Overview
- The first English language book discussing the Confucian philosophy of Confucian rituals
- The first English language book dealing with comparative philosophy on eastern and western understandings of ritual
- Deals with both Christian and Chinese understandings of ritual behavior and how Christian and Confucian rituals create their understandings of reality
Part of the book series: Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture (PSCC, volume 21)
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Table of contents (14 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Ritual, Virtue, and the Pursuit of the Holy
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Front Matter
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Confucian Insights: Ritual as the Fabric of the Moral Community
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Front Matter
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Ritual and Tradition as Challenge to Modernity
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Front Matter
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The Traditional Ritual Project
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
In the twentieth century, in both China and the West, ritual became marginalized in the face of the growth of secularism and individualism. In China, Confucianism and its essentially ritualistic comportment to the world were vigorously suppressed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) under Mao Zedong. But de-ritualization already took place as a result of the Chinese Revolution of 1911 under Sun Yat-Sen. In the West, while the process of de-ritualization has been generally more gradual, it has been nonetheless drastic. In contrast to this situation, this volume investigates the crucial role ritual plays in constituting the human understanding of their place in the cosmos, the purpose of their lives, and imbues human existence with a more complete sense of meaningfulness.
This volume presents the work of philosophers from both China and the West as they reflect upon the constitutive role that ritual plays in human life. They reflect not only on ritual in general but also on specific Confucian and Christian appreciations of ritual.
This provocative volume is a beacon of warning to Western philosophers, who think they have graduated from the trappings of ritual, and a beacon of hope for Eastern thinkers, who wish to avoid cultural fragmentation. The Editors, both Eastern and Western, have together created a seamless work that not only introduces ritual, but advances an argument for the contribution that ritual makes to cultural renewal. This volume is a work of philosophical thinking about ritual doing, but challenges those who think to realize that the salvation of philosophical thinking rests in the particularity and contingency of ritual doing. Let us hope this volume is widely read, for it points to that which might renew the West.
- Jeffrey P. Bishop, Saint Louis University
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“The book, which is in English, represents a serious effort to deal with the Confucian philosophy of ritual, focusing on comparative philosophy between Christian and Chinese Confucian understandings of ritual observance in real life. … This book is likely to inspire scholars who are interested in ritual to participate and extend the discussion. … Ritual and the Moral Life has certainly opened a new phase in philosophical studies on ritual.” (Hwa Yeong Wang, Philosophy East & West, Vol. 64, January, 2014)
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Ritual and the Moral Life
Book Subtitle: Reclaiming the Tradition
Editors: David Solomon, Ruiping Fan, Ping-cheung Lo
Series Title: Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2756-4
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012
Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-2755-7Published: 26 March 2012
Softcover ISBN: 978-94-007-9312-5Published: 16 April 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-2756-4Published: 23 March 2012
Series ISSN: 0928-9518
Series E-ISSN: 2215-1753
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 300
Topics: Non-Western Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Religious Studies, general