laws of succession in China were inXuenced by Confucian family values, and she
develops a model of a law of succession with a Confucian foundation that can be
accommodated with an egalitarian Western legal framework (Ho 2003 ).
To summarize: The history of Western ethics has largely devalued the family,
with the exception of feminist theories that have highlighted the importance
of restructured families for promoting women’s equality in and out of the
family. The history of East Asian ethics, to(over-)simplify, is almost the opposite.
It has aYrmed the human capacity for relationship, with the family at the center, but
the great blind spot of Confucianism has been its lack of theorizing regarding the
impact of family structures on the well-being of women. Recent formulations of
Confucianism have attempted to remedy this blind spot, and have therefore
allowed for an engagement between feminist theory and Confucian ethics.
4 What’s the Point of Comparative
Political Theory?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
This chapter has not been an attempt to provide a balanced or comprehensive
survey of Confucian thought, much less East Asian political theory. Rather,
I have focused on selected aspects of Confucianism that have enriched, or
have the potential to enrich, contemporary debates in Anglo-American
political theory. I have argued that recent debates in Anglo-American polit-
ical theory have allowed for substantial engagement with Confucianism. Such
engagement also points to some of the more general beneWts of cross-cultural
political theorizing. The debates on universalism and human rights point to
the possibility of moving toward a more genuine universalism, one founded
on an understanding of and engagement between diVerent ethical and pol-
itical traditions, as opposed to the spurious ‘‘universality’’ traditionally
claimed by the Western canon that ignores contributions by non-Western
thinkers. In areas where universality is not possible, these debates point to the
possibility of genuine respect for ways of life that give priority to diVerent
goods, teaching us about the diversity and richness of human cultures and
the harm done when seeking to implement one single moral and political
ideal in all times and places. The debates on the family and justice point to
the possibility of learning about one’s own unexamined assumptions and
276 daniel a. bell