 Whether such a sociological trend is fruitful is a question for philosophical exploration. Sometimes what is gained through comparative inquiry starts with the realization that concepts or major distinctions that one has taken for granted as central to philosophical inquiry are not taken to be so central or even have no close equivalents in another philosophical tradition. That may further raise the issues of what role that concept is playing in the first tradition, whether the second tradition has no need for that role, and whether this implies some fundamental difference in their orientations toward the ethical life. Shun’s work (2014, 2015) on approaches to anger and resentment, and on the absence of a concept of forgiveness in Confucianism is an interesting case in point. The way that this work points to a fundamental difference in orientation toward the ethical life might best be brought out in comparison with P.F. Strawson’s characterization of resentment as “a reaction to injury or indifference.” It is an instance of the class of “reactive attitudes” that rest on, and reflect, an expectation of, and demand for, “the manifestation of a certain degree of goodwill or regard on the part of other human beings towards ourselves;” or at least“an absence of the manifestation of indifferent disregard” (2008, 15). Resentment, then, is based on a sense of what is due to oneself, and may be conceived as a defense of self-respect. Forgiveness may be conceived as the foregoing of resentment, and a prominent form of forgiveness that became established in the West is based on the idea that it should only be given if the offender repents. Shun points out that Confucians generally regard resentment (yuan) as an emotion one should rise above. Though anger might be appropriate as a response to someone else’s wrongful treatment of the self, it is properly directed at the wrongful treatment rather than at the fact that it was directed at oneself rather than someone else. One should be focused on determining the appropriate response going forward. This downgrading of the ethical status of resentment helps to explain the absence of an equivalent in Classical Chinese for forgiveness, especially the kind that should be given only if the offender repents. Resentment is not regarded as something one may rightfully bear unless the offender repents. Shun stresses that the generally negative attitude toward resentment in Confucianism does not imply a lack of concern for self-respect. The basis for self-respect should be the morality of one’s own actions and character, not how others treat one.