How Universal Are Human Values?

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Abstract

In this postmodern age, anyone seeing a title like “Chinese Values and Western Values: Clash, Coexistence, or Consensus?” should have the knee-jerk reflex to ask back: Which “Chinese”? Which “Western”? The “Chinese” of the Communist Party under Xi Jinping? Of Mao Zedong in Yan'an? Of the Manchu Qing or the Mongol Yuan? The West of Adolf Hitler, Woodrow Wilson, or Pope Francis? As a Sinologist, I have witnessed many of these usually self-serving, “holier than thou” debates: Why did the Chinese not develop science? Is there such a thing as “civil society” in China? Is “rule of law” conceivable in…