Category Archives: Comparative philosophy
Book Series: Guides to Sacred Texts
The new OUP Guides to Sacred Texts book series has some fascinating titles pertaining to Chinese philosophy. A few of the books from the series are listed below; to see the full list of books see here.
The Analects: A Guide
by Erin M. Cline
Description:
The Analects (Lunyu) is the earliest and most influential record of the teachings of Kongzi (551-479 B.C.E.), known to most Westerners as “Confucius.” If we measure influence according to the number of people who have lived their lives according to the teachings of a particular text, there is a good argument to be made that the Analects has been the most influential text in the world. This book argues that we have good reasons to study the Analects as a sacred text, and that doing so sheds light not only on the text and the Confucian tradition, but on what the sacred is, more broadly.
The Daode Jing: A Guide
by Livia Kohn
Description:
The Daode jing (“Book of the Dao and Its Virtue”) is an essential work in both traditional Chinese culture and world philosophy. The oldest text of philosophical Daoism, and widely venerated among religious Daoist practitioners, it was composed around the middle of the 4th century BCE. Ascribed to a thinker named Laozi, a contemporary of Confucius, the work is based on a set of aphorisms designed to help local lords improve their techniques of government. The most translated book after the Bible, the Daode jing appears in numerous variants and remains highly relevant in the modern world. This guide provides an overview of the text, presenting its historical unfolding, its major concepts, and its contemporary use. It also gives some indication of its essence by citing relevant passages and linking them to the religious practices of traditional Daoism.
The Yijing: A Guide
by Joseph A. Adler
Description:
Despite its enduring popularity both in China and worldwide, the Yijing is often poorly understood. As a divinatory text, it has a devoted following in the western hemisphere, even as it represents a foundational text of both Confucianism and Daoism. A fascination with the Yijing has been evident among western scholars since the Enlightenment, as well as in notable modern literary and artistic figures. This book provides an introduction for the general reader to this classic sacred text. Joseph A. Adler explains its multi-layered structure, its origins, its history of interpretation from the early first millennium BCE up to the present day, its function of divination, its significance in the history of Chinese thought, and its modern transformations. He explores why the Yijing has been considered the most profound expression of traditional Chinese thought and what meaning it can have for contemporary readers.
New book: The Dao of Madness: Mental Illness and Self-Cultivation in Early Chinese Philosophy and Medicine
The Dao of Madness: Mental Illness and Self-Cultivation in Early Chinese Philosophy and Medicine
By Alexus McLeod
Description:
The Dao of Madness investigates the role of mental illness, specifically “madness” (kuang), in discussions of self-cultivation and ideal personhood in early Chinese philosophical and medical thought, and the ways in which early Chinese thinkers probed difficult questions surrounding mental health. Alexus McLeod explores three central accounts: the early “traditional” views of those, including Confucians, taking madness to be the result of character flaw; the challenge from Zhuangists celebrating madness as a freedom from standard norms connected to knowledge; and the “medicalization” of madness within the naturalistic shift of Han Dynasty thought. Understanding views on madness in the ancient world helps reveal key features of Chinese thinkers’ conceptions of personhood and agency, as well as their accounts of ideal activity. Further, it exposes the motivations behind the origins of the medical tradition, and of the key links between philosophy and medicine in early Chinese thought. The early Chinese medical tradition has crucial and understudied connections to early philosophy, connections which this volume works to uncover.
ToC:
Introduction: In the Shadows of the Chinese Tradition
Chapter 1. Self, Mind and Body, Agency
Chapter 2. What is Mental Illness? Contemporary and Ancient Views
Chapter 3. Madness of Last Resort: Feigned Madness, Ambivalence, and Doubt
Chapter 4. The Wilds, Untamed, and Spontaneity: Zhuangist Views of Madness
Chapter 5. Synthesis and Medicalization in Early Han Views of Mental Illness
Conclusion: Madness and Self-Cultivation: Ways Forward
For more information see here.
New Book: Arranged Companions: Marriage and Intimacy in Qing China
Published July 2021:University of Washington Press
Description:
Although commonly associated with patriarchal oppression, arranged marriages have adapted over the centuries to changing cultural norms and the lived experiences of men and women. In Arranged Companions, historian Weijing Lu chronicles how marital behaviors during the early and High Qing (mid-seventeenth through mid-nineteenth centuries) were informed by rich and complex traditions and mediated by the historical conditions of the period, during which marital affection was celebrated as a basic ingredient of an ideal marriage.
Lu finds public representation and private communication of marital affection in personal records, including poetry, biographies, letters, and memoirs. During this unique historical moment, ideals of marital companionship and love came to fruition while social changes also created new tensions for couples and extended families. Offering surprising revelations about conjugal relations during this time of change, Arranged Companions raises provocative questions about the cultural construction of intimacy and the meaning of a “happy marriage.”
For more information see here.
Justice Between Generations: Asian, African, Indigenous, and Western Perspectives
Justice Between Generations: Asian, African, Indigenous, and Western Perspectives
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 –Friday, October 1, 2021
Concordia University, Montreal
This three-day conference welcomes researchers to focus on intergenerational ethics through cross-cultural philosophical dialogue. Organized around the guiding theme of connections among the concepts of nature, time and responsibility and hosted by the Nature, Time, Responsibility Research Group based at Concordia. Presented virtually and open to all. For schedule and registration click here.
Tuesday, September 28, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Workshop: Backs to the Future? Learn more and register here.
Tuesday, September 28, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Opening Talk: Indigenous World View: Intergenerational Ethics and Heritage with Mona Polacca. Learn more and register here.
Times:
September 29, 1 – 6 p.m. EST
September 30, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. EST
October 1, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. EST
How can you participate? Register for the Zoom meeting.
Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca
CFP: PWOL Special Issue of AAPT Journal
Volume 6: Teaching Philosophy as a Way of Life (tentative title)
Edited by: Jane Drexler (Salt Lake Community College) and Ryan Johnson (Elon University)
American Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy is a peer-reviewed annual journal dedicated to publishing thematically focused volumes of original works on teaching and learning in philosophy. The thematic volumes include a range of contributions, from practical advice to theoretical discussions. Contributions are welcomed from anyone teaching philosophy, including high school teachers, graduate students, new faculty, and tenured professors. The AAPT Studies in Pedagogy is soliciting original papers for consideration in our upcoming volume on Teaching Philosophy as a Way of Life broadly construed.
On-line Talk: Jenco, “Neo-Confucianism Beyond Moral Philosophy”
Coffee Time Talks on Chinese Thought: Body and Mind in the Analects
Body and Mind in the Analects: Embodied Cognition, Digital Humanities, and the Project of Comparative Philosophy
This talk will explore how engaging with the cognitive sciences and digital humanities undermines claims such as this, and more broadly can help us to do our work as scholars of comparative philosophy.
Host: Professor Edward Slingerland, University of British Columbia
Date: Monday September 27, 2021 10:00-11:30am CST
Zoom link:https://slu.zoom.us/j/98495006071
Questions? Email pauline.lee@slu.edu
See full flyer here.
Sino-Hellenic Environmental Philosophy (online workshop)
SINO-HELLENIC ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
A Comparative Perspective on Environmental Thought in Early China and Graeco-Roman Antiquity
Thursday, 9 – Sunday, 12 December 2021
Online (Zoom)
Organized at the Institute of Philosophy, University of Bern, Switzerland
New Job Listing: Duke-DKU Global Fellows Program
Applications accepted on a rolling basis up to December 15, 2021, by 5pm (EST). Review of applications will begin on November 1st.
The Duke-DKU Global Fellows Program is designed to offer an international experience to post-doctoral scholars or advanced doctoral students whose records demonstrate excellence in teaching and an interest in pursuing an academic career. Duke-DKU Global Fellows teach at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) for the Undergraduate Program.
Most courses at DKU are taught in 7-week terms; a few courses are taught over a semester. Contact hours for all classes are the same; in particular, the number of contact hours for a 7-week course is the same as a 14-week course. Courses might include sections of common courses, distinct elective courses, lab sections or recitations. Assignment of classes will be determined by Fellow specific expertise and by DKU teaching needs.
The Fellowship is contingent upon successful receipt of the appropriate type of Chinese visa. Fellows may teach for a 7-week term up to a full academic year based on DKU teaching needs and the Fellow’s availability and his/her related education and experience required for immigration purposes.
The award carries a $13,000 stipend ($17,000 for fellows who have completed their PhD) for two courses, a $1,500 allowance for costs related to research or course preparation, travel costs to/from China, health insurance, and a housing allowance.
Post-doctoral fellows or advanced doctoral students from all disciplines are invited to apply.
To see the full listing click here.
For more info see below.
