Candles in the Dark: A New Spirit for a Plural World

Chapter 6: Confucian Humanism and the Western Enlightenment

CHAPTER 6 CONFUCIAN HUMANISM AND THE WESTERN ENLIGHTENMENT Tu Weiming In an essay entitled, "Crisis and Creativity: A Confucian Response to the Second Axial-Age CivilizationtI I asked how Confucianism could enrich the spiritual resources of the Western Enlightenment without abandoning its comprehensive humanist vision, its sensitivity to nature, and its dialogical response to Heaven.2 In offering a Confucian perspective on the '~core values" of the global community, I would like to examine that question as a point of departure. I must first give an account ofhow this question was formed. I am keenly aware that the majority of Chinese thinkers struggling to appreciate the significance of the Western Enlightenment mentality for China's modernization have already dismissed their Confucian heritage as the outmoded feudal past, largely irrelevant to modem China's intellectual self-definition and future aspirations. They have assumed that the concerted effort, since the late 19th century, to transcend the Confucian habits of the heart, was motivated by a strong desire to allow China to take part in the modernizing process informed by the Western Enlightenment mentality. For them, the contemporary Confucian revival is an indication of cultural 123 Tu WEIMING conservatism, if not political regression. The suggestion that Confucian humanism can actually contribute to the enrichment of the Enlightenment project may be considered to reflect wishful thinking at best and, at worst, pernicious cultural chauvinism. However, modem perceptions of the human condition informed by ecological insights clearly show that the mentality of the "age of reason," narrowly focused on progress as characterized by the desire to conquer nature, is not only incompatible with sustainable growth but, in the long run, detrimental to human survival. The basic anthropocentric assumptions embedded in progressivism are antithetical to the cosmic story in which the viability of the human species is framed. If Western Enlightenment values, such as reason and liberty, are to continue to inspire the human community, they must be liberated from an outmoded anthropocentrism and recontextualized in a new humanism. This requires humanity's engagement in a sort of mental archaeology to understand how the anthropocentric mentality actually evolved in the 18th century. It is interesting to note that the perceived secular ethics of Confucian China attracted a great deal of interest among the Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire, Quesnay, and Diderot,3 While the humanism that emerged in 18th century Europe was both anti-spiritualist and anti-naturalist, opinions ranged widely concerning religious matters. This spiritless and denatured belief that human rationality alone can provide the transcendental justification of ethics may be taken as a defining characteristic of Western Enlightenment thinking. It is naive to believe that there was indeed an age of reason as envisioned by Kant. The preference given to instrumental rationality at the expense of other forms of rationality, in the subsequent developments of the Enlightenment mentality, is only part of a very complex story. The dynamic of the modem West, as seen by those from the outside who were overwhelmed by its creative and destructive power, was not merely instrumental rationality but the Faustian drive to explore, know, master and conquer. This combination of detached analytical ability and intense passion, fueled by social Darwinism narrowly applied to inter-civilizational competitiveness, 124 CONFUCIAN HUMANISM AND THE WESTERN ENLIGHTENMENT led to the development of international rules of play which defined the fittest exclusively in terms of wealth and power. Colonialism and imperialism certainly poisoned the well of the Western Enlightenment mentality as a source of inspiration and direction for the emerging global community. Yet, the vitality of Enlightenment thinking is predicated on two observations. First, virtually all the spheres of interest in modem societies are bound up with it including science and technology, market economy, democratic polity, mass communication, multi-national corporations, and research universities. Second, the values underlying these spheres of interest-notably liberty, equality, human rights, private property, privacy, and due process of law are also rooted in its precepts. It is highly unlikely then, that societies can develop an alternative ethic without considering these principles. Nevertheless, the mindset underlying the Enlightenment has generated so many unintended negative consequences that a fundamental restructuring of its basic value orientation is necessary. It is vital to put the Enlightenment mentality in a comparative civilization perspective so that its historical particularities can be thoroughly studied as forms of local knowledge that cannot be generalized beyond specific territorial boundaries. What is truly universal about...