Confucian Role Ethics for Women: A Response to Roger Ames
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Room 271
Start Date
15-5-2014
End Date
15-5-2014
Keywords
feminism, confucianism, eastern philosophy
Abstract
In his book, Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary, Roger T. Ames defined the dynamics of Confucian virtues and their portrayal of societal roles people must hold. In this book, Ames provided a description of Confucian ethics without gendering the elements of Confucian philosophy. Simultaneously, he used the male-dominant passages of the Analects to define the virtues and characteristics within the tradition. This use of non-gendered terms, paired with male-dominant examples, ignored women and the place they held in Confucianism as subjects to male power within the defined roles. Confucian Role Ethics does not contain gender-biased wording, however it lacks the female perspective in Confucian concepts and, by exclusion, silences their experience and discounts their specific ethical duties. Just as the Analects had done with exclusion and belittling comparison, so too has Confucian Role Ethics promoted a female subordinate role.
Recommended Citation
Godwin, Ashlee, "Confucian Role Ethics for Women: A Response to Roger Ames " (2014). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 64.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2014/oralpresentations/64
Additional Mentoring Department
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Additional Mentoring Department
Asia/Pacific Studies
Confucian Role Ethics for Women: A Response to Roger Ames
SURC Room 271
In his book, Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary, Roger T. Ames defined the dynamics of Confucian virtues and their portrayal of societal roles people must hold. In this book, Ames provided a description of Confucian ethics without gendering the elements of Confucian philosophy. Simultaneously, he used the male-dominant passages of the Analects to define the virtues and characteristics within the tradition. This use of non-gendered terms, paired with male-dominant examples, ignored women and the place they held in Confucianism as subjects to male power within the defined roles. Confucian Role Ethics does not contain gender-biased wording, however it lacks the female perspective in Confucian concepts and, by exclusion, silences their experience and discounts their specific ethical duties. Just as the Analects had done with exclusion and belittling comparison, so too has Confucian Role Ethics promoted a female subordinate role.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dippmann, Jeffrey