Thinning Out Ritual, Diluting Identity

Kim’s book is rich with thought-provoking ideas that are relevant to contemporary societies. I focus on its discussion of the “pluralism dilemma” and Kim’s appeal to “public reason Confucianism” as a response. The pluralism dilemma is the dilemma that a Confucian democratic theory has to meet both “the pluralist demand” and “the Confucian demand” (70). While the “Confucian” part of the theory is supposed to prefer Confucian doctrines over other doctrines, the “democratic” part is supposed to “accommodate as many reasonable conceptions of the good and comprehensive doctrines as possible” (70). What is original about Kim’s theory is that it seeks to accommodate both.