WASHINGTON—In a book recently published by Brookings Institution Press, Chinese professor He Huaihong proposes a new social ethics for a society that many observers, both inside and outside China, said is in a state of moral crisis.
An historian, ethicist, social critic, and unapologetic defender of Confucianism, professor He proposes an intellectual framework to guide people’s behavior and restore social ethics to China so that it can take its place among other nations without shame. Professor He spoke at the Brookings Institution on Nov. 6 on his new book, “Social Ethics in a Changing China: Moral Decay or Ethical Awakening?”
He Huaihong is professor of philosophy at Peking University in Beijing. The book is actually 19 essays, written, except for two, between 2002 and 2013, and edited for the book.
“Currently, we have quite a serious problem with morality in Chinese society now. The basic issues are that we lack basic trust and we lack kindness,” said He, through his English translator.
