Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy is a book by Bryan W. Van Norden that presents an encompassing view of Confucianism in light of virtue ethics and of Mohism in light of consequentialism. Throughout the book, Van Norden makes excellent and understandable bridges to compare the philosophies of the East and the West. He takes the perspectives presented by Aristotle’s virtue ethics and other western philosophers and contrasts them with the conceptions that Confucianism offers towards leading a virtuous life and the process of the ethical cultivation of one's self, as well as drawing analogues between Mohism and consequentialism through obviously thorough archaeological and philosophical research into Chinese history. …show more content…
I think he developed this idea incredibly well, despite the discouragement some authors feel to compare such expansive and independently conceived philosophies. As I am reader whose philosophical domain lies primarily in western philosophy and I must contend that I found Van Norden's interpretation to be both substantial and compelling as it made me better understand Kongzi's philosophy towards the “human good.” Van Norden brings to light that both Aristotle and Kongzi make clear what the “human good” is and how the ideas about virtue tie together what is necessary for a virtuous individual to lead a “good life.” However, I felt the analogies he drew to relate Mengzi and Aristotle to be taxing, for I think, that in Van Norden's account of Mengzi, Mengzi is more analogous to Hume, a point I would like to expand upon and clarify. Mengzi holds that ren (defined in class as the virtue of all virtues!) is at the center of good ethical behavior. It's primacy overcomes other virtues because it defines humaneness and speaks to the humanistic aspects of Confucianism. Van Norden expands upon this definition by claiming that ren has a larger implication, as it is equivalent to the whole of morality. To me, these warm sentiments are much more analogous to most people's understanding of Hume's philosophy of …show more content…
I found most interesting in this chapter the exploration of “Jian'ai,” an idea that Van Norden describes as “impartial caring.” This was interesting because this was a way in which Mozi directly attacked Confucians who argued that partialism was justified. Mozi held that love should be universal and that one should care for all people equally. I agree with Van Norden's evaluation of Jian'ai here as he gives several consecutive arguments that systemically dismantle Mozi's idea in favor of Confucianism. He argues that in the case of a caretaker and a ruler, graded love vastly overtakes the importance of universal love, which I think is commonsensical, though I did not think that Van Norden elaborate enough to suggest that on a societal basis whether graded love held more merit than Jian'ai, because I mean, who doesn't like socialism? – by this midterm's elections, apparently a whole lot of