Workshop on Tsinghua Logic School

WORKSHOP: Legacy of the Tsinghua Logic School

Time: April 21, 2022
Venue: Hybrid
Organizer: The Joint Research Center for Logic, Tsinghua University

In 1926, recently graduated from Columbia University, Jin Yuelin came back to China and founded the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University. With new appointments of Shen Youding and Wang Xianjun in subsequent years, the logic group grew very fast and attracted many young talents. One prominent student of Jin Yuelin was Wang Hao, who later took his PhD degree at Harvard and became a well-known logician worldwide. This pioneering history was recorded in a recent article by Jan Vrhovski: “The Qinghua Logic School: Mathematical Logic at Qinghua University in Peking, 1926–1945”. In 1952, due to the policy of “reorganization of colleges and departments”, Tsinghua’s philosophy department was moved to Peking University. Wang Xianjun stayed there ever since, while Jin Yuelin and Shen Youding soon moved once more, to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In this way the logic tradition spread. In 2000 Tsinghua officially restored its philosophy department with a focus in logic. In the last two decades, Tsinghua has been making lots of progress in logic, with several major appointments. (for more information see the website: www.tsinghualogic.net/JRC). On the occasion of Tsinghua University’s anniversary in April this year, we are organizing a small workshop to discuss the Tsinghua logic tradition, the ideas of the early founding logicians, and plans for our future development.

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New translation of Xinyu 新語

Just a quick announcement that Elisa Levi Sabattini and I are about to publish a new translation of Xinyu:

https://brill.com/view/title/56294?rskey=msXfbz&result=1

Also watch out for my new book on classical Chinese philosophy, forthcoming from Princeton University Press.  Since I’m not ashamed of self-promotion, I’ll be posting with details in due course.

Two New Books on Modern Chinese Philosophy

The Brill series Modern Chinese Philosophy, has just published two new volumes:

Studies on Contemporary Chinese Philosophy (1949-2009) by Quo Qiyong, Wuhan University; Translated by Paul J. D’Ambrosio, East China Normal University (http://www.brill.com/products/book/studies-contemporary-chinese-philosophy-1949-2009)

The Humanist Spirit of Daoism, by Chen Guying, Peking University; Translated by Hans-Georg Moeller, University of Macau; Edited by David Jones, Kennesaw State University and Sarah Flavel, Bath Spa University (http://www.brill.com/products/book/humanist-spirit-daoism)

Body and Cosmos in China: An Interdisciplinary Symposium in Honor of Nathan Sivin

The Department of East Asian Languages & Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania is delighted to announce an interdisciplinary symposium in honor of Nathan Sivin at Perry World House, 3803 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, on Oct. 14-15, 2017.

The symposium is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required.  Just click here if you’d like to attend:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/body-and-cosmos-in-china-an-interdisciplinary-symposium-in-honor-of-nathan-sivin-tickets-37455848451.

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Publication Opportunity: Early Chinese Self-Cultivation

Publication opportunity (non-peer-reviewed) for articles on “early Chinese self-cultivation”. On July 1st, 2015, Paul Fischer (Western Kentucky University) and Lin Zhipeng 林志鵬 (Fudan University) hosted a workshop in Shanghai on early Chinese self-cultivation (entitled 治氣養心之術——中國早期修身方法), hosted by the 復旦大學中華文明國際研究中心. (Please find the schedule attached.) The Center is willing to publish the collected papers of the workshop, but have allowed us to expand the volume somewhat. Therefore we are seeking submissions from non-participants to be included in this volume.

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Confucian Political Philosophy a Hot Topic in 2014

According to the Guangming Daily, “the interpretation of Confucian political philosophy” was one of the ten “hot” areas within Chinese academia in 2014. According to the newspaper’s staff, one of the key questions that scholars sought to answer was “What conceptual resources does the Confucian tradition have that can assist with the design of institutions in today’s China 儒家传统对今日中国之制度设计有哪些可资借鉴的思想资源?” For those with Chinese, some more details, and the other nine hot areas, are below. (It is item 3 on the list.)

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New Essays on Bai Tongdong’s Blog

Fudan University professor and sometime contributor to this blog, Bai Tongdong, has his own blog here, and has recently posted some essays there (in Chinese) that some readers may be interested in. The most recent is “传统正名系列3 作为普适价值的儒学” or “Rectification of Names #3: Confucianism as Universal Value.” It is a provocative and (in my view) constructive interjection into the debates that have been raging over “universal” (which often is code for “Western”) values. Enjoy

Bell Op-ed on Harmony Index

Today’s Financial Times has an op-ed by Daniel Bell on the Harmony Index (an index that ranks countries according to level of social harmony that he developed with Yingchuan Mo at Tsinghua’s Center for International and Comparative Political Theory):