they argue that there is an immense gap between the actually-existing family,
the ‘‘school of despotism,’’ and the family as it ought to be, the ‘‘school of the
virtues of freedom and equality.’’ Susan Moller Okin argues that reform of the
family requires nothing less than a situation where ‘‘one’s sex would have no
more relevance than one’s eye color or the length of one’s toes’’ (Okin 1989 ,
181 ); that is, members of the family would have no sense of being either male
or female. As noted above, several contemporary Confucians have sought to
meet the challenge of regarding women as men’s equals, but they stillWnd
more of value in actually-existing families than feminists of the Okin mode,
similar to feminist ‘‘care theorists’’ who place special value upon particular
relationships and obligations within the family while criticizing the devalu-
ation of family duties by a male-dominated culture (Li 1994 ).
Secondly, whereas feminists tend to think of the family as an educative
institution forchildren(Okin 1989 , 17 – 23 ), Confucians focus on the family as
an educative institution foradults(Schwartz 1985 , 101 ). That is, human beings
learn such virtues as responsibility and self-sacriWcing love not just qua
children learning from adults, but also—especially—qua adults caring for
elderly parents. It is the focus onWlial piety, ‘‘the essential way of learning to
be human’’ (Tu 1989 , 13 ), that explains in large part the Confucian stress on
the family as an educative institution, an emphasis that can enrich feminist
debates on the family’s (potential) role in transmitting (desirable) morality.
II. The family as a political institution. Confucians share the feminist view that
attitudes and behaviors within the family context have implications not just for
personal ethics and everyday social life, but also for politics. Once again,
however, there is a diVerence in emphasis that may allow for mutual learning.
According to Confucius, ‘‘Those who have a sense ofWlial and fraternal respon-
sibility rarely have a taste for defying authority’’ (Confucius 1998 ,bk. 1. 2 ).
This might seem to be an endorsement of the family as the ‘‘school of despot-
ism’’ model, but it is primarily an argument about motivation: the practice of
other-regarding behavior within the family provides the main psychological
basis for other-regarding behavior outside the family. Confucianism may
oVer resources, both ethical and practical, for guiding the expansion of con-
cern from the family to citizens and strangers (Chong, Tan, and Ten 2003 ;Lee
2000 ).
Political rulers also learn their morality within the family. In a dialogue
with King Xuan of Qi, Mencius oVers the following advice to the ruler: ‘‘Treat
your elders in a way beWtting their venerable age and extend this treatment to
confucianism and anglo-american political theory 273