Workshop on Early Chinese Philosophy in Context

The Department of East Asian Studies at Princeton University hosts:
“Philosophy of the Past: Early Chinese Philosophy in Context”

A One-day Workshop With:
CARINE DEFOORT (K. U. Leuven)
PAUL GOLDIN (University of Pennsylvania)
MARK CSIKSZENTMIHALYI (Berkeley University)
JANE GEANEY (University of Richmond)

On: February 22 (Sat) 2014

Please see the announcement below. The workshop is open to all, but we ask for pre-registration. Please note that we cannot be responsible for meals and accommodation. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to Mercedes Valmisa at mvalmisa@princeton.edu.

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Rong Jian Critiques “New Authoritarian” Revival

China Policy is an impressive commercial website that has been sending me teasers…and the most recent one contains a bit I thought I’d share: a fascinating essay by a contemporary Chinese political theorist critiquing the idea that China ought to pursue a form of “new authoritarianism” that will lead ultimately to democracy. Instead, says Rong Jian, it may well lead to fascism. I think this link will take you to the page with the essay.

Loy on inclusive care and partial virtue

As Steve and Manyul announced last month, with each new issue of Dao the blog will host a discussion of one of the issue’s articles, and the journal will make that article freely available online. Here I’m kicking off the series with a discussion of Loy Hui-chieh’s “On the Argument for Jian’ai” (Dao 12.4, available here).

Loy’s article treats the Mohists’ main argument for inclusive care (jiān ài 兼愛), focusing on the role played in it by appeals to virtues such as filial piety that are inevitably partial. Fundamental to his treatment is the view (which I share) that inclusive care did not require absolute impartiality—it did not imply that we have equal obligations to all people, or that we should treat them the same, or feel the same about them. Loy thus undermines one common sort or argument against the Mohists, that inclusive care is incompatible with the partial virtues and is therefore morally dubious. However, this does not mean that the Mohists’ own appeals to the partial virtues succeed, and Loy goes on to argue that they do not. I’ll sketch Loy’s argument, and then make critical comments on two points.

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Welcome to Carl Dull as New Contributor

We are happy to welcome Carl Dull, a long-time blog reader and commentator, as a new contributor. Here is Carl’s self-introduction:

Carl J. Dull received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University where he studied both Chinese and Western traditions. He has taught at the Nanjing School of Foreign Language and worked for Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in Nanjing and Hong Kong. His major interest is early Chinese thought, especially Zhuangzi. His dissertation investigates wandering and the heart in Zhuangzi, and proposes various positive ethical ideals for caring for living. His current research looks at early Chinese thought as a resource for moral psychology and therapeutic practice. His previous work includes the power of inspiration in Confucius, the practical compatibility between Confucian principles and Human Rights, and the language games of Zhuangzi and Wittgenstein. Contact: cjdull@gmail.com.

Dao ToC and Free Access to Loy’s Article on Mohism

Issue 12:4 of Dao: A Journal of Comparatie Philosophy is now available on-line; see below for the Table of Contents. I’d like to call everyone’s attention to the fact that Hui-chieh Loy’s article, “On the Argument for Jian’ai,” is available for free access to everyone (just click on the “Full Text PDF” link for that article below). Next week, we will host some discussion of this article here on the blog, to be led off by an intial “featured post” on the subject by Dan Robins. Please read through Loy’s article and take part in the conversation!

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CFP: Contemporary East Asia and the Confucian Revival

THE 3RD INTERNATIONAL STCS CONFERENCE ON

CONTEMPORARY EAST ASIA AND THE CONFUCIAN REVIVAL

organized by the Department of Asian and African Studies, Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana University in collaboration with the Scientific Research Center of the Slovene Academy for Science and Art (ZRC SAZU)

Date: October 3th – 5th 2014
Venue: Ljubljana, Scientific Research Center of the Slovene Academy for Science and Art (ZRC SAZU), Novi trg 2

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Changes at Early China

Sarah Allan, Editor of Early China, reports:

To all interested in Early China:

As of January 1, 2014, publication of Early China will move from the Institute of East Asian Studies, U.C. Berkeley, to Cambridge University Press. We leave the Institute of East Asian Studies with a deep sense of gratitude. I am particularly grateful to Martin Backstrom, Kate Chouta, and Erik Lyngen of IEAS for their goodwill and assistance as we make this transition. Over the last forty years, Early China has been transformed from a newsletter to a highly professional journal. This could not have happened without the unusual dedication, expertise, and sharp eye  of David Goodrich of Birdtrack Press to whom we will always be indebted.

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Two New Books

Two recently published books deserve our attention:

P.J. Ivanhoe, Confucian Reflections: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times (Routledge, 2013); this rich and concise book “…argues that the Analects is as relevant and important today as it has proven to be over the course of its more than 2000 year history, not only for the people who live in East Asian societies but for all human beings.”

Joseph Chan, Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times (Princeton, 2013); a long-awaited major statement of Chan’s modern Confucianism, it “…examines and reconstructs both Confucian political thought and liberal democratic institutions, blending them to form a new Confucian political philosophy.”

 

 

Fudan English-Language Programs in Chinese Philosophy

Tongdong Bai writes:

Thanks to your support, since it was launched in 2010, the MA and Visiting programs in Chinese philosophy (with courses taught in English) at Fudan have been extremely successful.  It has been three years since these programs were launched in 2011, and 34 students have been enrolled in either the M.A. program (28 students) and the
visiting student program (6 students).

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SACP Panels at the APA East, 2013

 

SUNDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 29th
GIX-7. Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy
2:45-5:45 p.m.
Topic:  Comparative Approaches to Ethics, Politics, and Language: Sentimentalism, Human Rights, and Right Action
Chair: Ian Sullivan
Speakers:
  • Benedict Chan, “How Does the Capability Approach Contribute to the Debate Between Confucianism and Liberalism on Human Rights?”
  • Christina Chuang, “East and West Moral Sentimentalism: Hutcheson and Mencius”
  • Bryan Kimoto, “Time and Space: Levinas and Watsuji on the Ethical Metaphysics of Persons”
  • Mathew Foust, “Bushido and Royce: Japanese Samurai Ethics and the Philosophy of Loyalty”
  • Yumi Suzuki, “‘Saying’ as Action: Philosophy of Language in the Zhuangzi”
MONDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 30th
GXII-4.  Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Topic: Reclassification and Recontextualization in Comparative Philosophy
Chair: Christina Chuang
Speakers:
  • Laura Specker Sullivan, “Nishida and the Moral Will”
  • Ben Zenk , “Nāgārjuna’s MMK: An Instance of Upāya?”
  • Kyle Peters, “Beyond Emptiness: Nishida’s Fusionary Approach to Art”
  • Ian Sullivan, “Relational Autonomy in Confucian Ethics and Care Ethics”
  • Rika Dunlap, “Hope and the Recontextualization of History in Miki Kiyoshi’s Later Philosophy of Activity”