Are there irresolvable value conflicts according to early Confucian ethical and sociopolitical thinkers? If so, how do Confucians recommend that people decide on an appropriate course of action in such cases, and what is the impact on their moral integrity of the choice they make and the conduct they undertake? Is their integrity rendered vulnerable when they are forced to choose between conflicting values, and is there value in the vulnerability of integrity? Michael Ing examines these questions in The Vulnerability of Integrity in Early Confucian Thought, and his bold and highly compelling analysis of how early Confucians addressed them is an important contribution to scholarship in multiple fields of study. In Ing's study, there is ample consideration of content from the Analects, the Mengzi, and the Xunzi, which receive the most attention from scholars. His examination extends beyond them, however, to include detailed discussions of...

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