Mateusz Stępień

The Empathetic Constitutional Listening. In Search of New Methodological Perspectives

The article argues for reopening a serious discussion on the methodology of comparative studies on constitutional orders. Following this lead, it aims to reconstruct and critically discuss Michael W. Dowdle’s concept of constitutional listening. This concept contains a broad vision of conducting comparative studies of constitutional matters. Particular attention will be devoted to the empathic-based approach to other constitutional orders, which employs the Davinsonian principle of charity. This thread is one of the most interesting but controversial of Dowdle’s proposals. The article contains a general assessment of the concept of empathy-based constitutional listening.

The essential themes of Confucian reflections on law

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct Confucian reflections on law. Interestingly, even such a general aim has not previously been realised. Stereotypical, literal and oversimplified readings of Confucianism seem to dominate even in the professional literature. As a result, the thesis of the anti-legal character of Confucian teachings is widely reiterated. In this paper, a reconstruction of the Confucian approach to law takes account of the most basic assumptions organising Confucian thought. Only in this way can we identify the essential themes of Confucian reflection on law: (1) placing law within an ontology of the social world based on categories of ‘roots-foundations’ (ben) and ‘branches-manifestations’ (mo) and (2) considering the impact of law on the self-cultivation processes which are, according to Confucianists, the ‘root-foundation’.

Keywords: Confucianism, Chinese ontology of the social world, Confucianism and law

Zasadnicze wątki konfucjańskiej refleksji nad prawem

The essential themes of Confucian reflections on law

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct Confucian reflections on law. Interestingly, even such a general aim has not previously been realised. Stereotypical, literal and oversimplified readings of Confucianism seem to dominate even in the professional literature. As a result, the thesis of the anti-legal character of Confucian teachings is widely reiterated. In this paper, a reconstruction of the Confucian approach to law takes account of the most basic assumptions organising Confucian thought. Only in this way can we identify the essential themes of Confucian reflection on law: (1) placing law within an ontology of the social world based on categories of ‘roots-foundations’ (ben) and ‘branches-manifestations’ (mo) and (2) considering the impact of law on the self-cultivation processes which are, according to Confucianists, the ‘root-foundation’.

Streszczenie

Celem tekstu jest rekonstrukcja konfucjańskiej refleksji nad prawem. Co ciekawe, nawet taki ogólny zamiar nie został jak dotąd zrealizowany. W literaturze na ten temat dominują stereotypowe, literalne, bardzo płaskie odczytania konfucjanizmu. W efekcie, powszechnie reprodukowana jest teza o anty-prawnym charakterze tej nauki. W niniejszym tekście rekonstrukcja konfucjańskich tez dotyczących prawa przeprowadzona została z uwzględnieniem najbardziej podstawowych założeń organizujących myśl konfucjańską. Dopiero w ten sposób można ustalić zasadnicze motywy konfucjańskiej refleksji o prawie: 1. umieszczenie rozważań nad prawem w ramach ontologii świata społecznego opartej na kategoriach „korzeni-podstaw” (ben) i „gałęzi-manifestacji” (mo) oraz 2. rozpatrywanie wpływu prawa na procesy samodojrzewania, które to stanowią dla konfucjanistów „korzeń-podstawę”.