Here is the beginning of a planned series of sketches on family as topic, root, and model (inspiration for other order) in Western philosophy and culture. I expect to post a new installment every two or three weeks. Papers are linked at their titles.
New Article: Kim, “Contemporary Confucian Political Theory: Its Origin, Evolution, and Challenges”
Sungmoon Kim’s major review essay, “Contemporary Confucian Political Theory: Its Origin, Evolution, and Challenges,” has been published in Political Theory; see here. The Abstract follows.
New Article: Wang, Fairness in care: liberal resources for a Confucian feminist ethics
A new article that will be of interest to many: Wang, B. P. (2026). Fairness in care: liberal resources for a Confucian feminist ethics. Inquiry, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2026.2673083 (open access).
ToC: Dao 26:2
A new issue of Dao has been published, with ten original essays (including three essays on Chenyang Li’s book Reshaping Confucianism: A Progressive Inquiry (Oxford, 2023) and his response) and five reviews; see here.
New Book: Harris, Meritocracy in Early Chinese Political Thought
Cambridge has published Eirik Harris’s new book, Meritocracy in Early Chinese Political Thought, in its Elements series. The book can be accessed here, and is free to download until June 3. For a summary, see below.
Upcoming Collaborative Learning event
Dear Colleagues,
On May 27th at 8:00am Beijing time, the 四海为学 Collaborative Learning Project will host a roundtable on “Politics and Government in the Zhuangzi.” For more information, and the Zoom link, click here.
Please feel free to advertise this event anywhere, or share it with anyone. All our events are free and open to everyone. Note that no pre-registration or passcode is required for any 四海为学 events.
Impartiality in the Ancient Root: Two Concepts of Xiàotì
Here is a link to my paper “Impartiality in the Ancient Root: Two Concepts of Xiàotì.“
(This paper is a correction and improvement of parts of a paper I posted on June 12, 2025.)
Abstract:
Blind Spots: On the Authority of Scholarly Consensus on the Analects
Here is a link to my paper “Blind Spots: On the Authority of Scholarly Consensus on the Analects.”
Abbreviated preface:
Episode 34 of “This Is the Way”: Deference and Autonomy in Confucian Ethics
Many of us value autonomy in decision-making: we want to make our own choices and think for ourselves. But we also know that in many areas of life, it is well advised to have greater faith in people who know more than we do, in experts such as doctors, scientists, plumbers, chess coaches, teachers, and maybe even philosophers.
In this episode of This Is the Way, we explore moral autonomy and moral deference in Confucian philosophy, focusing on Xunzi’s powerful defense of trusting tradition, ritual, and moral experts. We also explore some powerful objections to Xunzi by later Confucians who worried that too much deference to external sources might make real moral understanding — and thus real moral virtue — impossible. Continue reading →
Application Open: 2-Week Visiting Programs at CUHK
The 2-week Visiting Programs organized by the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at the Department of Philosophy of The Chinese University of Hong Kong are now open for application.
