Category Archives: Books of Interest

New Book: Xiong Shili’s Treatise on Reality and Function

Oxford University Press has published Xiong Shili’s Treatise on Reality and Function, one of the major works of the New Confucian philosopher Xiong Shili 熊十力. The translation is by John Makeham.
This is the fourth translation in the Oxford Chinese Thought book series, which is devoted to providing high-quality translations of important philosophical and religious texts, for scholars and for classroom use. A free sample chapter is available here (free until April 1, 2024). A short description follows below the fold.

Continue reading →

New Book: Gongsheng Across Contexts

Palgrave Macmillan has recently brought out Gongsheng Across Contexts: A Philosophy of Co-Becoming, an Open-Access book (see here) co-edited by Bing Song (Berggruen Institute China Center) and Yiwen Zhan (School of Philosophy, Beijing Normal University). The table of contents and all materials are available on the above website.

New Book: Shi, Contemporary Chinese Confucian Revival Movement

Brill has recently published Wei SHI’s book, Universal and Particular—Ideological Developments in the Contemporary Chinese Confucian Revival Movement (2000–2020), as part of the series “Modern Chinese Philosophy.” More information is available here, and the Table of Contents follows.

Continue reading →

New Book: Major, Confucian Iconoclasm

SUNY has just published Philippe Major’s book Confucian Iconoclasm: Textual Authority, Modern Confucianism, and the Politics of Antitradition in Republican China. It provides a new interpretation of the rise of modern Confucian philosophy in Republican China, which the author argues in its most successful form is nearly as iconoclastic as May Fourth discourse. A description of the book is available here, and the book is available in open access format (thanks to Swiss tax payers!) here.

New Book: Material Objects in Confucian and Aristotelian Metaphysics

Bloomsbury is happy to announce that they will be publishing a new book titled Material Objects in Confucian and Aristotelian Metaphysics: The Inevitability of Hylomorphism by James Dominic Rooney on October 19th, 2023. Rooney shows how Thomas Aquinas’ account of form gives a more coherent version of hylomorphism, eliminating the need for substance parts. He also studies the Song dynasty Confucian thinker Zhu Xi’s hylomorphic intuition that whatever accounts for the composition of some parts into a material whole is a metaphysical part of that object. By appealing to the same non-Aristotelian considerations as Zhu Xi, Rooney explains why all those who believe in the unity of material objects will appeal to a form, enabling hylomorphism to remain a plausible framework. Please click here for more information on the book or to pre-order.

New Book: Comparing Husserl’s Phenomenology and Chinese Yogacara

Bloomsbury is happy to announce that they will be publishing a new book titled Comparing Husserl’s Phenomenology and Chinese Yogacara in a Multicultural World: A Journey Beyond Orientalism by Jingjing Li on November 30th, 2023. In this book Jingjing Li argues that what Edmund Husserl means by essence differs from what Chinese Yogacarins mean by svabhava, partly because Husserl problematises the substantialist understanding of essence in European philosophy. Furthermore, she reveals that Chinese Yogacara has developed an account of self-transformation, ethics and social ontology that renders it much more than simply a Buddhist version of Husserlian phenomenology.  Please click here to either pre-order the book or check it out.

New Book: Daoist Resonances in Heidegger

Bloomsbury is happy to announce that they be will publishing a book titled Daoist Resonances in Heidegger: Exploring a Forgotten Debt edited by David Chai on December 28th 2023. This book discusses how Daoist thought provided Martin Heidegger with a new perspective, equipping him with images, concepts, and meanings that enabled him to continue his questioning of the nature of being. Please click here to preorder or check out the book.