Rawls and East Asian Philosophies

Abstract Rawls barely mentions East Asian philosophies, but East Asian political philosophers, especially Confucians, have frequently regarded Rawls as “the Other” with whom they must contrast themselves. While Buddhists seldom engage with Rawls due to their limited interest in politics, Confucians generally have three types of responses to Rawls. Confucian meritocrats, like Daniel Bell and Tongdong Bai, reject Rawls’s democratic theory and advocate for a meritocratic government that grants more political power to elites, whereas Confucian democrats like Joseph Chan and Sungmoon Kim challenge Rawls’s idea of neutrality and support a perfectionist government that promotes Confucian virtues. Apart from them, some Confucians focus on Rawls’s theory of global justice and propose an alternative model of tianxia. In contrast to these responses, the author discusses how East Asian philosophies can complement a Rawlsian democratic anti-perfectionist government. The Confucian method of self-cultivation and its emphasis on family education can contribute to the development of good citizens, thereby enhancing the stability of a Rawlsian state. Also, the Buddhist virtue of maitri (friendliness) encourages individuals to resist the allure of egoism and to deliberate from the perspective of the common good. Overall, the relationship between Rawls’s theory and East Asian philosophies should be seen as complementary, rather than competitive.