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Confucian Moral Self Cultivation. By PHILIP J. IVANHOE. New York: Peter Lang, 1993. xii, 115 pp. $35.95 (cloth).
This book is an outstanding study of the Confucian philosophical tradition. It focuses on the views regarding self-cultivation of five of the most influential Confucians, along with one thinker who deserves more attention than he has received. I am aware of no other work in English that introduces such a broad range of figures from the Confucian tradition with such depth and accuracy. This book is insightful on the primary Confucian texts and is superbly informed about the best secondary literature in Sinology, Chinese philosophy, and Western philosophy. This is one of those rare works that provides an accessible introduction to the novice, yet challenges the specialist scholar.
It is still far too common to hear generalizations about "the Confucian tradition" that are either vacuous or demonstrably false. In contrast, Ivanhoe provides detailed, nuanced interpretations of how individual Confucians selectively adopted, adapted, and innovated within the context provided by earlier thinkers. For example, Confucius believed that virtues are...