There are diverse understandings of the moral significance of emotions in different ethical theories. By deep inquiry into the traditional Confucian texts, we can see that the Confucian sense of ethical life is also a kind of emotional life, and the Confucian virtues such as “filial love” are inclinational. Based on these observations, it is argued in this paper that emotions are morally significant in Confucian ethics. The reason is that Confucians regard emotions as given by Heaven which already embraces cognitive dimensions in themselves. The Confucian understanding of emotions will help us reevaluate the presupposition of reason-emotion dichotomy which is prevailing in Western ethical theories.
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