| ID | 131421 |
| Title Proper | Idea of order in ancient Chinese political thought |
| Other Title Information | a Wightian exploration |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Zhang, Yongjin |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Is there any significant International Thought in antiquity beyond the West? If there is, why has there as yet been no meaningful conversation between the expanding enterprise of theorizing International Relations (IR) today and ancient Chinese political thought? This extended version of my Martin Wight Memorial Lecture addresses these questions through a critical exploration of how a pivotal idea in ancient as well as contemporary international relations, namely, the idea of order, is deliberated in ancient Chinese political thought. Inspired by Martin Wight's profound scholarship so steeped in historical and philosophical depth, it investigates why and how alternative visions of moral, social and political order are imagined, offered and debated in ancient Chinese philosophical discourse. It examines the ways in which the moral and political pursuit of order as a social ideal is conducted in the anarchical society of states in ancient China. Through these historical and philosophical investigations, this article seeks to establish that ancient Chinese political and philosophical deliberations are rich in international thought and that classical thinkers in China's Axial Age are alive to us and contemporaneous with us philosophically as much as ancient Greek philosophers are. In establishing such a claim, the article calls for, and issues an invitation to, a conversation between the world of thought in ancient China and the theorization of IR as an intellectual ritual in search of a truly international theory. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Affairs Vol.90, No.1; January 2014: p.167-183 |
| Journal Source | International Affairs Vol.90, No.1; January 2014: p.167-183 |
| Key Words | China ; Chinese Politics ; Political Thought ; History - China ; Political Pursuit ; Political Philosophy ; Political Order ; International Relations - IR ; International Theories ; Intellectual Ritual ; Ancient China ; Ancient World ; Philosophical Deliberations ; Chinese Philosophical Discourse ; International Thought |