To the Effort Itself: A Phenomenological Study of Wang Yangming's 王陽明 Theory of Moral Effort

<p>In this dissertation, I phenomenologically clarify the theory on moral effort (<em>gongfu</em> 功夫) of the sixteenth-century Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming (or Wang Shouren 王陽明/王守仁 1472-1529). For Wang, the final purpose of moral effort is to cultivate one’s heart (<em>xin</em> 心) as the subject of consciousness, with the goal of sagehood. The heart is also the foundation on which all methods of moral effort can rely. I argue that Husserl’s phenomenology can shed a light on Wang’s doctrine, for it describes the transcendental structure of all aspects related to consciousness, which are also topics and phenomena studied by Wang’s philosophy.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

One-year Embargo

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Dong, Minglai

Contributors dc:contributor

• Michael Harrington
• Lanei Rodemeyer
• Jay Lampert

• Wang Yangming
• Husserl
• Phenomenology
• Neo-Confucianism
• Comparative Philosophy
• Continental Philosophy
• Ethics and Political Philosophy

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1463

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2468