burton, trans. Basic Writings of Mo Tzu, Hsün Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu (Columbia University Press, 1967)
EALL 363 Course Reader

Books are carried by Underground Books; the course reader is carried by Bob's Copy Center.

Expectations

One goal of this course is simply to become acquainted with the history and the basic ideas of one of the world’s major religious traditions. The writings of Confucius, Mencius and Hsün Tzu have not only been enormously influential in East Asian history, but are still relevant in today’s world. Another goal is to look at the way Confucianism developed alongside other traditions that both complemented and criticized it, and to examine the differences between the fundamental values of Confucianism and those of its critics. For this reason, other thinkers who have criticized Confucianism such as Mo Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Han Fei Tzu are central parts of the course as well.

This is a course that demands engagement with a set of writings and ideas that are well over two thousand years old. Taking this course requires a sincere willingness to take seriously the concerns and worldview of an unfamiliar society. Students will be expected to discuss these texts and write about them clearly and cogently. Grading will be as follows:

1. Three short (1000 word) papers (15%, 20%, and 25%)

2. Discussion section participation (18%) Nine of the Thursday class meetings will be held in “discussion section.” In early September we will divide into three discussion sections, and on those weeks identified as discussion sections, students attend the assigned discussion section instead of the regular Thursday meeting (note that one discussion section will meet at the time of the regular Thursday meeting). Discussion section participation grades for each section will be one percent for token participation, and two percent for insightful participation.

3. Lecture attendance (7%) Attendance will be taken each day, and students will lose 1% for each day they miss after the first two absences. The tenth absence triggers a failing grade. Note that comatose attendance will be considered as an absence for grading purposes.

4. Final (15%)

Technical details

This class places a premium on original thinking, and each paper should be the work of the student whose name is on it. Others may give editorial help, but it must be acknowledged on the final draft, and, unless the help came from the instructor, the nature of the help must also be noted. All quotations must be explicitly acknowledged. Within these parameters, students are encouraged to discuss issues outside of class and even argue about the paper topics, as long as the thesis provided in the paper is worked out by the student who turns it in.

Rough drafts will be accepted by the instructor up to 36 hours before the paper is due, providing: 1) the instructor has a minimum of 24 hours to read and comment on the draft, and 2) the student does not assume that addressing the instructor’s comments will necessarily result in a perfect paper. Students are encouraged to submit drafts and revise their writing.

Extensions will only be granted on the duedate in exceptional cases where some outside verification can be provided. Prior to that day, by contrast, extensions are fairly easy to get.

For students interested in honors credit, one additional short (three to four page double spaced) paper is required on the topic of the role of ritual in Confucian moral self-cultivation. That paper is due on the last class meeting.

Schedule

I. Introduction

1. (Tuesday, September 2, 2008) Orientalisms: Confucius and Charlie Chan

2. (Thursday, September 4, 2008 ) Overview of Confucianism
• “Confucianism: An Overview” in L. Jones, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion, 2 e. ( New York: Gale, 2005), pp. 1890-1905.

3. (Tuesday, September 9, 2008) Legacies of the former sages
*Sectioning: Come to class with a good idea of your schedule
• Michael Nylan, “The Odes” in The Five “Confucian” Classics ( New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 72-119.

4. (Thursday, September 11, 2008) Social and ritual background
• “ Kî î Or The Meaning of Sacrifices” from James Legge, trans. The Li Ki (The Book of Rites) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1885), pp. 210-235.

II. Confucius and the “good life”

5. (Tuesday, September 16, 2008) Analects 1: The virtues
• Bryan van Norden, “Some Key Terms” in Confucius and the Analects: New Essays ( New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 24-28.
• Roger Ames, “Translating Chinese Philosophy” in Chan Sin-wai and David Pollard, eds. An Encyclopedia of Translation (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1995), pp. 731-46.
• The Analects, 59-75.

6. (Thursday, September 18, 2008 ) Discussion section #1: Who was Confucius anyway?
• Mark Csikszentmihalyi, “Confucius” in David Noel Freedman and Michael McClymond, eds. The Rivers of Paradise ( Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001), pp. 233-308.

7. (Tuesday, September 23, 2008) Analects 2: Heaven, family, and individual
• The Analects , 106-137.
• Confucian Moral Self-Cultivation, 1-14.

8. (Thursday, September 25, 2008) Discussion section #2 Ritual and ethics
• The Analects , 138-160.
• Herbert Fingarette, “Human Community as Holy Rite” from Confucius: The Secular as Sacred (New York: Harper and Row, 1972), pp. 1-17.

9. (Tuesday, September 30, 2008) (Rosh Hashanah) Mo Tzu 1: Impartial caring
• Mo Tzu , 34-61, 78-93

10. (Thursday, October 2, 2008) Mo Tzu 2: Consequentialism
• Mo Tzu , 62-77, 94-109.
• Berys Gaut, “Consequentialism” in Robert Audi, ed. Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2 ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 176-7.

11. (Tuesday, October 7, 2008) Mozi 3: Altruism and the Mo Tzu
• Mo Tzu , 110-136. • Mark Csikszentmihalyi, “Altruism in Chinese Religions” in Neusner and Chilton, eds. Altruism in World Religions ( Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2005), pp. 179-190.

12. (Thursday, October 9, 2008) (Yom Kippur) Discussion section #3 Weber’s critique
• Max Weber, “Confucianism and Puritanism,” from The Religions of China (New York: The Free Press, 1951), pp. 226-249.

III. Debates over Human Nature

13. (Tuesday, October 14, 2008 ) Mencius 1: Sprouts of virtue
• Mencius , 49-84. • Confucian Moral Self-Cultivation, 15-28.

14. (Thursday, October 16, 2008) (Yom Kippur )Mencius 2: Human nature
• Mencius , 160-204

15. (Tuesday, October 21, 2008 ) Mencius 3: Self-cultivation
• Mencius , 85-159  

16. (Thursday, October 23, 2008 ) Discussion section #4 Confucianism and Christianity
• James Legge, from “Prolegomena to the Works of Mencius” from The Works of Mencius, v. 2 of The Chinese Classics (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895), pp. 56-76.

17. (Tuesday, October 28, 2008 ) Hsün Tzu 1: Learning and Ritual
• Hsün Tzu, 15-55, 89-111.

18. (Thursday, October 30, 2008 ) Discussion section #5 Education as habituation
• John and Evelyn Nagai Berthrong, “Educating the Person” from Confucianism: A Short Introduction ( Oxford: Oneworld, 2000): 45-74.

19. (Tuesday, November 4, 2008 ) (Election Day) Hsün Tzu 2: Human nature and ritual
• Hsün Tzu, 112-171

20. (Thursday, November 6, 2008 ) Discussion section #6 Nasty, brutish. . . and why not?
• Confucian Moral Self-Cultivation, 29-42. • David B. Wong, “Xunzi on Moral Motivation” in P. J. Ivanhoe, ed. Chinese Language, Thought, and Culture: Nivison and His Critics (LaSalle: Open Court, 1996): 202-223.

21. (Tuesday, November 11, 2008 ) Chuang Tzu 1: Cosmology and naturalism
• Hsün Tzu, 79-88. • The Book of Chuang Tzu, 92-127.

22. (Thursday, November 13, 2008 ) Chuang Tzu 2: Perspectivism
• The Book of Chuang Tzu, 1-65, 137-148.

23. (Tuesday, November 18, 2008 ) Chuang Tzu 3: Skillfulness
• The Book of Chuang Tzu, 149-223.

24. (Thursday, November 20, 2008 ) Discussion section #7 Lucy in the sky with Daoists
• The Book of Chuang Tzu, 261 -273.
• Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals III 12.

IV. Empire and authority

25. (Tuesday, November 25, 2008) Han Fei Tzu: Law and ritual
• Han Fei Tzu, 16-48

(Thursday, November 27, 2008) – No class, Thanksgiving

26. (Tuesday, December 2, 2008) Han Dynasty Confucianism
• “Self-Cultivation and Education” in Mark Csikszentmihalyi. Readings in Han Chinese Thought. ( Cambridge: Hackett, 2004), pp. 1-22.

27. (Thursday, December 4, 2008) Discussion section #8 Punishment
• “Law and Punishment” in Mark Csikszentmihalyi. Readings in Han Chinese Thought. ( Cambridge: Hackett, 2004), pp. 23-47.

28. (Tuesday, December 9, 2008) Twentieth century Confucianisms
• Vincent Goossaert, “1898: the beginning of the end for Chinese religion?” Journal of Asian Studies 65:2 (May 2006): 307-335.
• Feng Yu-lan, “A Criticism of Confucius and Self-Criticism of My Own Past Veneration for Confucius” from Selected Articles Criticizing Lin Piao and Confucius (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1974): 88-106.

29. (Thursday, December 11, 2008) Discussion section #9 Rights and Virtues
• Sumner B. Twiss,”A constructive framework for discussing Confucianism and human rights” in Confucianism and Human Rights, ed. Tu and DeBary (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).