On-line Book talk: The Other Yijing

The ISCSD (International Society for the Critical Study of Divination) Book Talk series is pleased to announce its upcoming event scheduled on November 20, 2024, at 15:00 CEST. Prof. Tze-ki Hon 韓子奇 (Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College) and two contributors to the volume, Prof. Chang Chia-Feng 張嘉鳳 (National Taiwan University) and Prof. Zhao Lu 趙璐 (NYU Shanghai) will present the book The Other Yijing: The Book of Changes in Chinese History, Politics, and Everyday Life, published by Brill in 2021 with our book series “Prognostication in History.” Prof. John T.P. Lai 黎子鵬 from the Chinese University of Hong Kong is joining the event as a discussant.

More information, including zoom link, here.

This Friday, NOVEMBER 8: “Aspiration, Ambition, and Confucian Debates on Human Nature” (online session)

THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY

Welcomes you to an ONLINE meeting:

Hannah Kim (The University of Arizona):

« Aspiration, Ambition, and Confucian Debates on Human Nature »

With responses from Timothy Connolly (East Stroudsburg University)

ABSTRACT: A standard introduction to classical Confucianism teaches that Mengzi thought “human nature is good” and Xunzi, that “human nature is bad”. But the exact nature of their disagreement is subject to ongoing debate, with some underplaying the disagreement (they just mean different things by “human nature”) while others take the disagreement to be about the nature of agency, moral education, or dispositions. In this talk, I’ll argue that Agnes Callard’s distinction between ambition and aspiration helps us clarify what the disagreement is about. Mengzi thought humans need to fully pursue the values they already have, while Xunzi thought humans need to aspire towards values they don’t have and aren’t predisposed to. This account has the benefit of capturing Mengzi’s and Xunzi’s respective views on agency and education and providing Xunzi with a picture of moral motivation that even a selfish agent could develop.

DATE: November 8, 2024

TIME: 5:30-7:30pm EST

Zoom info below:

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Online Reading Group and Lectures: New English Translation of The Logic of Imagination by Miki Kiyoshi

Gerald Nelson Jr. from Penn State and Richard Stone from Waseda University are hosting a biweekly online reading group and a series of lectures to celebrate Professor John Krummel’s newly released English translation of Miki Kiyoshi’s magnum opus, The Logic of Imagination. While Japanese audiences may be familiar with Miki Kiyoshi, this new translation offers an opportunity to expand the dialogue between Japanese and international scholars. This series aims to foster and grow the community of scholars interested in Japanese philosophy, both in Japan and abroad.

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CFP: International Conference on Language, Culture, and Education

The Academy for Educational Development and Innovation at the Education University of Hong Kong is delighted to announce an upcoming conference in 8-9 April 2025,  dedicated to exploring how traditional Chinese wisdom informs and enhances contemporary efforts to construct the values toward human flourishing.

Dates:
Abstract Submission Deadline: 1 November 2024
Notification of Abstract Review Results: 1 December 2024
Registration Opens: 2 December 2024
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 28 February 2025
Registration Closes: 20 March 2025
Conference Dates: 8-9 April 2025

Please visit the EdUHK website or refer to this document to see more details regarding the conference and the application process. For further inquiries, please contact Miss Cindy Hung via phone,(+852) 2948 7799, or email, ICLCE2025@eduhk.hk.

Episode 12 of “This Is the Way”: Zhuangzi on Play

Play seems to constitute an important part of a flourishing human life. Most of us experience play through things like simple childhood games of hide-and-go-seek or more intellectual activities like chess or go. What these experiences of play have in common is that they are circumscribed in various ways to the times, places, and circumstances established by the boundaries and rules of those games. But what if the attitudes that we bring to play were applied to our lives more broadly?  In this episode we explore the concept of play as a way of life. We explore it with Professor Pauline Lee (Saint Louis University), an expert in Chinese thought, focusing on the famous “gourd passage” from Chapter One of the Zhuangzi. Continue reading →

Post-Doc in Chinese Buddhist Philosophy

The Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (IKGA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Austria’s leading non-university research and science institution, is offering a POSTDOC POSITION (F/M/X) (part-time, 36 hours per week) in the European Research Council project “The Ethics of Empty Beliefs: Chinese Buddhist Philosophy in the ‘Period of Disunity’” (CHINBUDDHPHIL) (ERC-2022-StG-101077136).

The successful candidate will contribute to the project, principally by conducting research on the philosophy of the Sanlun 三論 school of Chinese Buddhism in relation to Western philosophy.

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Loy Reviews Kim, Confucian Constitutionalism

Sungmoon Kim, Confucian Constitutionalism: Dignity, Rights, and Democracy, Oxford University Press, 2023, 296pp., $83.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780197630617.

Reviewed by Hui-chieh Loy, National University of Singapore

Sungmoon Kim’s book continues his long-standing project of bringing together insights from Confucianism and a political theorizing meant to be fit for the modern world. Like his earlier works, the new book combines interesting discussions of pre-modern texts and thoughtful applications of ancient ideas to modern concerns. The ambition of the book, as stated early on, is to articulate a “democratic theory of Confucian constitutionalism” (1). This ambition situates Kim’s book within the ongoing debate between the two main competing strands of modern Confucian political theorizing: Confucian political meritocracy and Confucian democracy. Kim advocates for the latter, putting his proposals…

Continue reading on ndpr.nd.edu

Updates to Graduate Program listing

Here at the blog we do our best to keep the page dedicated to Graduate Programs in Chinese Philosophy up-to-date, including listing recent changes near the top of that page. Significant recent updates include noting Chris Fraser’s move to the University of Hong Kong, adding the University of Warwick (and Curie Virág), and noting Chenyang Li’s retirement from Nanyang Technological University. Please leave a comment or email me directly with any suggestions or updates!