Includes bibliographical references (pages 180-193) and index.

Contextualizing progressive Confucianism -- Self-restriction: the indirect link between ethics and politics -- Rethinking authority and rejecting authoritarianism: giving the people their voice -- Debating the rule of law and virtue politics: Zhang Shizhao, Mou Zongsan, and today -- The rights of all under heaven: human rights and contemporary Confucianism -- Neither ethics nor law : ritual propriety as Confucian civility -- Virtue, politics, and social criticism: toward deference without oppression -- Conclusion: the shape of Confucian virtue-ritual-politics.

"Confucian political philosophy has recently emerged as a vibrant area of thought in China and around the globe. Stephen Angle's new book provides an accessible introduction to the main perspectives and topics debated today and shows why Progressive Confucianism is a particularly promising approach. Students of political theory or contemporary politics will learn that, far from being confined to a museum, contemporary Confucianism both responds to current challenges and offers insights from which we can all learn. The Progressive Confucianism defended here takes key ideas from the twentieth-century Confucian philosopher Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) as its point of departure for exploring issues such as political authority and legitimacy, the rule of law, human rights, civility, and social justice. The result is anti-authoritarian without abandoning the ideas of virtue and harmony; it preserves the key values Confucians find in ritual and hierarchy without giving in to oppression or domination. A central goal of the book is to present Progressive Confucianism in such a way as to make its insights manifest to non-Confucians, be they philosophers or simply citizens interested in the potential contributions of Chinese thinking to our emerging, shared world."--Page 4 of cover.