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Title:: Noumenon and Value of Practical Rationality: On the Modern Meaning of Confucian Sincerity

Keywords:: sincerity; Confucian; noumenon; value; complete and constant sincerity; self-realization of sincerity

Abstract:: Possessing special significance in the Confucian virtue theory, sincerity is a type of virtue characterized by its combination of the dimensions of “nature” and “humanity” and of “noumenon” and “ability”. But its profound meaning has been disguised by modern life. From the perspective of virtue ethics, the principle of “complete and constant sincerity” manifests the noumenon of Confucian virtue, which offers human virtue a brilliant, deep, and lasting metaphysical foundation. The principle of “self-realization of sincerity” reveals the value of Confucian virtue: to know ourselves; to know and change the outside world; to fulfil one’s social duty and function; and to integrate the inside and the outside worlds mean that morality is its own purpose. An exploration of the modern meaning of Confucian sincerity is the basic work for interpreting the meaning of Confucian virtue theory, which can provide useful ideological resources for the construction of virtue in the contemporary world.