Doil Kim (University of Toronto)

Practice Job Talk

Title:  "Partiality in early Confucian ethics"

Abstract:  My talk will be about the unique Confucian way to justify the moral priority given to one's special persons, such as one's parents or child. I argue against a widely accepted comparative approach to the issue in the contemporary field, according to which the Confucian justification of partiality is considered similar to some Western justification. I present what I call "the feasibility thesis," which is that, in early Confucian thought, the moral priority given to one's close persons is justified because it is part of the most feasible way to form one unity with all fellow humans.