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5 - Ghosts and Intergenerational Justice

A Confucian Perspective

from Part II - Intergenerational Ethics in Dialogue with Confucianism and Daoism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2024

By
Yat-hung Leung  and
Mario Wenning
Edited by
Hiroshi Abe ,
Matthias Fritsch  and
Mario Wenning
Hiroshi Abe
Affiliation:
Kyoto University
Matthias Fritsch
Affiliation:
Concordia University, Montréal
Mario Wenning
Affiliation:
Loyola University, Spain
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Summary

This chapter engages with the world of ghosts and spirits (guishen 鬼神) in the classical Chinese tradition. While there has been agreement about the existence of ghosts, their status and the duties of currently living humans to them is all but clear. We argue that a Confucian innovation consists in acknowledging the existence of the spirit world in an “as if” mode. In this conception, humans share obligations of respect while they are well advised to practice attentive distancing to these beings. The mechanisms governing a haunted cosmos are ultimately beyond human comprehension. Ghosts are stand-ins and correctives who reveal the limits of human control and comprehension. We conclude by discussing the potential contributions of this Confucian conception of ghosts and spirits to contemporary debates on intergenerational justice.

Keywords

ghostsspiritshumansintergenerational justiceConfucianism
Type
Chapter
Information
Intercultural Philosophy and Environmental Justice between Generations
Indigenous, African, Asian, and Western Perspectives
 , pp. 97 - 114
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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