Modern Chinese Philosophy26 Philosophical Approaches to Politics and Ethics

In Philosophical Approaches to Politics and Ethics, Yang Guorong weaves together insights from Chinese traditions, including Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, and Western thinkers to develop new approaches to politics and ethics. In Philosophical Approaches to Politics and Ethics, Yang Guorong investigates influential political and ethical topics in Chinese and Western philosophies. This is the first and only English-language translation of the text, originally authored by one of the most influential living philosophers in China. Yang looks general issues such as moral behaviour, humanism, wisdom, or “how to do philosophy,” as well as at broad topics from various discourses, such as the relationship between rights and duties, or humaneness and propriety, and more concentrated discussions, such as the Gettier Problem or Zhang Zai’s thought. Throughout, Yang draws on resources from Chinese and Western traditions to develop post-comparative philosophical reflections on these issues—in this way Yang engages in what he calls “world philosophy.”