Confucianism, Democracy, and Sentimentalist Representation

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to conceptualize the unique mode of political representation in East Asian society where political leaders’ conduct, including their everyday languages, behaviors, and expressions when facing citizens’ sorrow, anger, and resentment, has played a crucial role in evaluating whether they have political legitimacy. By paying close attention to the fact that the concept of political representation in Western political philosophy was initially established as the concept of certain activities such as “transferring an individual’s right to a sovereign” and “discerning true interest by relying on a representative’s rational capacities,” this thesis attempts to conceptualize “Confucian sentimentalist representation” by articulating its core activities and constitutive elements. In the traditional Confucian society where a monistic ethical system warranted by Heaven was maintained and political equality was not endorsed, the content of the true interest of society was determined by the early great kings and sages who could understand Heaven’s grand plan. Political authority was only given to those who morally virtuous such as the king and ministers, and the people were treated like the grass bended by their moral charisma. Accordingly, the concept of political representation in Confucianism is characterized by the rulers’ moral character and defined as “realizing the true interest of political community by relying on a virtuous ruler’s moral ability that requires him or her to sincerely care about ordinary people’s emotions and transform them into morally cultivated ones in the political process.” When this Confucian conception of political representation is reconstructed in a way that satisfies the basic ideas of democracy, equal political participation, which is understood as mutual moral transformation in the Confucian public sphere, makes it possible for Confucian sentimentalist representation to function as a valid mode of political representation in contemporary East Asian society.

Date of Award	30 Jan 2019
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Sungmoon KIM (Supervisor)