Latest Posts
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Confucian Cosmopolitanism
Princeton Philosopher, Kwame Anthony Appiah, argues, in Sunday’s NYT Magazine, that, in the face of globalization, the best ethical stance to take on questions of cultural difference is cosmopolitanism: The right approach, I think, starts by taking individuals… Continue reading
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Taoist Thought of the Day
From The Rambling Taoist: When events occur that we [Taoists] don’t easily understand, we don’t presume that some benevolent or malevolent force is at work. We acknowledge that, as human beings, we are unable to grasp the breadth… Continue reading
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The Cost of Death
Today, in Slate, Steven E. Landsburg recounts the sad story of Tirhas Habtegiris: …a 27-year-old terminal cancer patient at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas, was removed from her ventilator last month because she couldn’t pay her medical… Continue reading
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Is South Korea a “Confucian Society”?
A good piece in the NYT today on the "Korean wave" of popular culture that is washing over China of late: From clothes to hairstyle, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many… Continue reading
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Rent-a-Grandparent
I missed this in yesterday’s People’s Daily, but had to post it today: "Grandparents" rental service offered in Beijing A newly established company in Beijing has offered a novel service to rent "grandparents" so as to deal… Continue reading
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Remember Dongzhou, and all the other injustices
As the year comes to a close, and media attention shifts elsewhere, we should all pause for a moment to remember the Dongzhou killings. As bad as this tragedy was, it was only one of many instances of… Continue reading
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Friday I Ching Blogging: American Politics in the Year Ahead
A reader wrote in this week and asked that I consult the oracle on what will happen to President Bush in the coming year. Specifically she said: "Many of us are waiting anxiously to see if he will be… Continue reading
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Turning Your Father In
Here’s a modern-day Confucian morality tale from the NYT: The three brothers quickly gathered in their small town’s empty fire station to compare notes on the photographs they had happened across on the Internet. In horror, the three… Continue reading
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Dr. Hwang, Meet Mencius
Not much more to add to the Hwang Woo-Suk stem cell disaster that The Marmot has not already covered. In a way, though, the whole thing illustrates just how simple and straightforward Chinese philosophy really is. Take this… Continue reading
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Confucianisms
In commenting on an earlier post, Sperwer and Gordseller both challenge the idea that Confucianism can be taken out of its traditional Chinese or Korean context and refurbished for liberal purposes, which is something I’m interested in. These… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 