Joint session by the Neo-Confucian Studies Seminar and the Comparative Philosophy Seminar at Columbia
Philip J. Ivanhoe (Georgetown): Chinese and Korean Neo-Confucian Views on Not Transferring One’s Anger
ABSTRACT: Early Chinese Confucians believed that in certain circumstances anger is a proper emotion to have, express, and act upon but that it is a potential source of moral error and difficult to control; therefore, it requires special attention and management. Neo-Confucian thinkers in China and Korea accepted and defended these beliefs but offered quite distinctive analyses of what anger is and how it should be attended to, exercised, and managed. They often developed their ideas by reflecting and commenting on the early Confucian teaching of Not Transferring One’s Anger, first seen in the Analects, to explain their views on anger and in particular how to control and direct it. I will describe and explain some representative Confucian views on anger in China and Korea and argue that while the standard neo-Confucian account of anger is not plausible in certain respects, it offers an excellent model or template for thinking about anger and a method for achieving the kind of anger management that we require in order to live well in the contemporary world. I will further argue that the need to understand and manage anger is a particularly pressing problem for people today because, given the nature of our times, for a variety of reasons, it is a much greater liability for wellbeing and humanity than it was in the past.
DATE: Friday, May 1st
TIME: 5:00-7:00pm EDT
LOCATION: Faculty House (64 Morningside Dr, New York, NY 10027)
Interested attendees should write to Ivy Chen (lc3131@columbia.edu, rapporteur for the Neo-Confucian Studies Seminar) or Helen Luo (hl3631@columbia.edu, rapporteur for the Comparative Philosophy Seminar) for a copy of the pre-circulated paper and to RSVP as normal and those who wish to attend dinner (served at Faculty House at $30 per person) should fill out the Dietary Needs and Restriction Survey in advance. Non-Columbia attendees must RSVP to get the QR code for access to the Columbia campus. Please note that for this session, the time, location and dinner are different from typical.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR NON-COLUMBIA GUESTS: All non-affiliated members of our community must RSVP to either Ivy Chen (lc3131@columbia.edu) or Helen Han Wei Luo (hl3631@columbia.edu) preferably no later than Friday, April 24th, including in the request your name on government-issued ID in order to be granted access to campus. Non-affiliated members who do not RSVP will not be given entry to campus. Please also plan to arrive early.
NOTE REGARDING DINNER: Please RSVP to Helen at the email address and fill out the Dietary Needs and Restriction Survey. The cost for dinner is $30. Payment should be made electronically in advance, using the form here, which asks for your credit card information. If you must pay by check, please make checks out to “Columbia University” and write “Sem 721 FH Meal” on the memo line.
