Accounts of Confucian philosophy tend to highlight its axiological dimensions\, for instance\, that the paradigmatic Confucian person (junzi) is benevolent or virtuous\, effectively realising his* commitment to the welfare of the people. \; Relatively less attention has been given to the junzi&rsquo\;s performance of tasks associated with this role. \; I briefly introduce a picture of (the junzi&rsquo\;s) agency\, using an analogy of a musician&mdash\;a conductor&mdash\;to draw out elements of Confucian agency and performance. \; I focus especially on (a) the place of tradition in a musician&rsquo\;s interpretation of a piece\, and (b) how a musician is reliant on the responses of the audience to his performance. \; The aim is to highlight the ethical and political dimensions of leadership embedded in Confucian agency.
\n*In the Confucian Analects\, this is not a gender-neutral term as it is an official position for which women were not considered (Analects 8.20). \; I use this term here in its original sense\, although in the remainder of my talk\, I assume that the capabilities of the Junzi are available to women as well.
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\nKaryn Lai is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of New South Wales. \; Her primary research is in early Chinese philosophy. \;Her work is usually comparative\, drawing insights from the Chinese traditions to address issues in moral philosophy\, environmental ethics\, and most recently\, in epistemology. \; She is the author of Introduction to Chinese Philosophy (Cambridge University Press\, 2008) and Learning from Chinese Philosophies (Ashgate Publishing\, 2006)\, and of numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. \; She is Editor of Philosophy Compass (Chinese Comparative Philosophy Section)\, co-Editor of the Chinese Philosophy section of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy\, Associate Editor of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy and Assistant Editor of Sophia. \; She is currently the President of the Australasian Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy and the Regional Advisor (Australasia) of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy.
ORGANIZER;CN=Sean Bowden: METHOD:PUBLISH END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR