GE1116 - Confucianism and Liberalism: Comparative Perspectives of Civic Life

This investigates the meaning of civic life in the liberal and Confucian traditions from cross-cultural and comparative perspectives. The course focuses on how both philosophical and cultural traditions understand and practice core moral and civic concepts—such as morality, civility, civic virtue, and citizenship--differently. After examining each moral and cultural tradition’s peculiar way to cultivate individuality and public citizenship, the course pays special attention to how Confucian familism can contribute to the creation of a uniquely Confucian mode of civility and citizenship. Then, the course explores a mode (or modes) of civility and citizenship that is (or are) culturally relevant and socially practicable in East Asian societies.