The Role of Virtue in Xunzi's (Chinese Source) Political Philosophy

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)93-110
Journal / PublicationDao
Volume12
Issue number1
Online published4 Jan 2013
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013

Abstract

Although there has been a resurgence of interest in virtue ethics, there has been little work done on how this translates into the political sphere. This essay demonstrates that the Confucian thinker Xunzi offers a model of virtue politics that is both interesting in its own right and potentially useful for scholars attempting to develop virtue ethics into virtue politics more generally. I present Xunzi's version of virtue politics and discuss challenges to this version of virtue politics that are raised by the Legalist thinker Han Fei. I show that not only is Xunzi's virtue politics capable of surviving the challenges raised by his contemporary, he offers an account that is in many ways both attractive and plausible, one that may usefully be brought into conversation with contemporary visions of virtue politics. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Research Area(s)

  • Han Fei, Ideal theory, Non-ideal theory, Political philosophy, Xunzi

Citation Format(s)

The Role of Virtue in Xunzi's (Chinese Source) Political Philosophy. / Harris, Eirik Lang.
In: Dao, Vol. 12, No. 1, 03.2013, p. 93-110.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review