University at Buffalo 3 credits Philosophy
This course is designed to enable you to engage constructively with classical Chinese thinking about ethics and politics, treating the views of Chinese philosophers as resources for constructing our own views about issues of ethical and political concern that we still confront today. Chinese ethical and political views lend themselves to this constructive engagement for a couple of reasons. First, early Chinese philosophers were human beings confronting questions and practical challenges that are similar to those we still face today, challenges about how to live a human life, what it means to do that well, what kinds of people we should be, how we can become those kinds of people, what we should do to get along well with one another, how we might structure society to better enable that, and so on. Second, early Chinese philosophers existed in a different context, with a different language, a different cultural inheritance, a different set of material, social, and political circumstances, and some different basic assumptions about topics ranging from human psychology to cosmology and metaphysics. This gives us the opportunity to come together with them and compare notes, so to speak, finding places where they may have been especially insightful, noticing something about human nature that we haven’t yet, or where they may have been especially creative, coming up with solutions to ethical puzzles that we haven’t yet. Whereas the differences that we find might yield helpful supplements to our current views, the similarities that we find might also help to give us more confidence in some views we currently hold by confirming that these views are not simply parochial or culturally-dependent. As with any good conversation about ethics and politics, the hope here is that we all walk away with clearer, richer, and more helpful ideas about how to live with one another.
Our subject experts help with essays, research papers, case studies, discussion posts, and capstone projects for these programs — written from scratch to your course requirements.
Program and course information is reproduced from each university's published academic catalog for informational purposes and may change. Always confirm current requirements with your university. We are an independent academic support service and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the universities listed.
Expert guides on essay writing, citation styles, study skills, and academic success.
View All Articles
Learn how to write a good research question for a paper. Narrow your topic, identify a research problem, and create a focused question with practical examples.
Learn how to choose a research topic you can actually research. Discover how to narrow broad ideas, find reliable sources, and develop a focused research question.
Learn how to cite sources in a research paper using APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, with in-text citation examples and reference-list tips.