2nd Lecture on Global Justice: "The Conception of YI in Mencius"

Organizer: Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-Sen University

Topic: "The Conception of YI in Mencius"

Speaker: Prof. TAN Sor-hoon (Philosophy, National University of Singapore)

Moderator: Prof. Jun-Hyeok KWAK (Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai), SYSU)

Time: September 8th, 4:00pm-6:00pm

Venue: Administration Building 13, Room 106

Abstract: Together with ren and li, the notion of yi occupies a central position in early Confucian philosophy. It has been translated as “righteousness” and occasionally even “justice.” Mencius’ claim that there is no “yizhan” in the Spring and Autumn period, for example, has been read as a claim that there were no “just wars.” The topic of justice being so important in contemporary moral and political philosophy, has given rise to various discussions of Confucian conceptions of justice from comparative perspectives, for example comparisons with Rawls’s theory of justice. Are the early Confucians concerned with the same problems that preoccupy contemporary philosophers such as Rawls? Do early Confucian teachings offer similar or alternative solutions to those problems?