The "New Boston Confucianism". Versions and readings

Abstract

This contribution offers an analytical report on the main ideas and positions held by the so-called ‘Boston New Confucianism’, an academic movement of political philosophy developed chiefly during the 90s in the Twentieth Century in the United States of North America. The study advances through two fundamental moves: first, it introduces a description on the origin, representatives, and more relevant contents within that philosophical movement; second, it attempts a demarcation of its mayor readings and versions, according to more conservative or progressive interpretations. The research aims at a general overview on the state of the question that may contribute to the knowledge, understanding, and eventual evaluation of this peculiar proposal of a ‘portable tradition’ and a ‘deliberate tradition’ which, in this globalized world, has made U.S. scholars in New England inspire themselves in the ideas of the millennial Chinese confucian tradition.