New book: Confucianism at War: 1931-1945

Routledge has just published a book edited by Shaun O’Dwyer, Confucianism at War: 1931-1945. The book brings together original research by East Asian and European scholars – some of it published for the first time in English – which demonstrates that Confucianism was “a potent and also contested cultural resource for promoting national cohesion, war mobilization, and expansionism in East Asia between the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and the end of World War II in 1945.” More information on the book can be found here. Thanks to Dongxian Jiang (Fordham) for the pointer.

Angle Reviews Slote, Philosophical Essays East and West

My review of Michael Slote’s 2023 book Philosophical Essays East and West: Agent-Based Virtue Ethics and other topics at the intersection of Chinese thought and Western analytic philosophy has now been published on-line in Mind (see here). The review begins:

For more than a decade, Michael Slote has been undertaking an ambitious program of philosophical engagement with Chinese philosophy. The volume under review is the latest fruit of this engagement, which to date has resulted in at least seven English-language journal articles (the earliest dating from 2009) and one prior collection of essays; a bilingual English-Chinese book; numerous Chinese-language essays (translated from English originals); and a collection of essays called Michael Slote Encountering Chinese Philosophy in which a variety of scholars discuss his work and Slote responds. The present review will focus on Philosophical Essays East and West while keeping this larger body of work in view.

Over the course of the fairly lengthy review I discuss Slote’s “world philosophy” approach and his extensive use of the concepts of yin and yang, xin, and various other categories derived from Chinese philosophy. In brief, I find Slote’s work to be both methodologically and substantively fascinating. Comments are of course welcome!

New Book: Chan, Towards Confucian Republicanism

Oxford has recently published Elton Chan’s Towards Confucian Republicanism: Democracy as Virtue Politics. In the book, Chan develops a theoretical framework of Confucianism for the twenty-first century. Chan argues that liberal Confucians must take seriously the internal authoritarian leanings of Confucianism–and then argue against such strands of the Confucian tradition. He shows that Confucians are keen on concentrating power in the hands of the virtuous not merely for promoting order and material livelihood, but also for general moral cultivation. Yet this use of political and moral hierarchy as institutional platforms for perfectionist development is self-defeating.

To counter the authoritarian turn in Confucian scholarship, Chan articulates a vision of a hybrid political order that brings together Confucianism and republican democracy. He makes the case that Confucianism stands a much higher chance of achieving its political and moral ideals–good governance and collective virtuous cultivation–when merged with republicanism. Covering a uniquely wide range of Confucian classics and outlining his novel vision for Confucianism, Chan addresses pressing issues in contemporary political philosophy, including virtue politics, balance of power, civic education, public reason constraint, and the role of civil society.

To access the book for further reading, please visit this site.

四海为学 “Collaborative Learning“ Roundtable: Considering Non-Humans

On January 9th at 9:00am Beijing time the 四海为学 “Collaborative Learning” Project will host a roundtable on “Considering Non-Humans”. To find details and the Zoom link, please visit the project’s event page. No pre-registration or passcode is required is required for Zoom participation.
A list of the project’s upcoming events can be found at the calendar here.

四海为学 “Collaborative Learning“ Lecture by Fabian Heubel

On January 6th at 19:00(pm) Beijing time the 四海为学 “Collaborative Learning” Project will host a lecture by Professor Fabian Heubel, titled “Without Nothingness: Reflections on Transcultural Entanglements of Being and Way”. To find details and the Zoom link, please visit the project’s event page. No pre-registration or passcode is required is required for Zoom participation.
A list of the project’s upcoming events can be found at the calendar here.

Episode 15 of “This Is the Way”: Ritual in the Analects

It is indisputable that ritual is at the heart of Confucianism—buy why? In this episode we examine Analects 3.17 in which Confucius seems keen to defend a ritual sacrifice of a lamb which his student regards as excessive. We discuss this passage in light of Richard Wollheim’s paper, “The Sheep and the Ceremony” which offers a deep and illuminating exploration of this passage and the value of ritual more broadly. We examine questions about the possibility of seeing ritual as intrinsically valuable or constitutive of a good human life, and offer some suggestions about why the Confucians may have been right to place such significant weight on ritual practice. Continue reading →

New Book: Angle and Jin, eds., Progressive Confucianism and Its Critics

I am happy to announce the publication of a new book, Stephen C. Angle and Yutang Jin, eds., Progressive Confucianism and Its Critics: Dialogues from the Confucian Heartland (Routledge, 2025). More information on the book can be found here. This book is a translation into English of a series of dialogues that I held with Chinese Confucians in Beijing in the spring of 2017. The Introduction and part of the first dialogue are available at Amazon here, in case you’d like to learn more. Enjoy!

Chinese Philosophy MA Program at Beijing Normal University

The MA Chinese Philosophy program at Beijing Normal University (English taught) will be offered in the spring of 2025. The philosophy discipline at Beijing Normal University ranks among the top 3 in China, with the MA program gaining widespread recognition both domestically and internationally. A detailed overview of the program is provided in this attached brochure. The application deadline for admission is March 10th, 2025. Additional information and application guidelines can be accessed on the official BNU admission website.

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Call for applications: Way and Being Seminar-workshop

Way and Being: Between Daoist and Pre-Socratic Approaches is a seminar-workshop designed for students engaged in or interested in research opportunities within Chinese and/or Greek philosophy. The program includes 90-minute presentations and discussions led by invited speakers on related topics. Additionally, students will have the chance to share and discuss their ideas with peers and speakers in 30-minute sessions. Students who are currently working on or planning to explore pre-Socratic philosophy and/or Daoist philosophy in their bachelor, master, or doctoral theses are particularly encouraged to apply.

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