Agency, Culture, Modernity: Towards a New Understanding of Confucian Practical Reasoning

Abstract

In this essay, I argue for a historical‐critical perspective on rationality. In our global age, we in the West need to come to terms with the fact that non‐Western traditions have developed complex forms of practical rationality. I will first give an overview of what I call the “Confucian standards of reasoning.” Secondly, I will explain how the Neo‐Confucian thinker Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200) has rearticulated the earlier understanding of practical reasoning. Thirdly, I will demonstrate why a comparative perspective may enrich our reasoned engagement with individuals in the Chinese‐speaking world. In developing forms of global reasoning, we should make sure that these are neither parochial nor difference‐blind.