Considerations For A Confucian Ecological Humanism

Abstract

The thesis here is based on the methodological assumption that the Analects of Confucius should be interpreted within the greater context of the Four Books, Five Classics, Xunzi, and the works of Neo-Confucian literati. It is argued that the Analects can be consistently modeled as an environmental ethics of weak anthropocentrism so long as it is read according to two provisos: first, provided that “weak anthropocentrism” is used in its standard sense in the context of contemporary environmental ethics; second, provided that the hermeneutic method of situating the Analects within the system of the Four Books, Five Classics, Xunzi, and Song-Ming Confucian texts is suspended. As soon as the hermeneutic suspension required by the second proviso is lifted, the heuristic conclusion in favor of the anthropocentric reading of the Analects is dialectically superseded by a non-anthropocentric model of ecological humanism.