Engaging with Li 禮 in the European Philosophy Classroom
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Geir Sigurðsson
Abstract
For students of Western philosophy, the Confucian li 禮, conventionally translated as “ritual”, arguably comes across as the weakest link in the Confucian philosophy qua philosophy. Students exposed to it for the first time may find it unattractive, antiquarian, and therefore entirely unphilosophical. This essay suggests four helpful approaches to the introduction of li in the European classroom: 1. The “expiative,” emphasizing the much wider scope of li than implied in the conventional gloss “ritual”; 2. the “reassessed ritual,” providing a philosophical re-evaluation of the complex nature of “ritual” in light of relatively recent philosophical schools of thought; 3. the “internal critical,” analyzing the critical discussion of li by other philosophical schools of ancient China; and, lastly, 4. the “Confucian theory,” unfolding the sophisticated Confucian exposition of li as an integral aspect of personal cultivation and social integration, which may include and combine all other three approaches.
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© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial Preface
- Preface
- I. Teaching Daoist Philosophy
- Experiences of Learning, Teaching, and Investigating Chinese Philosophy in Europe
- Zhuangzi as Educator: Spectatorial Engagement and Transcultural Understanding for Global Citizenship
- Teaching Chinese Philosophy Outside the Philosophy Classroom: Reflections on Contents, Methods, and Prospects
- From “Being and Time” to “Dao and Time”
- II. Teaching Confucian Philosophy
- How to Interpret Chinese Philosophy to the West—My Experience of Teaching Chinese Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin
- Teaching through Sublation: Political and Philosophical Confucianism
- Engaging with Li 禮 in the European Philosophy Classroom
- A Few Reflections from Central Europe on Teaching Chinese Philosophy
- Teaching Chinese Philosophy: From a “Skill-Based” to a “Thinking Through Early Chinese Philosophy” Approach
- The Teaching of “Chinese Philosophy” in Sinology Studies
- Look Back in Anger? Chinese Philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum
- III. Teaching Chinese Buddhist Philosophy
- Buddhism as Philosophy: Exercise in Observing Observation: The Nonduality of Paradoxical and Representational Thinking in Chinese Buddhism
- Ideas, Labels, and Boxes – The Three Teachings in Cheng Xuanying’s Early Tang Commentary to the Laozi and Some Reflections on our Scholarly Explorations of the Three Teachings
- IV. Miscellaneous
- Die Bildung abstrakter Begriffe in archaischen chinesischen Schriften: Humboldt’sche Perspektiven
- Chinesische Sprache und Schrift in philosophischer und kulturübergreifender Sicht—ein Vorlesungsplan
- Bio-Bibliography
- Name Index
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial Preface
- Preface
- I. Teaching Daoist Philosophy
- Experiences of Learning, Teaching, and Investigating Chinese Philosophy in Europe
- Zhuangzi as Educator: Spectatorial Engagement and Transcultural Understanding for Global Citizenship
- Teaching Chinese Philosophy Outside the Philosophy Classroom: Reflections on Contents, Methods, and Prospects
- From “Being and Time” to “Dao and Time”
- II. Teaching Confucian Philosophy
- How to Interpret Chinese Philosophy to the West—My Experience of Teaching Chinese Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin
- Teaching through Sublation: Political and Philosophical Confucianism
- Engaging with Li 禮 in the European Philosophy Classroom
- A Few Reflections from Central Europe on Teaching Chinese Philosophy
- Teaching Chinese Philosophy: From a “Skill-Based” to a “Thinking Through Early Chinese Philosophy” Approach
- The Teaching of “Chinese Philosophy” in Sinology Studies
- Look Back in Anger? Chinese Philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum
- III. Teaching Chinese Buddhist Philosophy
- Buddhism as Philosophy: Exercise in Observing Observation: The Nonduality of Paradoxical and Representational Thinking in Chinese Buddhism
- Ideas, Labels, and Boxes – The Three Teachings in Cheng Xuanying’s Early Tang Commentary to the Laozi and Some Reflections on our Scholarly Explorations of the Three Teachings
- IV. Miscellaneous
- Die Bildung abstrakter Begriffe in archaischen chinesischen Schriften: Humboldt’sche Perspektiven
- Chinesische Sprache und Schrift in philosophischer und kulturübergreifender Sicht—ein Vorlesungsplan
- Bio-Bibliography
- Name Index
