Contextualizing Confucian Role Ethics

Confucian role ethics is a pragmatism.By tracing the authors and ideas of role ethics,I seek to contextualize Confucian role ethics as the intellectual fruit of a globalized pragmatism blended with Confucian moral theory.In this paper,I interpret role ethics as a pragmatism from a pragmatist perspective;like pragmatism,role ethics provides a practical framework which we can use to act in the world,resulting in a robust and innovative philosophy grounded in multiculturalism.I explore this topic by engaging with the previous work of Roger T.Ames and Henry Rosemont Jr.,presenting the main ideas of role ethics,and showing the congruencies between classical American pragmatism and role ethics.These congruencies include an organic and processual view of persons and ideas,an emphasis on lived experiences informing philosophical discourse,and a high level of commitment to meliorism.The key similarity between these philosophies is the importance of action toward global prosperity.This paper ends with a comparative case study of Bryan Van Norden's Confucian virtue ethics and the role ethical response to it.This case study highlights the action-oriented methodology of pragmatists and role ethicists while calling into question the inspirations or motivations for more sedentary philosophies.