Confucian Perfectionism by Chan Joseph;

Author:Chan, Joseph;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2013-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

In this chapter I have argued that there is no incompatibility between Confucianism and the notion of human rights. In the Confucian ideal society there is no need for human rights, and they are not necessary for human dignity or constitutive of human virtues. In nonideal situations, where virtuous relationships break down and mediation fails to reconcile conflict, human rights can serve as a fallback apparatus for the protection of fundamental individual interests. But human rights should not be exalted to eclipse other moral vocabularies such as duty and virtue, or exercised without regard for the interests of other people. To avoid the rise of rights talk, Confucians prefer to restrict rights to civil and political rights—not because social and economic needs are less important but because civil and political interests are more easily protected by litigation. The promotion of economic rights, on the other hand, requires sound economic institutions and policies that cannot easily be ensured through the legal language of human rights. In addition, there are three reasons for giving civil and political rights priority over social and economic rights in a Confucian-inspired society. First, the adoption of civil and political rights redresses a strong tendency within Confucianism to overempower political leaders. Second, there are rich conceptual and ethical resources in a Confucian-inspired society to protect and promote people’s material needs and social relationships (i.e., the concerns of social and economic rights). Third, similarly to contemporary thinkers, early Confucian thinkers such as Mencius recognized that the chief causes of severe poverty and famine are political corruption and despotism, which require sound political solutions. Today, political corruption and despotism are prevented by a robust set of civil and political rights and legal apparatus that protect not only people’s physical security and freedom but also their fundamental material needs and interests.

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