The Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy at the City University of Hong Kong is hosting an on-line book symposium on Roy Tseng’s recent book, Confucian Liberalism. Speakers include Loubna El Amine, Dongxian Jiang, Sungmoon Kim, and myself, as well as responses from Roy. We begin at 9:00am Hong Kong time on June 8, which is 9:00pm EST on Wednesday evening, June 7. Details are on the poster here.
Category Archives: Books of Interest
New Book: Key Concepts in World Philosophies
Bloomsbury has recently published a new book titled Key Concepts in World Philosophies: A Toolkit for Philosophers edited by Sarah Flavel and Chiara Robbiano. This new book brings together 45 core ideas associated with a variety of different philosophers all across the globe. It utilizes a universal theme of self-cultivation and transformation in order to connect each concept. Please click here to read more about the book or to purchase it.
New Book: A Tripartite Self
Oxford University Press has recently published A Tripartite Self: Mind, Body, and Spirit in Early China by Lisa Raphals. In this book, the author argues that there was an important divergence in early China between the two views of the self. In one, mind and spirit are closely aligned, and are understood to rule the body as a ruler rules a state. But in the other, the person is tripartite, and mind and spirit are independent entities that cannot be reduced to a material-non-material binary.The book addresses both philosophical and technical literature (including evidence from Chinese excavated texts) to broaden a type of inquiry that frequently is applied only to philosophical texts. Please click here for more information.
New Book: The Evolution of Pragmatism in India
A new book has been published by the University of Chicago Press titled Evolution of Pragmatism in India: An Intellectual Biography of B.R. Ambedkar written by Scott R. Stroud. In this book, Stroud delivers a comprehensive exploration of the influence of John Dewey’s pragmatism on Bhimrao Ambedkar. He focuses on not only on the philosophical ideas Dewey employs but also on how his persuasive techniques drew on pragmatism’s commitment to reconstruction. The author further argues that Ambedkar developed his own version of pragmatism—one influenced by his Indian context and his reconstructive interest in Buddhism. Please click here to learn more about the book or purchase it.
New Book: The Islamic-Confucian Synthesis in China
Lexington Books has recently published an edited volume, The Islamic-Confucian Synthesis, edited byZongping Sha and Shuchen Xiang. The volume contains five essays translated into English from Chinese on the topic of the indigenization of Islamic thought. It introduces to an international audience the hybridization of traditions throughout the millennia of Chinese history. Click here for more information on the book!
New Book: The Lost Texts of Confucius’ Grandson
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press has recently published Kuan-yun Huang’s new book The Lost Texts of Confucius’ Grandson. Huang utilizes the Guodian manuscripts from the fourth century BCE to carefully explicate what the manuscripts teach us about fate, moral cultivation, familial love, obligation, and many other principles that brought order to the Warring States kingdoms. See here to read more about the book.
New Book: Late Classical Chinese Thought by Chris Fraser
From Google Play:
“Chris Fraser presents a rich and broad-ranging study of the culminating period of classical Chinese philosophy, the third century BC. He offers novel and informative perspectives on Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism, and other movements in early Chinese thought while also delving into neglected texts such as the Guanzi, Lu’s Annals, and the Zhuangzi ‘outer’ chapters, restoring them to their prominent place in the history of philosophy. Fraser organizes the history of Chinese thought topically, devoting separate chapters to metaphysics and metaethics, political philosophy, ethics, moral psychology, epistemology, and philosophy of language and logic. Focused specifically on the last century of the Warring States era, arguably the most vibrant, diverse period of philosophical discourse in Chinese history, the discussion covers the shared concerns, rival doctrines, and competing criticisms presented in third-century BC sources. Fraser explicates the distinctive issues, conceptual frameworks, and background assumptions of classical Chinese thought. He aims to introduce the philosophical discourse of early China to a broad audience, including readers with no prior familiarity with the material. At the same time, the thematic treatment and incisive interpretations of individual texts will be of interest to students and specialists in the field.”
New works by Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell (Law, University of Hong Kong) has three recent publications that may be of interest to blog readers:
The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University (Princeton University Press, March 2023) (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691247120/the-dean-of-shandong)
Special issue of The China Review on Chinese identity. Here is the table of contents and introduction free online: https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/image/catalog/journal/jpreview/CR23.2__1-11.pdf
Co-edited with Amitav Acharya, Rajeev Bhargava, Yan Xuetong. Bridging Two Worlds: Comparing Classical Political Thought and Statecraft in India and China (University of California Press, Jan. 2023). Free online version available here:
https://luminosoa.org/site/books/e/10.1525/luminos.135/
New Book: Kim, Confucian Constitutionalism: Dignity, Rights, and Democracy
Sungmoon Kim’s new book Confucian Constitutionalism: Dignity, Rights, and Democracy has just been published by Oxford University Press; for more information, see here.
New Edition: Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy
Hackett Publishing Company has recently released the third, expanded edition of Philip Ivanhoe and Bryan Van Norden’s Readings in Chinese Philosophy. Hackett is offering free instructor copies if ordered at this link up until May. This new edition builds on the strengths of previous editions with the addition of new selections for each chapter. Each section of this volume begins with a brief Introduction and concludes with a lightly annotated Selective Bibliography. Also included are four appendices: Important Figures, Important Periods, Important Texts, and Important Terms.
