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Over the past half-century, China has experienced some incredible human dramas, ranging from Red Guard fanaticism and the loss of education for an entire genera-tion during the Cultural Revolution, to the Tiananmen tragedy, the economic miracle, and its accompanying fad of money worship and the rampancy of official corruption. Social Ethics in a Changing China: Moral Decay or Ethical Awakening? provides a rich empirical narrative and thought-provoking scholarly arguments, highlighting the imperative for an ethical discourse in a country that is increasingly seen by many as both a materialistic giant and a spiritual dwarf.

Professor He Huaihong was not only an extraordinary firsthand witness to all of these dramas, he played a distinct role as a historian, an ethicist, and a social critic exploring the deeper intellectual and sociological origins of these events. Incorporating ethical theories with his expertise in culture, history, religion, literature, and politics of the country, He reviews the remarkable transformation of ethics and morality in the People's Republic of China and engages in a global discourse about the major ethical issues of our time. The book aims to reconstruct Chinese social ethics in an innovative philosophical framework, reflecting China's search for new virtues.

Contents

1. Reconstructing China's Social Ethics

2. Historical and Sociological Origins of Chinese Cultural Norms

3. The Transformation of Ethics and Morality in the PRC

4. China's Ongoing Moral Decay?

5. Ethical Discourse in Reform Era China

6. Chinese Ethical Dialogue with the West and the World

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CONTENTS
Foreword / John L. Thornton = vii
Acknowledgments = xi
Introduction / Cheng Li = xv
PART Ⅰ Reconstructing China''''s Social Ethics
 1 "New Principles" : Toward a New Framework of Chinese Social Ethics = 3
 2 A Chinese Theory of Conscience : The Contemporary Transformation of Traditional Morality = 26
PART Ⅱ Historical and Sociological Origins of Chinese Cultural Norms
 3 The Selection Society = 37
 4 1905 : The End of Traditional Chinese Society = 54
 5 Three Sources of Chinese Tradition and the Impetus for Cultural Renaissance = 72
PART Ⅲ The Transformation of Ethics and Morality in the PRC
 6 The Red Guard Generation : Manipulated Rebellion and Youth Violence = 83
 7 From Mobilized Morality to Demobilized Morality : Social and Ethical Changes in Post-Mao China = 97
PART Ⅳ China''''s Ongoing Moral Decay?
 8 Moral Crisis in Chinese Society = 119
 9 Chinese People : Why Are You So Angry? = 124
 10 "Absurd Bans" and the Need for Minimum Moral Standards = 128
PART Ⅴ Ethical Discourse in Reform Era China
 11 Why Should We Repeatedly Stress the Principle of Life? = 135
 12 On Possible Ways to Contain the Corruption of Power = 143
 13 Challenging the Death Penalty = 148
 14 The Moral, Legal, and Religious Issues of Civil Disobedience = 159
 15 Ecological Ethics : Spiritual Resources and Philosophical Foundations = 165
PART Ⅵ Chinese Ethical Dialogue with the West and the World
 16 The Possibilities and Limits of Moral Philosophy = 189
 17 The Intellectual Legacy of John Rawls = 201
 18 The Applicability of the Principle of Life to International Politics = 208
 19 What Are the Differences? And What Consensus? = 220
Further Reading : The Writings of He Huaihong, 1983-2013 = 231
Index = 237