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Philosophical Tradition (philosophical + tradition)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences100%

Selected Abstracts

Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition I: Foundational Concepts

PHILOSOPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2010
Mary I. Bockover
Confucianism conceives of persons as being necessarily interdependent, defining personhood in terms of the various roles one embodies and that are established by the relationships basic to one's life. By way of contrast, the Western philosophical tradition has predominantly defined persons in terms of intrinsic characteristics not thought to depend on others. This more strictly and explicitly individualistic concept of personhood contrasts with the Confucian idea that one becomes a person because of others; where one is never a person independently or in and of oneself but develops into one only in community. This article surveys some differences between Confucian and Western ideas of self and their connection to ethics mainly in light of the relational self of the Confucian Analects and Mencius. A Philosophy Compass article called Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition: A Comparative Analysis of Personhood (CEWII) will follow, that examines how the more individualistic way of conceiving of personhood in the West has had moral and political implications that differ, and even conflict, with those of Confucianism. [Correction added after online publication 31 May 2010: Sentence changed.] [source]

Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition II: A Comparative Analysis of Personhood

PHILOSOPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2010
Mary I. Bockover
This Philosophy Compass article continues the comparison between Confucian and mainstream Western views of personhood and their connection with ethics begun in Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition: Fundamental Concepts (CEWI), by focusing on the Western self conceived as an independent agent with moral and political rights. More specifically, the present article briefly accounts for how the more strictly and explicitly individualistic notion of self dominating Western philosophy has developed, leading up to a recent debate in modern Western rights theory between Herbert Fingarette and Henry Rosemont, Jr., two contemporary Western philosophers who are both steeped in Confucian thought as well as moral and political philosophy. This compares and contrasts Confucian principles with some basic to modern Western rights theory and the more individualistic view of self they entail. In the end, a new view of personhood and "free will" is offered that synthesizes insights from the Confucian treatment of persons as being essentially interdependent with the Western treatment of persons as being essentially independent. [Correction added after online publication 31 May 2010: Sentence changed.] [source]

Putting Thoughts to Work: Concepts, Systematicity, and Stimulus-Independence,

PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
ELISABETH CAMP
I argue that we can reconcile two seemingly incompatible traditions for thinking about concepts. On the one hand, many cognitive scientists assume that the systematic redeployment of representational abilities suffices for having concepts. On the other hand, a long philosophical tradition maintains that language is necessary for genuinely conceptual thought. I argue that on a theoretically useful and empirically plausible concept of ,concept', it is necessary and sufficient for conceptual thought that a thinker be able to entertain many of the potential thoughts produced by recombining her representational abilities apart from a direct confrontation with the states of affairs being represented. Such representational abilities support a cognitive engagement with the world that is flexible, abstract, and active. [source]

Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition I: Foundational Concepts

PHILOSOPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2010
Mary I. Bockover
Confucianism conceives of persons as being necessarily interdependent, defining personhood in terms of the various roles one embodies and that are established by the relationships basic to one's life. By way of contrast, the Western philosophical tradition has predominantly defined persons in terms of intrinsic characteristics not thought to depend on others. This more strictly and explicitly individualistic concept of personhood contrasts with the Confucian idea that one becomes a person because of others; where one is never a person independently or in and of oneself but develops into one only in community. This article surveys some differences between Confucian and Western ideas of self and their connection to ethics mainly in light of the relational self of the Confucian Analects and Mencius. A Philosophy Compass article called Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition: A Comparative Analysis of Personhood (CEWII) will follow, that examines how the more individualistic way of conceiving of personhood in the West has had moral and political implications that differ, and even conflict, with those of Confucianism. [Correction added after online publication 31 May 2010: Sentence changed.] [source]