20.500.12556/RUL-186601 Free subjectivity and the conception of the human self in neo-confucian and modern confucian metaphysics Svobodna subjektnost in pojmovanje sebstva v neokonfucijanski in moderno-konfucijanski metafiziki This article examines the conception of the free human subject within Neo-Confucian and Modern Confucian metaphysics, arguing that human subjectivity is always situated with-in a morally and cosmically structured reality. In this framework, the self is never isolated but instead embedded in the structural interconnectedness of li, and freedom is realized through moral self-cultivation and active engagement with the world. Autonomy is not understood as an arbitrary choice, but as a cultivated form of self-determination grounded in ethical insight, responsibility, and practice. Across its classical, Neo-Confucian, and modern formulations, Confucian metaphysics consistently depicts the subject as morally grounded, relationally embedded, and capable of apprehending ultimate reality through ethical realization. This conception challenges reductive interpretations of Confucianism as mere self-restraint or hierarchical submission, revealing instead a comprehensive phil-osophical tradition in which ethics, metaphysics, and existential inquiry are inseparable. Confucian thought thus offers a distinctive humanistic paradigm that affirms the intrinsic value of the human being while rejecting an isolated or self-enclosed conception of sub-jectivity. By grounding freedom in moral cultivation and situating human agency within an interconnected moral and natural order, it articulates a vision of responsibility, rela-tional belonging, and shared value that stands as a powerful response to the contemporary degradation of humanistic ideals, social fragmentation, and ecological crisis. neo-confucianism modern confucianism metaphysics pattern (li) the self subjectivity freedom neokonfucijanstvo moderno konfucijanstvo metafizika načelo (li) sebstvo subjektnost svoboda true false false Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2026-09-03 09:47:09 2026-09-03 09:47:17 2026-09-04 04:30:53 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Str. 51-74 iss. 3 Vol. 14 (30) 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-01-01 1(510) 2232-5131 10.4312/as.2026.14.3.51-74 289855747 Sernelj.pdf Sernelj.pdf 1 7E8D4A5F3A010161C917218259A03330 dfe6134ccabaa00884fcc39ab8e275f98cd5348a24ea56a0cacc25c1abf809fe 2c01e88c-a76c-11f1-8bc5-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=245881 https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/26086/22375 1 b0ddfd19-a76b-11f1-8bc5-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=245879 Filozofska fakulteta 0 0 0