Category Archives: Chinese philosophy – 中國哲學 – 中国哲学

Episode 38 of “This Is the Way”: Xunzi on Human Nature and Human Artifice

Xunzi is famous for the claim that “human nature is bad.” But what does he mean by this, and if goodness does not come naturally to us, where does it come from?

In this episode, we discuss Xunzi’s distinction between nature (xing 性) and deliberate effort (wei 偽), his disagreement with Mencius, and his view that moral goodness must be “learned” and “worked at.” We also ask how sharp the distinction between the natural and the artificial really is, and consider Xunzi’s comparison of moral cultivation to crafts like pottery and woodworking. If we are shaped through deliberate effort, are we both the material being shaped and the ones doing the shaping? Continue reading →

Brian Bruya in Conversation with George Thompson

George Thompson is a popularizer of philosophical Daoism. In this conversation, we discuss the concept of ziran, the science of wisdom, and the intersection of philosophy and religion.

 

Wong reviews Kim, The Art of Seeing Beyond Oneself

Doil Kim, The Art of Seeing Beyond Oneself: A Confucian Perspective on Humility, Oxford University Press, 2025, 184pp., $99.00 (hbk) ISBN 9780197834213.

Reviewed by David B. Wong, Duke University

Doil Kim identifies Confucian humility as a form of “self-lowering”. Other forms under this capacious heading have been criticized as prescribing self-effacement or self-sacrifice. Failure to distinguish Confucian humility from such other forms has resulted in confusion and unclarity as to what humility is, and most importantly, has obscured how Confucian humility can play a constructive role in shaping personhood in the sense of a “good and ethically formed human being” (1). Kim’s aim is to make the case for Confucian humility, based on a textual analysis of early Confucian and medieval Neo-Confucian texts, followed by a discussion of how…

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CFP: ACPA Panels at 2027 Pacific APA

The ACPA (Association of Chinese Philosophers in America) is calling for abstract submissions for the Pacific APA in Portland, Oregon, which will take place March 24–27, 2027. We will select among submissions to create panels for the group sessions. The submission deadline is October 1, 2026. You may find more information and submit an abstract here (link requires Google sign-in):https://forms.gle/6FttqWqWQefJ2uDh6

Symposium on Beaney, The Joy of Chinese Philosophy

A symposium on Michael Beaney’s book The Joy of Chinese Philosophy (see here) has been published in the British Journal for the History of Philosophy:

Episode 37 of “This Is the Way”: Confucius as a Ritual Prodigy

In this episode, we are joined by Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Eliaser Chair of International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading scholar of early Chinese thought. Our conversation draws on his new book, Confucius: A New Tradition (Reaktion Books, 2026), and its striking portrayal of Confucius as a “ritual prodigy.” Through several passages from Book 10 of the Analects, we explore what ritual expertise involves, whether moral and practical wisdom can be innate, and how seemingly minor details of dress and conduct express or instantiate important social and ethical values. We also discuss Confucius’s participation in an exorcism ritual, changing interpretations of ghosts and spirits, and the famous story of Confucius’s reaction to the burning of his horse stables. Along the way, we consider how successive biographies and commentaries have continually reconstructed Confucius to address new philosophical and historical concerns. Continue reading →