In the received version of the Analects, it’s quite apparent that all of Confucius’s disciples were men. So one might wonder: is this an ethics built just for men? Today we are happy to be joined by Professor Erin Cline, Tagliabue Professor at Georgetown University, to discuss this timely issue, focusing on a controversial passage that features the only woman cited by name in the Analects, Nanzi 南子. Professor Cline argues that the conventional reading of this passage is wrong and that a more plausible understanding of it is important for addressing common criticisms of patriarchy and sexism in the Analects. We also explore various pedagogical themes and strategies for teaching the Analects to students.

Please check out Professor Erin Cline's faculty profile and list of publications here.

Many thanks to The Hong Kong Ethics Lab for sponsoring this podcast series.

Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.

We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.

Co-hosts:
Richard Kim's website
Justin Tiwald's website

Confucianism is well known for prioritizing familial responsibilities and love over other competing demands such as public interest or duties to the state. In this episode we explore two of the best known passages from early Confucianism that some modern scholars believe makes Confucianism morally problematic. The first passage we discuss is the "Upright Gong" passage, Analects 13.18, which has Confucius advocating mutual "covering up" of crimes by fathers and sons. The second passage is Mengzi 7A35, in which Mengzi is asked what the sage king Shun would have done if his father had committed murder. Mengzi's answer, briefly stated, is that Shun would have given up his throne and would have fled with his father to care for him for the rest of his life.

Through these passages we explore questions about justice, consequentialist ethics, and the nature of moral dilemmas (and Confucian ways of handling them).

Play seems to constitute an important part of a flourishing human life. Most of us experience play through things like simple childhood games of hide-and-go-seek or more intellectual activities like chess or go. What these experiences of play have in common is that they are circumscribed in various ways by the times, places, and circumstances established by the boundaries and rules of those games. But what if the attitudes that we bring to play were applied to our lives more broadly? In this episode we explore the concept of play as a way of life. We explore it with Professor Pauline Lee (Saint Louis University), an expert in Chinese thought, focusing on the famous "gourd passage" from Chapter One of the Zhuangzi.

Please check out Professor Pauline Lee's faculty profile and list of publications here.

Many thanks to The Hong Kong Ethics Lab for sponsoring this podcast series.

Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.

We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.

Co-hosts:
Richard Kim's website
Justin Tiwald's website