Early Confucian ethical and political thought has provoked a remarkable range of readings over the last two decades, especially regarding the fundamental structure of Confucian ethics. This talk attempts to sort through these debates, especially regarding role ethics and virtue ethics, but with some attention to other interpretations, in the service of sketching the outlines of a general and synthetic account of early Confucian ethical theory, which can at the same time account for the areas of debate within and beyond the Ru social group.

Aaron Stalnaker is professor and chair of Religious Studies at Indiana University, with courtesy appointments in Philosophy and East Asian Languages and Cultures. He has written two book-length studies in comparative ethics: "Mastery, Dependence, and the Ethics of Authority" (Oxford University Press, 2020) and "Overcoming Our Evil: Human Nature and Spiritual Exercises in Xunzi and Augustine" (Georgetown University Press, 2006). He has also published articles in a number of venues, including the "Journal of Religious Ethics," "Soundings," "Philosophy East and West," "Dao," and "International Philosophical Quarterly." He founded the Comparative Religious Ethics group within the American Academy of Religion, and is currently Associate Editor of the "Journal of Religious Ethics" and co-chair of the Confucian Traditions Unit at the AAR.

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