Wittgensteinian and Confucian Perspectives on the Ethics of Ritual Practice (original) (raw)

Abstract

In Whose Tradition? Which Dao? (2015), James F. Peterman considers the partial affinities between Wittgenstein and Confucianism on moral development and its ground. Although Peterman mentions practices and rituals frequently, he also indicates that comparison between Wittgenstein and Confucianism on this topic merits further attention. In this paper, I will explore the topic of li in the Analects and the Xunzi as well as Wittgenstein’s appraisal of ritual practices in his “Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough”. While the worldviews, philosophical methods, and aims of inquiry of early Confucians and this twentieth century analytic philosopher could hardly be more different, an affinity between their philosophical approaches emerges when it comes to the conditions under which ritual practices are viable. In particular, this study will reflect on Wittgensteinian and Confucian perspectives on the role of sincerity in ritual activity, the idea being that ritual practices being internally related to a way of life is a common concern of both of these philosophical approaches. Where differences between the two approaches arise (differences beyond those generated by historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts) depends on their views regarding the moral requirement of ritual practices. Wittgenstein leaves this question unaddressed, perhaps because he is reacting against a scholarly sensibility that perceives rituals as part of a “primitive”, “magical” frame of mind; instead, Wittgenstein seeks to instill a sense of the ordinariness of sincere ritual activity for human beings. However, for the Analects and the Xunzi, ritual practice is an essential aspect of the moral reform that sages, junzi, and scholars would perform in their social contexts.

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