Li as cultural grammar: On the relation between li and ren in Confucius' Analects

Document Type

Article

Department or Administrative Unit

Philosophy and Religious Studies

Publication Date

7-2007

Abstract

A major controversy in the study of the Analects has been over the relation between the two central concepts of li 禮 (rites, rituals of propriety) and ren 仁 (humanity, human excellence). Confucius seems to have said inconsistent things about this relation. Some passages appear to suggest that ren is more fundamental than li, while others seem to imply the contrary, and it is therefore not surprising that there have been different interpretations and characterizations. In this essay I will present an interpretation that I believe best characterizes the relation between li and ren. Using the analogy of language grammar and mastery of a language, I propose that we should understand li as a cultural grammar and ren as the mastery of a culture. In this account, society cultivates its members through li toward the goal of ren, and persons of ren manifest their human excellence through the practice of li.

Comments

This article was originally published in Philosophy East and West. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.

Due to copyright restrictions, this article is not available for free download from ScholarWorks @ CWU.

Journal

Philosophy East and West

Rights

© 2007 by University of Hawai‘i Press

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