The ways of Confucianism : investigations in Chinese philosophy / David S. Nivison ; edited with an introduction by Bryan W. Van Norden.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [315]-330) and indexes.

"Nivison brings out the exciting variety within Confucian thought, as he interprets and elucidates key thinkers from over two thousand years, from Confucius himself, through Mencius and Xunzi, to such later Confucians as Wang Yangming, Dai Zhen, and Zhang Xuecheng."--Cover.

Characteristics of Nivision's Work -- Paper Summaries -- Investigations in Chinese Philosophy -- Ancient Philosophy -- Recent Centuries -- Investigations in Chinese Philosophy -- "Virtue" in Bone and Bronze -- The Paradox of 'Virtue' -- Can Virtue Be Self-Taught? -- A Review of Mencius -- Xunzi -- Neo-Confucianism -- Wang Yangming -- The Qing Dynasty -- Zhang Xuecheng -- Dai Zhen -- Golden Rule Arguments in Chinese Moral Philosophy -- Examples and Distinctions -- Shu in the Analects -- Fung Yu-lan on Zhong and Shu -- An Alternative Interpretation -- Later Chinese Interpretations -- Concluding Reflections -- Ancient Philosophy -- Weakness of Will in Ancient Chinese Philosophy -- Confucius -- Mozi and Mencius -- Xunzi -- Models of Mind and Desire -- Motivation and Moral Action in Mencius -- "Self-Rejection" As a Form of Action Failure -- How Is Moral Action Possible? The Concept of "Extending" -- One-Source and Two-Source Moralities -- How Is "Extending" Possible? -- A Limited Defense of Mencius -- Deontology or Consequentialism? -- The Problem of Immediate Action -- Am I Responsible for How I Feel? -- The Regress Problem -- Comparisons -- The Problem in Zhuangzi and Xunzi -- A Sampling of Western Views -- Philosophical Voluntarism in Fourth-Century China -- "What you don't get from 'words'..." -- Historical Assumptions -- The Gongsun Chou Dialogue -- A Parallel in Zhuangzi -- Mohist Voluntarism and Gaozi -- Two Roots or One? -- Problems in the Mengzi: 6A3-5 -- Mengzi 6A1-2 -- Mengzi 6A3.1 -- Mengzi 6A3.2.