The Foundations of Confucian Political Thought: History, Law, and the Political Community
A
book-length study of the foundations of Confucian political thought.
My proposed book project, provisionally titled 'The Foundations of Confucian Political Thought: History, Law, and the Political Community,' will focus on the intersection of the concepts of time and space in Classical Confucian thought. More specifically, the project aims to delineate the Confucian conception of the political community by asking such questions as: What are the criteria for membership in it? Is territory important, why, and how? What explains the Confucian concern for the past? Can this concern with the past be considered sacred? Can history (as opposed to religion or metaphysics more broadly) be the normative foundation of Confucian political thought? The project aims to contribute to the expansion of the study of political philosophy and the history of political thought beyond the Western tradition.