Formulating a Minimalist Morality for a New Planetary Order: Alternative Cultural Perspectives

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Formulating a Minimalist Morality for a New Planetary Order

Alternative Cultural Perspectives

Edited by: Roger T. Ames , Jin Young Lim , Steven Y. H. Yang and Roger T. Ames
With contributions by: Michael Walzer , Owen Flanagan , Feng Zhang , Baogang He , Michael Walzer , Owen Flanagan , Feng Zhang , Baogang He , Amita Chatterjee , May Sim , J. Baird Callicott , Oliver Leaman , Sun Xiangchen , Roger T. Ames , Xiaoyu Lu , Hans-Georg Moeller , Brook Ziporyn , Jin Y. Park , Vrinda Dalmiya , Workineh Kelbessa , David B. Wong , Albert Welter and James Hankins

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2025

About this book

The Westphalian model of international relations has given us a zero-sum game of winners and losers that has proven to be ineffective in addressing the pressing issues of our times. Philosopher Zhao Tingyang has argued that by conceptualizing international relations from the planetary perspective of tianxia, we can develop a sense of “worldness” that at once acknowledges the plurality of moral ideals defining of the world’s cultures and seeks practical ways to formulate a shared morality for the solidarity needed to bring the world’s people together. In this spirit, political theorist Michael Walzer, in his Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad, wants “to endorse the politics of difference and, at the same time, to describe and defend a certain sort of universalism.” For Walzer “thin” morality does not mean minor or emotionally shallow morality; on the contrary, thin and intensity come together as “morality close to the bone.”

Turning to alternative philosophies, the contributors to this volume seek to move beyond liberal thinking on a minimalist ethic to include other cultural values—those of the Confucian, Buddhist, Indian, Islamic, Ubuntu, Japanese, European, and Jewish traditions. In order to reconceive of the world as a world, these scholars seek to formulate an answer to the contemporary challenge of a fragmented and failing Westphalian “internationality,” and in so doing, to offer possible conceptions of a shared and practicable morality sorely needed at a planetary scale.

Author / Editor information

Contributor: Roger T. Ames Roger T. Ames is Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, senior academic advisor of the Berggruen Research Center at Peking University, and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Hawai‘i. --- Contributor: Jin Young Lim Jin Young Lim is a doctoral candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. --- Contributor: Steven Y. H. Yang Steven Y. H. Yang is Tianxia Project Consultant at the Berggruen China Center. --- Contributor: Roger T. Ames Roger T. Ames is Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, senior academic advisor of the Berggruen Research Center at Peking University, and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Hawai‘i. --- Contributor: Roger T. Ames Roger T. Ames is Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, senior academic advisor of the Berggruen Research Center at Peking University, and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Hawai‘i. --- Contributor: Jin Y. Park Jin Y. Park is William Fraser McDowell Chair Professor of Philosophy and Religion and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, American University.

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Frontmatter
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Contents
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Acknowledgments
ix

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Introduction
1
Roger T. Ames, Jin Young Lim and Steven Y. H. Yang

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Liberal Formulations of a Minimalist Morality
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1 The Moral Minimum
17
Michael Walzer

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2 The United Nations and Minimal Morality
25
Owen Flanagan

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Alternative Formulations of a Minimalist Morality with Liberal Characteristics
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3 Tianxia with Liberal Democratic Characteristics? Precedents for a Cultural Renaissance Based on Inclusive Engagements
39
Albert Welter

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4 Maximalist and Minimalist Justice in a Scalable Tianxia World Order
56
Feng Zhang

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5 Beyond the Polarized Human Rights Politics: A Tianxia Perspective
81
Baogang He

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Alternative Cultural Perspectives on a Minimalist Morality
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6 May No One Suffer: More than a Minimalist Ethic
105
Amita Chatterjee

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7 Confucians and Daoists: On Minimal Morality
113
May Sim

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8 The Topos of Mu and the Predicative Self
130
J. Baird Callicott

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9 Ritual and Geopolitics: The Case of Judaism
156
Oliver Leaman

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10 Family Feeling (Qinqin): Between Identity and Alterity
170
Sun Xiangchen

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11 The Confucian Concept of the Political, and “ Family Feeling” (Xiao) as Its Minimalist Morality
199
Roger T. Ames

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Illuminating the Inverse Dimensions of a Minimalist Morality
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12 After Order: Interregnum and Ethics of Disorder in Global Politics
223
Xiaoyu Lu

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13 Minimalist Amorality: A Con temporary Daoist Perspective
235
Hans-Georg Moeller

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14 Minimalist Morality among Civilizational Dyarchies
246
James Hankins

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15 What Does All Desire Really Want? Will to Control, Will to Power, Will to Biantong
258
Brook Ziporyn

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In Search of an Inclusive Global Justice
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16 Moral Minimalism and Engaged Global Citizenship: A Buddhist Perspective
289
Jin Y. Park

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17 From Epistemology to Justice: Thinking Through a Cross-Cultural Exemplar
311
Vrinda Dalmiya

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18 Remapping Global Realities: The Need for Building a More Sustainable and Inclusive World
327
Workineh Kelbessa

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19 An Ethical and Social Epistemology for Meeting Global Crises
358
David B. Wong

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20 A Supra- ethnic Perspective in Ethnology: The Trans- systemic Society and the Question of Sinicization
373
Wang Hui

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Contributors
389

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Index
397

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

May 22, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9780824898915

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824898915

eBook ISBN: 9780824898915

Keywords for this book

Asia international relations; Buddhist philosophy; Confucian philosophy; internationality; Islamic philosophy; Ubuntu philosophy; Westphalia

Audience(s) for this book

For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research

University of Hawai'i Press

Formulating a Minimalist Morality for a New Planetary Order

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 The Moral Minimum

2 The United Nations and Minimal Morality

3 Tianxia with Liberal Democratic Characteristics? Precedents for a Cultural Renaissance Based on Inclusive Engagements

4 Maximalist and Minimalist Justice in a Scalable Tianxia World Order

5 Beyond the Polarized Human Rights Politics: A Tianxia Perspective

6 May No One Suffer: More than a Minimalist Ethic

7 Confucians and Daoists: On Minimal Morality

8 The Topos of Mu and the Predicative Self

9 Ritual and Geopolitics: The Case of Judaism

10 Family Feeling (Qinqin): Between Identity and Alterity

11 The Confucian Concept of the Political, and “ Family Feeling” (Xiao) as Its Minimalist Morality

12 After Order: Interregnum and Ethics of Disorder in Global Politics

13 Minimalist Amorality: A Con temporary Daoist Perspective

14 Minimalist Morality among Civilizational Dyarchies

15 What Does All Desire Really Want? Will to Control, Will to Power, Will to Biantong

16 Moral Minimalism and Engaged Global Citizenship: A Buddhist Perspective

17 From Epistemology to Justice: Thinking Through a Cross-Cultural Exemplar

18 Remapping Global Realities: The Need for Building a More Sustainable and Inclusive World

19 An Ethical and Social Epistemology for Meeting Global Crises

20 A Supra- ethnic Perspective in Ethnology: The Trans- systemic Society and the Question of Sinicization

Contributors

Index

Bibliographic data