JOURNAL ARTICLES

& Book Chapters

 

Virtue Ethics and Moral Psychology

Is virtue ethics more psychologically realistic than deontology or utilitarianism, the two currently dominant models of ethics in Western philosophy? That is, does the virtue ethics model of moral reasoning and moral education fit better with our current best understanding of human cognition? Does early Confucianism offer a model of what an empirically-plausible virtue ethics might look like?

Several of my earlier publications explore the connection between cognitive science and virtue ethics, including a defence of Confucian virtue ethics from the so-called “situationist” critique. I also have plans with colleagues in psychology and neuroscience to contribute to the empirical literature on this subject.

Asterisks indicate refereed publications; sole-authored unless otherwise indicated.

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“Introduction: Cognitive Science and Chinese Philosophy,” in Huang, Kevin and Edward Slingerland (editors), Guoji Hanxue luncong 國際漢學論叢 Special Issue on Chinese Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology in Hong Kong, in press.

“邁向經驗上可信賴的論理學：認知科學，德性論理，與中國早期思想德‘不費力注意’” [A re-refereed and updated version of a 2010 book chapter, “Toward an Empirically Responsible Ethics: Cognitive Science, Virtue Ethics, and Effortless Attention in Early Chinese Thought,” (PDF) translated by 马鼎当 into Chinese], 中國哲學與文化 [The Journal of Chinese Philosophy and Culture] 9: 35-75 (May 2012). *

“The Situationist Critique and Early Confucian Virtue Ethics,” (PDF) Ethics 121.2 (January 2011): 390-419. *

Selected as a target article for discussion on the Philosophy blog “Pea Soup”

Revised and reprinted in Cultivating Virtue: Perspectives From Psychology, Theology and Philosophy (ed. Nancy Snow), 135-170. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

“‘Of What Use Are the Odes?’ Cognitive Science, Virtue Ethics, and Early Confucian Ethics,” (PDF) Philosophy East & West 61.1 (January 2011): 80-109. *

Reprinted in New Directions in Chinese Philosophy (ed. Cheng Chung-yi and Cheung Chan-fai), Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2014, pp. 69-102.

Chinese translation by Ai Chenyi 艾宸伊, “誦《詩》三百，亦奚以為？身體性的思維和早期儒家的修身”, published in 中國儒學 [Chinese Confucian Studies] 10, October 2015, 212-243.

“Toward an Empirically Responsible Ethics: Cognitive Science, Virtue Ethics, and Effortless Attention in Early Chinese Thought,” (PDF) in Effortless Attention: A New Perspective in the Cognitive Science of Attention and Action, ed. Brian Bruya, 247-286. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (2010). *

“Virtue Ethics, the Analects, and the Problem of Commensurability,” (PDF) Journal of Religious Ethics 29.1 (Summer 2001): 97-125. *

Reprinted in Confucian Studies: Critical Concepts, ed. Yao Xinzhong and Tu Weiming, Routledge 2013.