SDCF 2024 Summer Program

The Sinological Development Charitable Foundation Limited (SCDF) is happy to announce that they will be hosting the 9th Greater China Region Summer Program in Chinese Studies for 2024. This program is intended to happen both online and in person with participation from scholars and key opinion leaders. Scholar applications are due Sunday 28th of April, 2024. Additionally, there are scholarships available for accommodation at the university, meals, and a trip to Mainland China. Please click here for more information or the application forms.

Online Lecture: Confucianism and Kant

Professor Heisook Kim, of Ehwa Womans University (Seoul, Korea), is happy to announce that she will be giving an online lecture this Monday, March 19th at 9:00 pm (Standard Korean Time). The title of this lecture is “Knowledge without Transcendental Justification: An Examination of Confucianism through a Kantian Lens”. It should last for around an hour which will then be followed by a Q and A. Please click here to register to join the Zoom room!

New Book: Xiong Shili’s Treatise on Reality and Function

Oxford University Press has published Xiong Shili’s Treatise on Reality and Function, one of the major works of the New Confucian philosopher Xiong Shili 熊十力. The translation is by John Makeham.
This is the fourth translation in the Oxford Chinese Thought book series, which is devoted to providing high-quality translations of important philosophical and religious texts, for scholars and for classroom use. A free sample chapter is available here (free until April 1, 2024). A short description follows below the fold.

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Episode 4 of “This Is the Way”: Daoist Persuasion

In the fourth episode of This Is the Way, we return to the familiar format of doing a close reading of a classical passage and connecting it to a theme. Our theme is “persuasion” and the passage is the dialogue between Confucius and Yan Hui in the Zhuangzi (ch. 4). It’s a great passage — somehow, not so widely discussed as others! But it should be of interest to anyone interested in rhetoric, the power of reasons (or lack thereof), arguments (in at least two senses of “arguments”), and the delicate games we play with our egos and the egos of others when we attempt to persuade.

Somehow, we just immensely enjoyed talking about this passage.

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How much historical context when teaching topically?

A colleague recently wrote to me saying that he was:

…inspired by the topical discussion in the Neo-Confucianism book you co-authored and so I decided to structure my course on Neo-Confucianism according to a thematic/topical discussion instead of the usual historical or thinker structure. However, how does one mitigate the pitfalls of sacrificing historicity? Specifically, how much context or historicity should I provide?

I would love to hear any thoughts that folks out there have, either as it relates to teaching Neo-Confucianism or any other relevant subject. Justin Tiwald and I share some thoughts here about why we prefer to teach in a thematic way, and have collected a few teaching ideas here, but I am sure there are some great ideas out there. Please share!

Master Program in Philosophy at University of Macau

The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of the University of Macau is offering a 2-year master degree program in Philosophy for admission in the academic year 2024/2025.
The Department balances Western and Chinese philosophy, with internationally renowned scholars contributing to graduate and undergraduate teaching in their areas of expertise. A shared commitment to the pursuit of wisdom through rigorous, passionate, historically-informed and innovative reasoning is nurtured through research-driven teaching and mentoring.

For details about the program and admission application, please visit the website:
ttps://fah.um.edu.mo/master-of-arts-in-philosophy/

Application for Admission:
https://grs.um.edu.mo/index.php/prospective-students/master-postgraduate-certificate-diploma-programmes/

For inquiries: (853) 8822 4768
fah.philosophy@um.edu.mo
https://fah.um.edu.mo/philosophy


Three “Collaborative Learning” (四海為學) Seminars in March/April

Reading Sunzi Bingfa

In the history of Chinese thought the Sunzi Bingfa plays many different roles. It has influenced ways of thinking about politics and warfare, but also efficacy in many arenas, and even environmental issues. The Sunzi Bingfa is also written in a way that provides a great introduction to reading classical Chinese, making it a useful text for students to read for many different reasons. In this course we will do a close reading of the Sunzi Bingfa.

Led by: Dimitra Amarantidou, University of Macau, and Paul J. D’Ambrosio, East China Normal University

This course meets from 6:00-8:30pm Beijing time, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2, 30, May 7, 14, 21.
Skype link: https://join.skype.com/IvuqyZhnUKjC

Concrete Humanism: Major Confucian Texts and Thinkers

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CFP: Special Issue on Resemblance

Call for papers: special issue on resemblance in the Asian Journal of Philosophy

Guest editors: Ben Blumson (NUS, Singapore), Malcolm Keating (Smith College, USA)

The nature of similarity (or resemblance) and our epistemic access to it have been important topics in both contemporary philosophy and historical traditions, including, for example, Indian and Medieval European philosophical traditions. This collection of papers in the Asian Journal of Philosophy brings together philosophers across these traditions working on related questions.

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