Cosmic Law and Human Ethics

Abstract

Emerson’s thought and Zhu Xi’s teachings merit careful comparison with regard to the correspondence between cosmic law and human morality and ethics. The first section compares Zhu’s concept of “equilibrium and harmony” and Emerson’s idea of “peace” as they reflect the philosophers’ respective views of the relation between the human individual and society. The second section compares Zhu’s “investigation of things and the perfection of knowledge” and Emerson’s “correspondence” in terms of the value and role of knowledge and virtue in both the mind and things, as well as in terms of their views on language. The third section compares Zhu’s “seriousness” and Emerson’s “moral sentiment,” foundational human moral and religious feelings of awe and reverence for the invisible world, in terms of their nature and function. The fourth section compares Zhu’s Dao and Emerson’s “moral law” as at once fundamental principles of life and generation as well as the standards of human morality. Finally, the fifth section compares the philosophers’ “blessing the good and punishing the bad” and “compensation” in terms of their respective theories of reward and punishment for the morality of human actions. As we shall see, close similarities may be observed in each of these areas, all deriving from Zhu’s and Emerson’s essentially similar understandings of the underlying identity of the laws governing the natural and ethical realms.