I am Not a Sage but an Archer: Confucius on Agency and Freedom

Abstract

Confucianism has a "will-conception" of autonomy as opposed to a contemporary "choice-conception" (Chan 2002). Kyung-Sig Hwang categorizes Confucian ethics as a form of "soft determinism" that makes the effort at self-cultivation compatible with accepting "fate" () in matters beyond human control (Hwang 2013, p. 13). Drawing on contemporary feminist theories, Chenyang Li explains that Confucians see freedom as "choice of good" (). Unlike a will-based conception of freedom, the Confucian view is more holistic, comparable to the notion of "liberation," that is, the realization of life goals by developing competencies that enable one to excel in a challenging environment (Li 2014).