De 德 Ethics in the Four Books

Abstract

Abstract Through a detailed analysis of de德 as used in the Four Books (Sishu 四書), this article is intended to examine the unity between two kinds of virtue manifested respectively through cultivating an admirable character in one’s self (moral agent) and enabling aretaic activities in the public sphere (political agent). By investigating how early Confucian masters integrate internal goodness and virtuous governance as the moral reasons for the common good and the flourishing of human community, we seek to reconstruct the ethics in the Four Books that is focused on de as the gravity center. This leads in turn to an account of a particular kind of “virtue ethics” or better, de ethics, which has underpinned all Confucian discourses on personal character and political practices.