conflict and communication a changing aissa in a globalizing world

C ONTENTSLu Zhouxiang and Peter Herrmann Chapter 1 Cohesion Instead of Integration – Shifting Borders Peter Herrmann Chapter 2 Neo-Confucian Theory on the Self-Other Relationship: Reth

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lu, Zhouxiang, editor | Herrmann, Peter, 1955- editor

Title: Conflict and communication : a changing Asia in a globalizing world :

social and political perspectives / editors: Lu Zhouxiang and Peter

Herrmann

Description: Hauppauge, New York : Nova Science Publisher's, Inc., 2016 |

Series: Asian studies | Includes index

Identifiers: LCCN 2016018880 (print) | LCCN 2016031925 (ebook) | ISBN

9781634852807 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781634852883 (ebook) | ISBN

9781634852883 ( H%RRN)

Subjects: LCSH: Social change China | Social change Japan | Social

change Korea (South) | Communication Social aspects China |

Communication Social aspects Japan | Communication Social

aspects Korea (South) | Globalization Social aspects China |

Globalization Social aspects Japan | Globalization Social

aspects Korea (South)

Classification: LCC HN733.5 C6427 2016 (print) | LCC HN733.5 (ebook) | DDC

306.095 dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018880

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc † New York

C ONTENTS

Lu Zhouxiang and Peter Herrmann

Chapter 1 Cohesion Instead of Integration – Shifting Borders

Peter Herrmann

Chapter 2 Neo-Confucian Theory on the Self-Other

Relationship: Rethinking the Concept

Yinya Liu

Chapter 3 Ideological Conflict and Communication in Sport

Gwang Ok and Karam Lee

Chapter 4 Political Responses to the Economic Crisis:

Niall Duggan and Kamila Szczepanska

Chapter 5 Engaging with the World: The History of China’s

Participation in the World Fairs (1851–1915) 97

Lu Zhouxiang

Chapter 6 Globalisation, Americanisation and the Emergence

of Consumer Culture in China:

Fuhua Huang

Chapter 7 An Intra-Country Comparison of Chinese Business

Yuhui Gao

Chapter 8 Mother-In-Law and Daughter-In-Law Relationships:

Qin Bo and Cheng Chen

F OREWORD

Asia’s Rise has become an increasingly discussed and debated topic over the past decade The region’s fast growing economic, cultural and political influence has made it one of the pillars of the international order in this new era of globalization The power transition gives rise to the risk of conflict between rival countries, within and beyond Asia It also offers great opportunities for cross-cultural communication and integration

This volume addresses this important and timely topic from social and political perspectives It presents a diverse set of topics including theoretical consideration of conflict and communication, philosophical discussion and cross-cultural comparison It also covers the problematic Sino-Japanese relations and relations between the two Koreas, the 2010 European Financial Crisis, the World’s Fair’s role in globalization and commercialization, and the NBA’s expansion in Asia The book offers a distinctive contribution to our knowledge and understanding of economic, political and ideological conflicts and exchanges across border and provides in-depth examination of the impact of globalization on Asia and of Asia’s role

in global politics and economy

I believe that this creative project has demonstrated its academic significance and we will look forward to sharing its academic achievements I hope you enjoy this volume and welcome all comments in what we hope will

be a stimulating intercultural dialogue

Fan Hong

Professor of Chinese Studies

Bangor University

Peter Herrmann’s opening chapter on ‘Cohesion Instead of Integration – Shifting Borders and the Role of Communications’ presents some theoretical and methodological considerations on dealing with conflict and communication in the context of globalisation The author explains the role communication plays in today’s societies, where borders have shifted in multiple ways The aim is to provoke reflection on the multitude of shifting borders, incompletely captured by the concept of globalisation Furthermore, the chapter highlights some ideas on the role of communication in overcoming the tensions that accompany globalisation It also produces a guideline for achieving multilevel integration as line of reference

Conflict and communication are based on, and developed from, self–other relationships These could be the relationships between individuals, communities, religious groups, social classes, nation states and/or civilisations Yinya Liu’s ‘Neo-Confucian Theory on the Self–Other Relationship: Rethinking the Concept of Responsibility’ explores self–other relationships through an investigation of the ethical structure of responsibility Both Neo-Confucian theories of self-cultivation and Levinas’s theories on the role of the

‘other’ were used to analyse the topic from a cross-cultural comparative perspective The author points out the awakening of a primordial awareness of subjectivity as responsibility before the other, for the other and towards the other Different understandings of what constitutes the subjectivity of the

subject and the alterity of the other enhance, rather than diminish, the

understanding of responsibility and the other in both Western and Chinese thought The chapter concludes that the extension of the self-centre emphasises the role of responsibility in human relatedness In the context of globalisation, this ethical structure of responsibility will enhance the understanding of one’s own culture and the others’ culture, responsibly Since the end of the Second World War, political ideology has become one of the most important factors in conflicts between Asian countries and, hence, in the continuously transformation of the geopolitical map of Asia Gwang Ok and Karam Lee’s chapter on ‘Ideological Conflict and Communication in Sport between the Two Koreas’ explores the divided history of the two Koreas, which came about as a result of ideological differences The authors study the role of sport in conflict and communication between North Korea and South Korea and conclude that sport has been used

as a vehicle for expressing the ideological confrontation and conflict between North and South Korea At the same time, inter-Korean sports exchanges that are free from ideological or political purposes can help to enhance the relationship between the two Koreas Thus, even though it is difficult to free sport from politics, as it is largely funded by the state and structured according

to long-term plans driven at either the governmental or non-governmental level, inter-Korean sports exchanges are important as they seek to promote peaceful coexistence and eventually contribute to the reunification of the divided Korean peninsula

Holton (1998) has asserted that ‘[g]lobalization is the key idea of one single world or human society, in which all regional, national, and local elements are tied together in one interdependent whole’ Some regard globalisation as a negative phenomenon that represents the dominance of Western economic and cultural interests over the rest of the world (Bairner,

Introduction xi

2001), arguing that it tends to create a homogeneous global society, thus causing economic, cultural, ideological and political conflict Others believe that globalisation speeds up the diffusion of ideas, goods, information, capital and people, and offers ‘the opportunity for greater democratization, increased education and health care, and new possibilities within the global economy that provide entry to members of races, regions, and classes’ (Kellner, 2002, p.301) The economic and political impacts of globalisation on Asian countries are discussed by Niall Duggan and Kamila Szczepanska in their chapter on

‘Political Responses to the Economic Crisis: China, Japan and South Korea’ Duggan and Szczepanska examine the reactions of China, Japan and South Korea to the on-going financial crisis in the European Union (EU) in the context of globalisation They argue that the reduction in the economic activity

of European countries has had far-reaching consequences for the EU’s key trading partners in East Asia Being both major stakeholders in the EU market and home to the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves, China, Japan and South Korea have become prime targets for the EU as sources of funding On the one hand, the desire for Chinese financial support has increased China’s overall influence in the EU and the global governance system as a whole On the other hand, this increase in China’s global influence has challenged the interests of the other major players in East Asia, namely Japan and South Korea, who wish to maintain their level of influence on their key trading partners and within regional and global economic governance

Globalisation stretches social, political, cultural and economic activities across regions, and continents It ‘intensifies our dependence on each other, as flows of trade, investment, finance, migration, and culture increase’ (Held et al., 1999, p.484) It enables the emergence of global markets for goods and services, and aids the formation of a network that links major trading blocs around the world The interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture is one of the most important aspects of globalisation (Al-Rodhan, 2006) This process is aided by international fairs and festivals that generate transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity and interaction The World Fair or World Exposition is one of these international platforms, allowing nations around the globe to showcase their cultures, arts and industrial and craft products, and to promote their homelands Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the World Fair has facilitated an increase in international trade, exchanges and communications, and helped the integration

of global markets Lu Zhouxiang’s ‘Engaging with the World: The History of China’s Participation in the World Fairs (1851–1915)’ studies the history of China’s participation in the World Fairs in the late Qing Dynasty era and

explains the role of the World Fair in facilitating communications between China and the world, and its contribution to the construction of China’s international image The chapter concludes that since the arrival of Western colonial powers in China in the mid-19th century, the World Fair has reflected and stimulated the transformation of Chinese society and the change in Chinese people’s view of the world China’s participation in the early World Fairs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries marked the country’s strong desire to embrace the international community after centuries of isolation It also reflected the Chinese people’s ambition of integrating with the world

A wide range of social theorists are asserting that globalisation is

‘strengthening the dominance of a world capitalist economic system, supplanting the primacy of the nation-state with trans-national corporations and organizations, and eroding local cultures and traditions through a global culture’ (Kellner, 2002, p.285) Alongside the global diffusion of trade, investment and communications, the past decades have seen a growing wave

of cultural globalisation, which has been produced and distributed principally

by corporations and private international institutions (Held et al., 1999, p.486) Fuhua Huang’s chapter on ‘Globalisation, Americanisation and the Emergence

of Consumer Culture in China: A Narrative Study of NBA Fans’ examines the development of NBA culture in China It discusses how Western consumer culture was introduced to and developed in Asia against the background of globalisation An examination of the transformation of societal ideas on sport, cultural identities within fan communities, and the values of individual sport participants are used to unveil the global–local interplay The author states that the globalisation of basketball in cultural terms has coincided with the diffusion of the NBA’s cultural forms in China, while localisation is manifest

in the embracement of an indigenous Chinese basketball culture The NBA’s globalisation in the Chinese context has transformed the local basketball culture with the infusion of an Americanised way of spectating, participating and consuming sport

Fukuyama (1992) states that globalisation marks the triumph of capitalism and its market economy The last 30 years have witnessed China’s transition from a planned economy to a market economy While capitalism has taken root and is growing rapidly in China, it is important to understand the new generations of Chinese business leaders from all perspectives Yuhui Gao’s

‘An Intra-Country Comparison of Chinese Business Leaders’ Personal Values’ gives us some insight into the personal values of Chinese business leaders The research shows that business leaders from northern, southern and eastern

in terms of defining rights and obligations is the primary cause of conflict between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in China This also reflects the anxiety and hesitancy experienced by Chinese society in an era of globalisation

In general, Asia’s rapid development in the past decades has boosted the region’s economic output and political influence Today, Asia has become one

of the pillars of the international order and is ‘poised to increase its geopolitical and economic influence rapidly in the decades to come’ (Pei,

2009, p.36) Given the cultural differences and history of intense rivalry among the region’s countries and between the emerging Asian powers and the West, political, economic and ideological conflicts within and beyond Asia are nowhere near resolved The theory of ‘the clash of civilizations’ (Huntington,

1996) is likely to enjoy a longer lifespan However, it is widely believed that

Asia’s rise should present more opportunities than conflicts and threats and that it will eventually lead to the emergence of a multipolar world (Pei, 2009) From the contributions in this book, it is becoming clear that the concept

of multipolarity has to be complemented by other considerations The value of the present collection lies not least in the variety of the topics of study and of the approaches of the contributors It has often been said that development is not only about economic factors – and as much as this is true for individual countries, it is probably even more the case for the development of international and interregional relations In a nutshell: communication is one

of the most important factors to be considered And it has to be communication crosscutting the various subjects, thus developing new agency

As said, this is not new Still, there may be something new about it: on the one hand, overall, we are living in democratic settings – leaving the concrete meaning of this aside At least, compared with feudal societies, humankind has

reached a higher level of inclusiveness – and this means that with such exchange and integration, this communication needs to be considered more thoroughly Even if we take into account that there are still small elites of different kinds1 in power, the face-to-face communication of small groups in court societies is obvious not feasible The other side of the coin is that the failing of such broader consideration stands frequently behind the ‘collapse of systems’ – clashes of civilisation and equally end-of-history visions, where history in fact reaches a completely new stage, with very specific challenges and opportunities, require wider considerations, going beyond technical and administrative approaches

We hope that the topics and views in this volume will further stimulate research and debate on the rise of Asia in the context of globalisation

Al-Rodhan, N 2006 Definitions of globalization: a comprehensive overview and a proposed definition Program on the Geopolitical Implications of Globalization and Transnational Security, Geneva Centre for Security Policy

Bairner, A 2001 Sport, nationalism and globalization Albany, NY: State

University of New York Press

Fukuyama, F 1992 The end of history and the last man New York: Free

In: Conflict and Communication ISBN: 978-1-63485-280-7 Editors: Lu Zhouxiang et al © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc

Chapter 1

to provoke reflection on the multitude of shifting borders, incompletely captured by the concept of globalisation Furthermore, some ideas will be developed towards the role of communication in overcoming the tensions that accompany globalisation A guideline for achieving multilevel integration as line of reference will be made including a short presentation of the theory of social quality

in some way without a place where I am entirely rooted in a traditional sense This feeling alludes to a main part of the topic I am going to look at in this

chapter: the matter of shifting borders

It probably would have been more correct to say that I am travelling to different places – but, of course, the textual dramaturgy suggested the term commuting It goes back to the very same root as communication – the second

pillar of the topic I am talking about: the role of communication

However, the roots of both can be found in commonality Without going into the etymological details, we can see a close link between the words

‘communication,’ ‘common’ and ‘commute’ (see e.g., Harper, 2001–2014d, c, e)

Taking this link as point of reference brings us to the very centre of the topic: communication as foundation and reflection of the way in which we live

together And with this I come to the third part of the topic: the positioning of cohesion versus integration

I do not want to start immediately with the heavy theoretical considerations Those who are interested in this – and we all should be – will not have to miss this part, but will at least have to exercise some patience Let me first take you to a village in an African state There is a regular event that employs several people And mind the term ‘employs’ – it is in fact

a very simple thing: the braiding of pigtails Of course we find a division: some of the people gathered are doing the actual ‘work’ of beautification But actually these roles change as, at some stage, everybody is hairdresser or customer There is something that is much more important: at any stage of this event, everybody is actually producing, and this makes the seemingly relatively simple act of braiding pigtails a real event: people are chatting, exchanging news, making plans, etc In actual fact, people are producing and reproducing their social existence, the way in which they live together with all the controls and reassurances

Cohesion Instead of Integration 3

Another example can be taken from one of my frequent visits to Havana One day, I just left the office, and was walking down the broad green belt that separates the two lanes of the Paseo del Prado when four or five cars passed, moving towards the monument of José Martí They were obviously tourists, passing in the old neo-colonial USNA cars of the 1950s, laughing and shouting, plunging the street into some of the flair of the old colonial times, and of those later times under the Batista regime Oppression and violence had been part of the old times, but also a hegemony that a friend from Havana described recently in an email: ‘it is to impose not only the mode of production but a way of thinking that make[s] [it] very difficult to explore other paradigms and new ways of sustainable development.’ In some peculiar way this little scene showed the entire ironical paradox: this group of tourists enjoying themselves, taking photos of the old villas, and at the same time

‘making pictures’: creating in some way an image of the good life, exuberance, romanticising a time that had been anything other than romantic for the majority of the people, for the people who then claimed ‘soy Cuba.’1

And we may see ‘taking pictures’ in a metaphorical way: they took away the picture that really dominated the area where I had been at that moment A small child, the mother throwing a colourful plastic ball towards him, the child

‘runs’ behind it and kneels down to catch some fruit from one of the trees Some young boys playing football – they did not need anything other than just a ball, and probably they could have made use of something else

PRODUCING MORE! BUT PRODUCING WHAT?

All this is not about pleading for simplicity of life And looking for instance at Ireland, we are located in a place that is quite interesting: when Ireland joined the then European Community in 1973, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe Some members of the already institutionalised Europe complained at the time about the new member state, Ireland, and later also about the acceding Greece and Spain These countries were seen as the poorhouses of Europe And Ireland, though it started out as one of these poorhouses, moved onto a path which later made the ‘model pupil’ of the European Union And the institutionalised Europe was – for some time at least – happy to see the successful implementation of its strategy, which was declared by the Heads of States in Lisbon in 2000 as follows:

1 Thus the title of a film, translated: I am Cuba

The Union has today set itself a new strategic goal for the next decade: to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more

and better jobs and greater social cohesion

(Lisbon European Council, 2000; emphasis in the original)

It is obvious now, though, that these so-called ‘tiger years’ represented a somewhat illusionary and short-sighted orientation The Celtic Tiger, or as we frequently say in Hungary: the ‘dragon economy,’ had been a deception In short, the hope of a consolidation, of creating wealth by building on foreign sources and forces – foreign direct investment and the export of goods and services as main sources of prosperity – had been nit anything else than wishful thinking

Of course, the point of this chapter is not to look at the political situation

in Cuba or to discuss the economic development of Ireland And the braiding

of pigtails is only in one respect of immediate relevance for the following, namely as a metaphor for cohesion, which is understood here in a very simple and also unconventional way: it is the emergence of a new form of togetherness in which some form of adaptation can be found, though it is as such importantly going beyond a simple naturalisation, the emergence of a minimum common denominator, a levelling by way of meeting on a statistical means or the like Instead, cohesion in the present understanding takes a different point of departure: it is not about the distribution of a pool of resources, but about the pooling of productive potentials With this perspective, we are actually taking a view that finds its sound and sole point of departure in political economy And it is also profoundly ‘positive,’ starting from an understanding of the social as:

an outcome of the interaction between people (constituted as actors) and their constructed and natural environment Its subject matter refers to people’s interrelated productive and reproductive relationships

In other words, the constitutive interdependency between processes of self-realisation and processes governing the formation of collective identities is a condition for the social and its progress or decline

(Van der Maesen and Walker, 2012, p 260)

With this, we may now reinterpret Niklas Luhmann’s view that:

social systems do not emerge without communication The various reasons for the unlikelihood of processes of communication, and the way

Cohesion Instead of Integration 5

in which they are overcome and transformed into probabilities, therefore regulate the structure of social systems

(Luhmann, 1981, p 31; own translation)

There are surely good reasons to criticise Luhmann’s position Taking a sufficiently wide understanding of communication, we have to accept, however, that the critical points of communication today have to be looked for

in other areas and, indeed, we may say, in re-wording Luhmann and also

rewording the present framing topic, that looking at a changing Asia in a globalising world, communication is decisive in marking the development as one that is conflictual and/or peaceful in its character

With this in mind, when we look at the second part of the book’s title, A Changing Asia in a Globalising World, we see, on the one hand, the huge

difference brought by the small changes to the wording – but we also see the ambiguity of the issue in question: it is about changes in Asia, but also about a changing China under the process of the globalisation and by this very process Is there an end? Or a beginning?

THEORETICAL STEPPING STONES

World Systems Theory

One of the theoretical dimensions worth considering in relation to communication in a globalising world is World Systems Theory, which highlights the fact that differentiation is something that takes shape in different ways – and in one way or another, differentiation was historically not least a matter of establishing and maintaining or changing power relationships And these power relationships can be understood as matter of social processes, i.e.,:

an outcome of the interaction between people (constituted as

actors) and their constructed and natural environment

(Van der Maesen and Walker, 2012, p 260)

Taking such a perspective means not least that these power relations are always a matter of communication, understood as process of exchange between people (understood both as individuals and as nations or regions) and their environment

Long Waves

Looking at the constructed environment brings us to the second theoretical perspective to be examined, to the question of conditions that are of crucial importance in this context – conditions that to some extent allow, as well explain, shifts in power positions on a global level This perspective is found

in the work of Kondratieff, who proposed that economic development is characterised by major shifts in technological development He referred to

bol’shie tsiklys, which can be translated as major cycles or long waves, as the

elementary forms of an overhaul of the entire productive basis Each of these cycles is characterised by a developmental pattern, namely prosperity, recession, depression and improvement Examples of the ‘waves’ can be found

in the succession of steam engine/cotton; railway/steel; electrical engineering/chemistry; petrochemicals/automobiles; and, finally, information technology

There was much debate about this model from its very beginning – and there certainly have been misunderstandings and imputations Be that as it may, at this point it is important to see Kondratieff’s argument – which is proposed here as a heuristic instrument – as a general pattern to be used for examining the development of the productive forces As said, the model is referenced here primarily as a heuristic tool Some remarks are, however, necessary First, we can – and this is what Kondratieff himself emphasised – see such development simply in empirical terms: major inventions meaning major shifts in production and consumption Second, he neglected, however, to note that this cannot be seen as a simple linear global development Although

we can surely see major developments of horizontal and vertical dispersion, such outreach is a matter of time and as such also causes major disruptions, with such disruptions sometimes taking the form of power shifts or consolidation of power Third, the relationship between the different shifts can take different forms – in any case, a crucially important point is that the thus-described development of productive forces has important implications and consequences The first is that we see, hand in hand with this development, a shift in patterns of consumption – as a matter of changing supply and also as a matter of changing demand The second is that, as much as the change in the productive forces is a matter of interaction with the organic environment, i.e., with nature, we see also a potential change at the centre in terms of space: depending on the resources that are linked to a specific stage of the development of the productive forces, we see a push-and-pull process – the centres of production move towards profitability, and profitability is given

Cohesion Instead of Integration 7

where supply and demand in respect of the production is highest (in other words, where the production is most ‘effective,’ where it finds the most fertile ground for establishing and maintaining profitable processes) In this context,

it is important to note that the department I is that of producing means of production, not that of consumer goods In the second volume of Marx’s

Capital, we read in chapter XIX:

The aggregate value of that part of the annual product which consists

of means of production is divided as follows: One portion of the value

represents only the value of the means of production consumed in the fabrication of these means of production; it is but capital value re-appearing in a renewed form; another portion is equal to the value of the capital laid out in labour power, or equal to the sum of wages paid by the capitalists in this sphere of production Finally, a third portion of value is the source of profits, including ground rent, of the industrial capitalists in

this category

(Marx, 1885, p 366)

This disproves the supposition that price is determined by supply and demand Supply and demand are relevant in determining the ‘price of production,’ but are less determining factors in terms of the price of consumer goods

At first instance, communication is ‘neutral,’ a tool; however, it is a decisive stimulator and implementer by which potentialities are actually brought into shape I come back to an observation, mentioned in the introduction, of a group of tourists of taking and making a picture This may now be applied to communication: it tells the story of production, power relationships between people and classes and power structures between regions and, at the very same time, it makes this story: the narration is a

productive process – something that is well known to those who have engaged with Deleuze, Foucault and others

But, in the same way as it is true that‘[m]en make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please,’ it is also true that communication makes stories, but does not do so as it pleases but from the ‘circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past’ (Marx, 1852, p 103–104)

And we have to add: it is not only the past but also the present as matter of the conditions and resources from which it can draw The conditions are objectively given but nevertheless they are – as relevant facts (thinking of and

alluding to Durkheim, we may speak of the fait significatif) – only given by

practice Looking for a synonym for relevance the computer, working with

Microsoft ® Word 2008 for Mac (Version 12.3.6 [130206], latest installed update: 12/3/6), suggested ‘appropriate.’ And of course it is only a small step

from appropriate, i.e., something being suitable, right, apt, to appropriation

We come once again back to Luhmann (1981) and this time in direct connection with the definition of the social Communication is one of the essential practices, allowing us to interact as people and to interact with our constructed and natural environments in order to produce and reproduce

ourselves (so far taken from the definition of the social, page 5) And with this,

we are establishing by our practice probabilities, and therefore regulating the structure of social systems, i.e., a remodelling and extension of the probabilities of well-functioning promising communication, around which

society establishes its social systems (see Luhmann, 1981, p 31, op cit.)

Communication is, then, not least a matter of understanding social realities – and this understanding, given by the realities, is also shaping these realities

Scientific Revolution

Kuhn (1962) drew attention to the structure of scientific revolutions The core of his thesis, and the justification for capturing political and scientific development in parallel as at times revolutionary, is that he sees over time a mismatch emerging between the reality, what we know about the reality and what we need to know in order to maintain our ability to act Reference was made above to appropriateness and it was pointed out that it is only a small step from appropriate, i.e., something being suitable, right, apt, to appropriation In Kuhn’s words:

Cohesion Instead of Integration 9

One aspect of the parallelism must already be apparent Political

revolutions are inaugurated by a growing sense, often restricted to a

segment of the political community, that existing institutions have ceased adequately to meet the problems posed by an environment that they have

in part created In much the same way, scientific revolutions are inaugurated by a growing sense, again often restricted to a narrow subdivision of the scientific community, that an existing paradigm has ceased to function adequately in the exploration of an aspect of nature to which that paradigm itself had previously led the way In both political and scientific development the sense of malfunction that can lead to crisis

is prerequisite to revolution Furthermore, though it admittedly strains the metaphor that parallelism holds not only for the major paradigm changes, like those attributable to Copernicus and Lavoisier, but also for the far smaller ones associated with the assimilation of a new sort of

phenomenon like oxygen or X-rays Scientific revolutions need seem

revolutionary only to those whose paradigms are affected by them To outsiders they may, like the Balkan revolutions of the early twentieth century, seem normal parts of the developmental process Astronomers, for example, could accept X-rays as a mere addition to knowledge, for their paradigms were unaffected by the existence of the new radiation But for men like Kelvin, Crookes, and Roentgen, whose research dealt with radiation theory or with cathode ray tubes, the emergence of X-rays

necessarily violated one paradigm as it created another That is why these

rays could be discovered only through something’s first going wrong with normal research

(Kuhn, 1962, p 92–93)

With this reference in mind, we can also conclude that conflicts within communication are an essential part also of social quality, as a matter of adapting life and living conditions to what is appropriate – appropriateness here understood not least as the scope of the opportunities defined by and defining ‘the constitutive interdependency between processes of self-realisation and processes governing the formation of collective identities,’ which ‘is a condition for the social and its progress or decline.’

This was presented as the core of the definition of the social provided earlier in this chapter (see page 5)

From here we can also bring the different strands of though together What had been earlier explored as matter of long waves is now obviously showing its character as going much beyond changes of technical issues, allowing new ways of reaching profitability In actual fact, these changes are

not only leading to new, organic compositions of capital; instead of and beyond this, we see from here the emergence of a foundation for a likely new composition of accumulation regime, mode or regulation, life regime and mode of living We can see this at the current stage of historical development, especially as it is also welded into the process of globalisation The spread of the capitalist mode of production and mode of life are going hand in hand with the search and partial emergence of new forms, varying in their meaning and scope – precarity as one form of the dissolution of the dominant wage–labour relationships, search for new belief systems and suggesting corporate social and environmental responsibility are examples Although many of these developments are highly questionable, they show at least the structural moves and fissures that characterise the current changes And as such – especially with all their contradictions – they are hugely relevant in providing the background against which communication has to be seen

Change Communication

We thus arrive at the point of communicating knowledge –generally, knowledge is understood to be comprised of skills, understanding and adjunct values In brief, we may say that it is following a similar pattern of

development as outlined with the bol’shie tsiklys – the following graph (see

Figure 1) proposes a cycle which we can take as communication cycle:

(Source: Wygant and Markley, 1988, p 122)

Figure 1 Communication Cycle

Cohesion Instead of Integration 11

Interesting is not only the change of relevant actors and ‘media’ – from the general to the concrete – but also the fact that the mode of communication, understood as linking to ‘applicability’ and daily life, is changing in the same vein In a nutshell, we return to the social quality approach, which

is concerned with people’s interrelated productive and reproductive relationships In other words, ‘the constitutive interdependency between processes of self-realisation and processes governing the formation of collective identities is a condition for the social and its progress or decline’ (see the definition of the social on page 5)

The important part is that the steering of communication is a process that makes things an immediate part of the ‘circumstances in everyday life’ (Beck, Van der Maesen and Walker, 2012, p 64) and this is a fact that ‘concern[s] the heart of the matter for the determination of the quality of the social’ (ibid.) But, at the very same time, we are dealing with another dimension, namely processes of interpenetration Perhaps it is justified to speak of:

the development of topics from alternative elites, standing in some way outside of (mainstream) society,

moving on to some form of operationalisation, performed by first political, then technical elites,

reaching to the communicators and educators that help establish hegemonies based on these ideas – part of which is the translation into

‘material patterns,’ for instance, as mass-educational programmes with their certificates, etc.,

spreading further into mass culture,

and finally reaching reflection

Alongside the summary given above, with reference to T.T Molitor’s

‘issue emergence cycle,’ Wygant and Markley (1988) provide an ‘idealized summary of [Molitor’s] sequence, but from an information researcher’s point

of view It depicts how different types of awareness and different types of media tend to predominate at specific stages’ (Wygant and Markley, 1988, p 120)

This is reflected in another overview that they provide, pointing to different means of communication, along a line from ‘visionary uninhibited, rendering idea to specifics, elaboration of details, diffusion of an idea among opinion leaders, institutional response, mass media, politicizing the issue, instantaneous coverage for mass consumption, educating the people to the new

norm, historical analysis’ (ibid., p 123)

I do not want to suggest independence nor do I think good communication can solve all problems Nevertheless, I think communication is an issue that needs increasing attention And the reason for this is the increasing lack of communicative praxis2 within an increasing multitude of communicative acts

We all know the picture: three people sitting together, one speaking on a mobile phone, one writing an SMS and the third using the Internet Seemingly, communication networks are getting tighter But actually it is a kind of non-communication as the contact to what is immediately tangible and controlled

is lost While it is true that technical means and access are increasing, the substantial dimension is at least under severe pressure

ACTUALISING THE SOCIAL

Looking at the methodological dimension behind the Social Quality Theory, an important part is the critique of mainstream thinking in social science and its two central, ideological pillars:

 individualism – and its translation into methodological individualism and

 utilitarianism – and its translation into relations as matter of reciprocal and calculable exchanges

2 The term praxis is used as a refection of the wider understanding of orientations that reflect

‘inner anchoring,’ and also societal reflection, as distinct from acts that are isolated in terms

of depth and scope

Cohesion Instead of Integration 13

Figure 3 The Eco-Social

Social quality is an approach that is in a twofold way de-socialised: the different arrays of society stand, in a somewhat isolated manner, side by side

as pillars

In some respect, we may speak of non-communicating vessels – based on

a zero-sum assumption – and consider the status quo, dominated by neo-liberal economic thinking and practice The problems are obvious: sub-systemic functionality may be enhanced; however, systemic functionality is diminished or even completely undermined Furthermore, dysfunctions may be temporarily or partly or regionally overcome by exchanges between the pillars

– or, we may say in the present context, by conflictual communication In economic terms, this would be about the internalisation of externalities (for instance, by making environmental protection profitable and environmental damage costly, or by including people outside of the employment system in employment-based social insurance systems) However, the structural sites of the fractures remain in place Against this background, an alternative is offered

by Social Quality Theory, starting from the assumption that there is one decisive and ultimate ‘binding link’ – the social And taking on the spirit of the definition, we might better talk about the eco-social, i.e., people interacting in and as part of their environment With this, we can arrive at the de-utilitarisation of relations With the inclusion of the eco-dimension directly linked to the social – and with this to societal practice – we can also work towards avoiding anthropocentrism The following figure may aid an understanding of this

This may seem to be a long detour, but this way we find a point from which we can access the understanding of the contradiction between increasing means of communication and technical abilities to communicate and the decreasing ‘meaning of communication’: communication is taken out

of context We may – alluding to what Karl Marx said about alienation – say that communicating people are not saying anything whereas people who are not saying anything are communicating We can clearly see this when it comes

to communication today: even making a phone call means frequently that we have to arrange it beforehand, and caller identification functionality may mean that a phone call is not taken – because one knows who is calling or because it

is an ‘unknown number,’ a fact that may induce anxiety Time is ‘dedicated,’ not lived; contexts are constructed and do not exist; the other has to fit into the given framework instead of being openly welcomed Communication is degraded to a utility

RESPECT – COHESION AND INTEGRATION

Form here I want to come to the point mentioned in the title: cohesion instead of integration To make it explicit, we can now bring the etymological question to the fore, this time looking at the words ‘cohere,’ ‘cohesion,’

‘integration’/’integrate’ (see Harper, 2001–2014a, b, f, g)

From Harper’s (2001b) elucidation, we note that cohesion surely goes beyond and is different from integration Yes, the terminological dimension is only heuristically meaningful The point in question is concerned with taking

Cohesion Instead of Integration 15

up the challenge of respecting ‘the other’ – not as ex-ante social construct but

as an at any time emerging societal reality – and at the same time allowing

something new to develop: communications as establishing something

common, in common: a new – and possibly spatially, substantially or chronologically limited – community

TWO QUESTIONS AS CONCLUSION

I want to end with a question Can you imagine why a child and young people playing football in a large city, the latter even disturbing the traffic on the Paseo del Prado in Havana, are communicating more and with less conflict than a group of tourists, even though these are exchanging words and laughing

=while driving up the same Paseo? And though I am not Christian, I am wondering if you can imagine why the current pope managed to call thousands

of people to a 20-minute silent prayer against violence – and saying with this silence more than the weapons of wars and trade?

Beck, W., Van Der Maesen, L J G and Walker, A 2012 Theoretical

foundations IN: Van Der Maesen, L J G and Walker, A (eds.) Social quality: from theory to indicators: Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp

44–69

Harper, D 2001–2014a Cohere Online Etymology Dictionary [online] Available from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cohere& allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Harper, D 2001–2014b Cohesion Online Etymology Dictionary [online] Available from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cohesion& allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Harper, D 2001–2014c Common Online Etymology Dictionary [online] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=common&allowed_in_frame

=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Harper, D 2001–2014d Communication Online Etymology Dictionary [online] Available from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term= communication&allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Harper, D 2001–2014e Commute Online Etymology Dictionary [online] Available from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=commute& allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Harper, D 2001–2014f Integration Online Etymology Dictionary [online] Available from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=integration

&allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Harper, D 2001-2014g Integrate Online Etymology Dictionary [online] Available from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=integrate& allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Kuhn, Thomas S 1962 The structure of scientific revolutions

Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 1962

Lisbon European Council Presidency Conclusions, 2000: 23 and 24 March

2000 [online] Available from: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/ cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/00100-r1.en0.htm [Accessed 11 November 2013]

Luhmann, N 1981 Die Unwahrscheinlichkeit der Kommunikation IN: Luhmann, N (ed.) Soziologische Aufklärung 3 Soziales System,

Sozialwissenschaften, pp 29–40

Marx, K 1852 The eighteenth brumaire of Louis Napoleon IN: Marx, K and Engels, F Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: collected works, Volume 11

Reprint, London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1970, pp 97–197

Marx, K 1885 Capital, Volume II, IN: Marx, K and Engels, F Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: collected works, Volume 36 Reprint, London:

Lawrence and Wishart, 1997

Van Der Maesen, L J G and Walker, A 2012 Social quality and

sustainability IN: Van Der Maesen, L J G and Walker, A (eds.) Social quality: from theory to indicators: Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp

250–274

Wygant, A C and Markley, O 1988 Information and the future: a handbook

of sources and strategies New York/Westport/London: Greenwood Press

In: Conflict and Communication ISBN: 978-1-63485-280-7 Editors: Lu Zhouxiang et al © 2016 Nova Science Publishers, Inc

Chapter 2

School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures,

National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM), County Kildare, Ireland

agreed similarities in their different backgrounds When people become used to these similarities, however, the differences in their backgrounds can be neglected, despite the fact that they do exist When this globalised tendency progresses, these differences may lead to misunderstandings, and even obstacles, in communication Thus, it would be useful to examine the issue of responsibility in this context to detect how to balance the ‘similarities’ and ‘differences’ between different cultures responsibly Furthermore, this encounter of West and East will also remind us to be aware of the original boundaries, as well as the approaches that we have applied to researching these boundaries Compared with the emphasis on ontology and the question of ‘what the good is’ in Western thought, Chinese thought stresses ethics and the question of ‘how to become good’ (Ivanhoe, 2000, p ix) Thus, a focus

on what Chinese philosophy has to say on responsibility would be a good place to begin

Generally speaking, there are three main schools of traditional Chinese thought: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, with some other minor schools, like Legalism, Mohism and Logicians The discussion in this chapter will concentrate on a particular branch of Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism

(宋明理學, Song Ming Li Xue), which developed mainly from Mencian

philosophy during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty A distinct feature of Neo-Confucianism is that it attempts to synthesise the other two Chinese ways

of thinking, Taoism and Buddhism, into a metaphysical framework Another feature of Neo-Confucianism is that it is mainly concerned with the importance of self-cultivation for society and the importance of the harmonious relationship with heaven (Tu, 1997).1 In Neo-Confucianism, self-cultivation is the basis, on the one hand, for understanding and communication with the other, while on the other hand, it will also establish and enlarge the other

Before we move on to the detailed discussion, it is necessary to present a brief review of the concept of self-cultivation in Chinese thought The history

of discussion on moral self-cultivation in the Confucian tradition is very long Confucius (孔子, Kong Zi, 551–479 BC) is usually regarded as the first to

Neo-Confucian Theory on the Self-Other Relationship 19

have emphasised and taught ethical issues to his disciples in the form of dialogue Mencius (孟子, Meng Zi, 403–221 BC) systematically developed Confucius’s ethical thought, emphasising the role of human nature and self-cultivation Zhu Xi (朱熹, AD 1130–1200) and Wang Yangming (王陽明, AD 1472–1529) are two prominent, representative figures of the Confucian moral tradition from the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty respectively Zhu Xi was a leading figure of the rational school of Neo-Confucianism in China, while Wang Yangming, was the most important Neo-Confucian to come after Zhu

Xi and was opposed to Zhu Xi’s rationalist dualism In the Qing Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism was critically developed by Yan Yuan (颜元, AD 1635–1704) and Dai Zhen (戴震, AD 1724–1777), both of whom emphasised the practical application of moral principles rather than the spiritual cultivation of the self They also stressed the rational investigation of the external world over the introspective self-examination of human desire

This chapter aims to define the concept of ‘responsibility’ in the scope of Neo-Confucianism from three points of view: moral language; self and the

other; and, the concept of Ren and the redefinition of ‘responsibility.’ It will

also examine the issue from a Western perspective: Emmanuel Levinas’s theories will be used to explain the role of the other in the ethical structure of responsibility To begin with, the chapter will analyse the role of sensitivity as the beginning of self-cultivation and will investigate how innate knowledge is developed into moral language Then, it will discuss the role of the self in Neo-Confucianism and its relation to the issue of the other Lastly, the concept

of Ren as co-humanity and its relation to responsibility will be explained The

discussion will concentrate on the tradition of Confucius, Mencius and Wang Yangming

Though Confucius was the first to stress moral self-cultivation in social life, he did not provide specific ideas on human nature Subsequently, Mencius firstly and systematically presented ideas about human nature His fundamental tenet was that human nature is good and that people will keep and develop this goodness or kindness when they realise self-cultivation based on

‘virtue’ (德, De) The response between people is an important component in

the process of self-cultivation This response exists not only in the linguistic form but also in action There is a well-known case or moral thought experiment that was used by Mencius: the reaction of a person who suddenly sees a child about to fall into a well By means of analysing the reaction of the person to this sudden occurrence, Mencius intended to find out the most fundamental element of humanity in general and the origin of humanity from

human nature in particular For Mencius, it was the unbearable pity for the suffering of the other that would reveal the innate compassionate impulse which is the beginning of humanity – the moral ‘seed’ or ‘sprout.’ These seeds

or sprouts, however, need to be cultivated in order to grown into maturity and stability On this basis, Mencius further elaborated four essential virtues corresponding to four seeds The feeling of commiseration corresponds to the seed of humanity; the awareness of shame and dislike is the seed of righteousness; the sentiment of respect and reverence corresponds to the seed

of propriety; and the sense of right and wrong corresponds to the seed of wisdom (Liu, 2006) From this, it follows that Mencius’s argument on human nature is founded on a natural and developmental view of human mentality because, in his analogical language, the moral seeds are to be developed both from the inner mental ability and from the external environment

Wang Yangming is both an inheritor and a defender of Confucianism, especially the line of Mencian moral philosophy Living at a time when Daoism and Buddhism were flourishing, Wang integrally synthesised the distinctive theory of human nature from these two schools with Mencius’s thinking of self-cultivation in order to develop a comprehensive perspective on the unity of knowledge and action In other words, Wang intended to go beyond the questions of ‘what human nature is,’ ‘what the good is’ and ‘how human nature is good’; rather, he – and other Neo-Confucians at that time – attempted to provide a new horizon for reflection on the cultivation of one’s mind and its relation to external things If we borrow the words of Western philosophy, Wang intended to illustrate how to develop moral subjectivity rather than to propose a systematic theory of morality

FROM INNATE KNOWLEDGE TO MORAL LANGUAGE

In comparison with Confucius and Mencius, the emphasis on the unity of knowledge and action is a distinctive feature of Wang’s thinking because he detected a lack of understanding of the moral foundation of human nature in Confucius’s moral teachings and a lack of moral practice in Mencius’ introspective moral self-examination Wang, in other words, proposed to find the balance between moral knowledge and action This is a topic that has been discussed in both the Western and Chinese intellectual traditions Again, a distinguishing feature of Wang’s approach in comparison with other theories is his emphasis on the role of basic human desires and affections rather than the rational intellect aspect in one’s moral decisions

Neo-Confucian Theory on the Self-Other Relationship 21

The issue that Wang addresses, therefore, is this: even though the questions of ‘what the good is’ and ‘what human nature is’ have been discussed for centuries, our knowledge of these topics cannot guarantee that

we always do the right things There are at least two opinions on this matter The first opinion is that people do not have sufficient rational knowledge of these questions, which leads to a failure to take moral action The second opinion is that, even though we have acknowledged a knowledge of morality, other aspects of our ‘selves,’ other than such a rational aspect, interfere with this knowledge when we make moral decisions Wang holds the second opinion and attempts to take both the rational and emotional aspects of the

‘self’ into account Based on this dual but integral consideration of self, Wang divides knowledge into ‘innate knowledge’ and ‘ordinary knowledge’ (Chen, 2007; Ivanhoe, 2000, p.62).2 As Ivanhoe interprets it, the former refers to the

‘knowledge of something,’ while the latter refers to the ‘knowledge about something’ (Ivanhoe, 2000) The knowledge of something cannot function properly without unity with action in a self Knowledge about something, however, can be separated from the action of the self as this knowledge is external from the self as a projected object In other words, the first opinion about the insufficiency of knowledge in man’s moral action refers to

‘knowledge about something.’ For Wang, this is not ‘real knowledge’ in moral life ‘Knowledge of something’ in this context indicates the process of internalising virtue into moral self-cultivation Thus, when the subject encounters a sudden event and needs to respond to this event, this subject uses his/her innate knowledge rather than ordinary knowledge in this situation The response itself is an action that completes the ethical signification of moral knowledge And this response is based on the sincerity of one’s innate moral mind

From the perspective of Neo-Confucianism, the sincerity of one’s innate moral mind is derived from human sensitivity, which refers to the ability to feel, experience, sympathise with one’s selfhood and its influence on the moral

will The Chinese concept Ch’i (氣) (meaning the vital force or vital power) refers to this ability (Tu, 1997; Chan, 1969) Ch’i is a concept that is difficult

to explain analytically because of the immanent integrity of spirit and matter

(Tu, 1997) ‘[Ch’i] provide[s] [ ] a metaphorical mode of knowing, an

2

Ivanhoe (2000) uses ‘real knowledge’ to refer to ‘personal experience and brings together both cognitive and affective types of knowing’ However, based on the context of Wang’s theory, which is developed from his articulation of mind and its relation to external things and the nature, in this context, I prefer to use the concept of ‘innate knowledge’ that Chen

Lai (2007) uses in the table of contents in his book You Wu Zhi Jing (有無之境)

epistemological attempt to address the multidimensional nature of reality by

comparison, allusion, and suggestion’ (Tu, 1997, p 37) Ch’i, then, is a

comprehensive concept of innate knowledge that synthesises both the intellect

and the sensitivity of one’s mind in one’s own moral self-cultivation Ch’i also

manifests one’s subjectivity in the process of ‘perception and response’ (感應,

Gan Ying), which at the same time shows sincerity as well ‘感’ (Gan) can be

translated in many ways, for example, as feeling, affection or perception

According to Neo-Confucianism, the process of ‘感應’ (Gan Ying) is not an

instinctive reaction but an intuitive understanding and insight, along with the awareness of something through sense Thus, I chose ‘to translate‘感’ as

‘perception’ in this context In fact, perception and response happen at the same time rather than in two sequential stages It is precisely this spontaneity that defines the role of sensitivity and sincerity in one’s will I will not discuss

the concept of Ch’i in detail in this section, although Ch’i is an important

concept for understanding the Chinese intellect tradition and its difference from the Western dichotomy of spirit and matter More detailed discussion of Ch’i is available in Tu (1997)

We can use Mencius’s example to explain further this point A person sees that a child is about to fall into a deep well Mencius emphasised that the unbearable pity felt for the suffering of this child is the ‘seed’ or ‘sprout’ of humanity, which proves that human nature is primarily good This formulation, nevertheless, cannot thoroughly explain the differences in the reactions of different onlookers When this person faces this event, his/her first reaction is a reflection of this person’s most genuine moral self The period of time is too short for a person to consider and weigh up the situation according

to an evaluation of his/her past experiences and memory Thus, the different reactions from different people directly show differences in moral subjectivity and each one’s sensitivity to the suffering of the other In other words, from these reactions, we can detect the process of the inner transformation of one’s

Ch’i: the rational measure and sensory feeling do not function separately but

have been internalised into moral subjectivity Moral self-cultivation, therefore, is not merely about ‘what the good is’ and ‘what human nature is,’ but about ‘whose this moral subjectivity is’ and ‘how this moral subjectivity responds to the suffering of the other sincerely.’

The stress on the manifestation of one’s innate knowledge, nonetheless, does not indicate that the main argument of Neo-Confucianism is subjectivistic As discussed in relation to Mencius’s example above, when a person is faced with such an event, s/he is not only a bystander but also a

Neo-Confucian Theory on the Self-Other Relationship 23

participant in the event who is part of this event The emphasis on sensitivity

in the moral subjectivity of Neo-Confucianism, especially in Wang’s thinking, demonstrates that sincerity is concerned with ‘telling the truth.’ The reason lies

in two aspects First, sensitivity plays an important role in being sensitive to the gap between one’s perception of inner morality and social norms in one’s subjectivity – that is, it refers to the problem of identity between ‘the private I’ and ‘the public I.’ The task of moral self-cultivation for Neo-Confucianism is

to bridge the distance between these two Is, which, in turn, is the manifestation

of sincerity ‘慎獨’ (Shen Du), which is usually translated as ‘vigilant solitude’

or ‘being prudent when alone,’ is an important concept, not only for Confucianism but for the whole tradition of Confucianism There are various interpretations of this concept In the context of our discussion, ‘the private I’ will be stressed as the original mental state of one’s subjectivity and ‘the public I’ as the self-evaluated I that is shown in a public surrounding Second, when the I faces another person, sensitivity also plays crucial role in being sensitive to the gap between ‘my subjectivity’ and ‘the other’s subjectivity.’ Another task of moral self-cultivation, then, is to learn how to respond to the other’s experience and to find out the proper location of one’s self in the relation to this other and in the society as well

Neo-Given this backdrop, language, especially in the form of dialogue, shows how the I locates one’s self in the society and participates in it We can find many examples in the conversation between Confucius and his disciples in the

Analects that illustrate this The analects of Confucius can be seen as similar to

the dialogues of Plato Indeed, both Confucius and Plato concern themselves

with similar ethical and political issues: while Confucius stresses Ren as humanness or humanity and Plato emphasises ‘justice’ in his Republic, both

concepts are presented in dialogic form The intentions and the methodologies that lie behind their dialogues, however, are dissimilar Briefly speaking, Plato presents his ideas through the characters in his dialogues based on his Theory

of Forms The plots of the dialogues are constructed, both deliberately and dialectically, in order to show one interlocutor’s inner dilemmas and prove the validity of the other interlocutor’s ideas in the dialogue Confucius also presents his ethical thoughts in the form of dialogues between master and disciples that are based on his instructive teachings These dialogues, however, are structured according to questions raised by the disciples, which are answered or responded to, step by step, by Confucius This is an inter-subjective relationship because Confucius answers or responds to the specific and concrete questions of his disciples in the dialogues This is an reciprocative and communal process in which both can clarify and deepen the

answer of a particular question, and can provide different answers for the same question, if it is raised by different disciples From this, we can find out that,

even though Ren is the key concept of Confucius, there are various forms or manifestations of Ren in different situations Instead of conceptually stressing the idea of Ren in the dialogues, by pointing out the improper arguments of his

disciples, Confucius prefers to provide a response according to the interlocutors’ personhood and to help them to improve their ability to self-

realise Ren In contrast with Plato, then, generally speaking, Confucius’s concern is with how the idea of Ren can be both internalised in a person

through this person’s self-cultivation and externalised in human social relationships via dialogue, rather than with abstracting the Form or Idea from various phenomena and experiences in different dialogues In sum, Confucius’s approach accentuates the mutual response in the communal form

of teaching and learning between the minds of two subjectivities

In this section, we have first noted the meaning of innate knowledge and its distinction from ordinary knowledge; second, I pointed out the importance

of sensitivity and its relation to sincerity; and, third, I illustrated the way in which Confucius uses moral language in his analects by comparing this with the dialogic method of Plato From this, we can see that self-cultivation, rather than the conceptual pursuit of moral ideas, plays an essential role in Confucian tradition In the next section, therefore, we will further discuss the role of self

in moral cultivation by examining the relationship between ‘to be one’s self’ and ‘having no self.’

‘TO BE ONE’S SELF’ AND ‘HAVING NO SELF’

As Tu (1997) notes, two distinctive approaches to or features of moral self-realisation are emphasised in East Asian thought First, each human being can attain self-transformation, in the form of sageliness in Confucianism, or Buddhahood in Buddhism and the true person in Taoism, based on one’s inherent human nature and one’s own efforts Second, this process of self-cultivation is ceaseless Tu (1997) also points out that the dimension of transcendent reality is problematic for East Asian thought, and the roots of this problem can be found in the dichotomies that lie behind the Western and Chinese philosophical traditions And these traditions directly determine the difference of perspective and methodology in Western and Chinese thinking

on the examination of the self and its relation to the other Compared with the dichotomies of body and mind, sacred and profane, creator and creature in