AUTHOR'S PROOF UNCORRECTED PROOF 1 2 3 4 Yu, Confucius, and Ren 5 George Rudebusch 6 7 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V . 2011 8 9 Keywords Q1 10 11 1 Overall and Main Theses 12 As I interpret it, the overall thesis of YU Jiyuan’ s book is that the Confucian tradition 13 and Aristotle are in close agreement on “the most significant issues” (ix). This 14 overall thesis is elaborated and defended in the main theses of the introduction and 15 first six chapters of the book as follows: (1) “Both are concerned with the same issue 16 regarding how one can be a good person, and both ... seek to understand what is 17 good for human beings as such, rather than just for the Greeks or for the Chinese” 18 (Yu 2007: 10; references to this book hereafter will be indicated with page number 19 only). It follows that a comparison of these two thinkers is possible and meaningful 20 (Introduction); (2) Both give virtue theories, identifying the human good as an 21 excellent life that we achieve by cultivating key character traits (Chapter 1); (3) 22 Aristotle’ s theory of the human function and Mencius’ theory of innate human 23 goodness provide parallel natural foundations for both ethical theories (Chapter 2); 24 (4) Both characterize virtue as a mean, an inner disposition of one’ s feelings that 25 enables one to hit upon the correct action, as expertise in archery enables one to hit 26 the target (Chapter 3); (5) Both refer to social traditions of propriety as essential for 27 developing the proper dispositions of one’ s feelings (Chapter 4); (6) Both refer to a 28 rational power of practical wisdom that enables the excellent human being to discern 29 what is appropriate in the particular circumstances of life (Chapter 5); (7) Both see 30 the highest human good as a unity between the human and divine (Chapter 6); (8) 31 Nevertheless, there is also a significant disagreement: for Aristotle, the highest good 32 is a theoretical contemplation of the divine eternal and necessary truths, apart from 33 relatively insignificant human concerns and needs, while for Confucius, there is no 34 such tension between theoretical and practical life (Chapters 7 and 8). 35 In my judgment, the book succeeds in its argument for the overall and main 36 theses. This is an important result. Since the 1970s, the standard interpretations of Dao DOI 10.1007/s11712-011-9229-y George Rudebusch (*) Philosophy Department, Northern Arizona University, PO Box 6011, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA e-mail: ghr@nau.edu JrnlID 11712_ArtID 9229_Proof# 1 - 22/06/2011