Category Archives: China

Call for Applications – Social Ontology in Wuhan: A Summer School

The School of Philosophy at Wuhan University is pleased to invite applications for its 2025 Social Ontology Summer School. The Summer School will explore various topics in social ontology, including collective intentionality, metaphysics of social categories, Chinese social thought, and philosophical issues in the social sciences. It will take place June 5th through 8th, 2025. Planned speakers include Peter Finocchiaro (Wuhan University), Gina Lebkuecher (Wuhan University), Michael Longenecker (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law), Rachel Sterken (Hong Kong University), Shuchen Xiang 项舒晨 (Xidian University), and Hwa Yeong Wang (Duke Kunshan University).
The Summer School is funded by the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University and the International Social Ontology Society.

Applications are due by April 15th, and are open to undergraduate and graduate students within China. Travel and lodging expenses will be covered for accepted applicants. Please see the Wuhan University website post, linked here for more information about how to apply.

2025 CSCS-ATI Summer School-Buridan and the Buddha: Nominalism and Universals from East to West

Please see here for more information about “2025 CSCS-ATI Summer School, Buridan and the Buddha: Nominalism and Universals from East to West,” which will be held at at Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China. The co-leaders are Prof. Vincent Eltschinger (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris) and Dr. Boaz Schuman (KU Leuven).

Job Opening at CUHK

Recruitment of Assistant / Associate Professor (Substantive or Substantiable-track) – (240002U0)

Department / Unit: Department of Philosophy
Closing Date: February 28, 2025

The Department of Philosophy at CUHK is the biggest philosophy program in Hong Kong. It is pluralistic, with equal strengths in analytic, Chinese and continental philosophy. It has been consistently ranked as one of the best Philosophy Departments in Asia and among Top-50 Philosophy Departments worldwide. More information about the department can be found at: http://www.phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/web/.

The Department now invites applications for a substantiable-track assistant professorship or associate professorship with substantiation. AOS: Chinese philosophy. AOC: Open.

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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.

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!

Conference: The Waves that Follow (New Books in Chinese Philosophy)

Tsinghua University will hold a hybrid conference titled “The Waves that Follow: New Books in Chinese Philosophy” from December 7 to 9, 2024. The conference invites young scholars worldwide who have published new books in the field of Chinese philosophy within the past one to two years to share fresh perspectives, new methods, and innovative research directions from their works, aiming to foster exchange and development. Additionally, senior scholars who have devoted many years to Chinese philosophy will engage in in-depth discussions on the research presented by this new generation.

Time: 8 December, 2024/ Beijing time (UTC +08:00), 8:00 – 18:30

Venue: Room 124, Humanity school, Tsinghua University
Zoom Meeting ID: 938 634 5943

Find the information on speakers and event arrangements in this pdf.

四海为学 “Collaborative Learning“ Lecture by Shirley Chan

On December 4th at 9:00am Beijing time the 四海为学 “Collaborative Learning” Project will host a lecture by Professor Shirley Chan, titled “Conceptualizing Crisis in Early Chinese Texts”. 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.