Li Chenyang, “Sageliness without Sages: Confucian Political Philosophy for the 21st Century”

Traditional Confucian philosophy has relied on sages for realizing its political ambitions. Yet, Confucian sages existed only in legends. Contemporary thinkers have explored ways for relying on Confucian politicians, Confucian government, or Confucian constitution to promote Confucian social and ethical ideals. I believe that all these alternatives are ideals of the past. By presenting the inescapable“dilemma of ethics and politics,” I argue that, in the 21st century, the only viable Confucian politics is democracy, namely “politics without (depending on) politicians.”

Chenyang Li is Professor of Philosophy at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.