Customer Reviews

Confucius: The Secular As Sacred

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is essential reading for anyone seriously interested in Confucius, Confucianism, or early Chinese thought in general. It is quite convincing on some points, but also very problematic on others.

Fingarette was a mainstream Western philosopher, who said that when he first read Confucius, he found him to be a "prosaic and parochial moralizer." However, he eventually became convinced that Confucius had "an imaginative vision of man equal in its grandeur" to any that he knew.

Fingarette is at his best explaining the importance of ritual in Confucianism. Most of us nowadays think of rituals as useless affectations. However, Fingarette shows that Confucius regarded rituals (from handshaking to funerals) as an important part of being human. It is when we participate in such ritual activities that we are most distinctively human. In addition, ritual has the power to enable humans to work together without the need for coercion. Perhaps if we in the West can recover the feeling for the importance of shared, sacred rituals, we can help give more unity to our chaotic society.

Fingarette was also deeply influenced by Western behaviorism, and this leads to some of the less plausible aspects of his book. He wishes to deny that there is any "internal" dimension to Confucius' thought. If what Fingarette wishes to claim is that Confucius did not think of human psychology the way that, say, Augustine or Descartes did, then he is quite correct. (But then who is Fingarette arguing with? No serious interpreter I know of has read Confucius as a Cartesian.) However, Fingarette sometimes seems to want to claim that emotions and attitudes are, for Confucius, perfectly public states. I think that this is to project Western behaviorism onto Confucius (and behaviorism itself derives what limited plausibility it has from being a reaction to more extreme forms of Cartesianism).

Warts and all, this is still a classic book on Confucius after almost twenty years. If you want to learn more about Confucius, H.G. Creel's _Confucius and the Chinese Way_ is worth reading. For broader surveys of Confucianism, you might read Philip J. Ivanhoe's _Confucian Moral Self Cultivation_, or the anthology he and I co-edited, _Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy_.

I very much enjoyed the originality of this book. I don't agree with the author's major premise regarding the interpretation of one of the analects, but I found the originality refreshing. This should not be your first book on Confucius. But once you are comfortable in having some understanding of his teachings, at least enough understanding to recognize when Fingarette departs from orthodox interpretations, then you will greatly enjoy this book. I think it is a "must read" for serious students! If you are interested in a practical view of Confucianism, I recommend the book by Robert Canright: "Achieve Lasting Happiness, Timeless Secrets to Transform Your Life."

As an undergraduate and graduate student I have read this book a total of at least five times. Each time, I am impressed by how clearly Fingarette clarifies the important fundamentals of Confucianism that we often forget in our attempt to exoticize this central Chinese philosopher. A short, easy to read book, it ranks with Waley's "Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China" as one of the first important texts to read to understand Chinese philosophy.

This book offers a unique perspective on the Confucian vision. As someone who has studied Confucius and Confucianism in Chinese for more than ten years, I believe that Fingarette has revealed an important aspect of the original vision of Confucius even though the book has some flaws. (That is why I have only awarded it four stars.) He is as careful with the text as he can be without being an Orientalist and without expertise in classical Chinese language. This is commendable.

Fingarette's main argument is that rituals (li) played a central role in Confucius's thinking not only because of their social significance but also because of their religious or spiritual significance. In fact, Fingarette goes on to argue that the social significance derives from the religious significance. I generally agree that this is indeed one of Confucius's most important teachings, and that it is under-appreciated or misinterpreted in modern scholarship. I also agree with Fingarette's view that Confucius saw human civilization as a perfect embodiment of the Way if it is united under the central symbol of holy ceremony.

As Fingarette neatly points out, modern Western thought has gravitated towards a utilitarian view of responsibility, which is in stark contrast to Confucius's view of responsibility as personal commitment. Fingarette, to his credit, avoids framing the discussion around individual and society. For Confucius, the ethical life is largely a problem of personal commitment (or will) rather than a problem of decision. It is a pity that Fingarette did not develop the notion of committed self-cultivation further. I would recommend Confucian Moral Cultivation by P J Ivanhoe for readers interested in this important theme.

Now some of the flaws:
- Fingarette takes J L Austin's notion performative utterance too far.
- Fingarette stubbornly resists the inward dimension of certain important concepts such as ren (jen).
- Chapter 4 is weak due to his inadequate understanding of Chinese history.

Nonetheless, Fingarette's book is refreshing despite its flaws because it helps the reader to cut through modern bias and appreciate the original Confucius. It is not an introductory book on Confucius ad Confucianism, but certainly not a book that a serious student of Confucius or Confucianism can ignore.

concise, well-written and constructed (as you would expect with Prof. Fingarette. He focusses on some subtle concepts of the Confucian Era - mostly about the concept of duty and responsibility. Dr. Fingarette is one of my favorite thinkers.

While thought provoking, Fingarette often misses the nuances of meaning in the text of the _Analects_, which limits the accuracy of his understanding. Further, Fingarette underestimates the difficulties inherent in dealing with a text which clearly is the work of many hands over a longer period of time, not a treatise in the western sense. This book is worth reading, but must be approached with great skepticism.