ERIC Number: EJ1194906
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1857
EISSN: N/A
Confucius' "Junzi" [Chinese characters omitted]: The Conceptions of Self in Confucian
Song, Jinhua; Jiao, Xiaomin
Educational Philosophy and Theory, v50 n13 p1171-1179 2018
Confucius reinvented the concept of "Junzi" [Chinese characters omitted], an idea of personhood which invites continual assessment whether the concerns people were once devoted to are worthy of ongoing devotion, and how they make a place in the world--a place where they hope they can exercise some governance in their lives. "Junzi" [Chinese characters omitted] is an agent, and has the properties and powers to monitor their lives, and to contribute to societal transformation. Cultivating a person is centrally involved in the politics of subjectivity, in forming and constituting the self because self always reflects the bounds and conventions of its history. The term "Junzi" [Chinese characters omitted] is harnessed to make the individual a significant element for the state through the exercise of a form of power. So this kind of self-mastery incorporates notions of governmentality, freedom and the historical--social context to understandings of the self. So if we understand that the essence of civil society consists in agency-building self-transformation, there is ample evidence that Confucius was committed to reconstructing moral agency and civil society in a way that would be characteristically Confucian. "Junzi" [Chinese characters omitted] is the case in point.
Descriptors: Confucianism, Social Attitudes, Social Change, Self Concept, Social Influences, Moral Values, Educational Philosophy, Self Esteem, Individual Characteristics, Self Control
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
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Language: English
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