ABSTRACT
This chapter defends democratic Confucian sentimental representation in a positive way by critically engaging with the recent debate on Sungmoon Kim’s public reason Confucianism. I first clarify what critics are missing, owing mainly to their misunderstanding of the idea of Confucian citizens in Kim’s theory. Then, I demonstrate that the real problem with Kim’s public reason Confucianism is that by shifting the focal point of Confucian public reason(s) from civility to reasoning ability, the proper location of Confucian public reason(s) separates into two discrete political agents: Confucian citizens who are motivated to take part in public deliberation by critical affection, and the constitutional court that is capable of highly abstract and philosophically elaborate reasoning. As a result, Kim’s public reason Confucianism loses a political, dynamic, and affective character that is the heart of his theory of Confucian democracy. To solve this problem, I suggest Confucian sentimental representation at the core of which lies in placing Confucian political leaders at the center of political participation. By doing so, I demonstrate that Confucian sentimental representation contributes not only to reproducing Confucian public culture that is the soil of public reason Confucianism but also to enhancing the acceptability of Kim’s public reason Confucianism.
