Philosophy East and West

Abstract:

Herein is examined Zhu Xi's investigation thesis, the claim that a necessary condition (in ordinary cases) for one's acting fully virtuously is that one investigate the all-pervasive pattern in things (gewu 格物). Four key objections that the thesis faces are identified, which are labeled the worries of rationalism, elitism, demandingness, and irrelevance. Zhu Xi, it is argued, has resources for responding to each of these worries, and for defending a broadly intellectualist conception of fully virtuous agency.