Chinese Philosophy in Transcultural Contexts: Comparative Approaches and the Method of Sublation has just been published by Bloomsbury. In this book, Jana S. Rošker presents a novel dialectical method to our comprehension of diverse philosophical ideas. Analyzing philosophical discourses that have emerged in China and the Sinophone region, Rošker applies the method to examples from across the history of thought. From Ancient Chinese logicians to 20th-century intellectuals, she connects thinkers and offers fresh insights into key aspects of philosophy. The result is a series of vibrant dialogues among different intellectual traditions, providing new understandings of transcultural philosophical interactions. To find the full text, please see this site.
Category Archives: Books of Interest
New Book: Marchal and Wang, eds., Subjectivity and Selfhood in Chinese Philosophy
The inaugural volume of Amsterdam University Press’s “East Asian Philosophy and Political Thought” series has just been published: Subjectivity and Selfhood in Chinese Philosophy: Phenomenological, Comparative and Historical Perspectives, eds. Kai Marchal and Ellie Hua Wang. Please click the link here for more information.
The series is generally interested in any work in East Asian philosophy, but also aims to promote East Asian political thought and political philosophy. Those working on a book project, including an edited volume, that engages with East Asian thought and philosophy broadly defined are welcomed to submit to the series through this link.
New Book: Radice, Ritual Performance in Early Chinese Thought
Thomas Radice’s Ritual Performance in Early Chinese Thought: A Dramaturgical Perspective has been recently published by Bloomsbury. Please see here for more information, and read on for the publisher’s summary.
New book: Jiaohua: Chinese Ideas and Practices of Moral Transformation
Jiaohua: Chinese Ideas and Practices of Moral Transformation, edited by Yingjie Guo, has been published recently by Springer. Please see here for access of the book. Read more for publisher’s summary.
Book of Interest: The Gongsun Longzi and Other Neglected Texts
A book we missed here on the blog when it came out: Rafael Suter , Lisa Indraccolo, and Wolfgang Behr, The Gongsun Longzi and Other Neglected Texts: Aligning Philosophical and Philological Perspectives (De Gruyter 2020)
The Gongsun Longzi is often considered the only extant work of the Classical Chinese “School of Names”, an early intellectual tradition (trad. dated to the 4th cent. B.C.) mainly concerned with logic and the philosophy of language. The book is a heterogeneous collection of five chapters that include short treatises and largely fictive dialogues between an anonymous persuader and his opponent, which typically revolve around a paradoxical claim. Its value as a testimony to Early Chinese philosophy, however, is somewhat controversial due to the intricate textual history of the text and our limited knowledge about its intellectual backgrounds. This volume gathers contributions by leading specialists in the fields of Classical Chinese philosophy, philology, logic, and linguistics. Besides an overview of the scholarly literature on the topic and a detailed account of the reception of the text throughout time, it presents fresh insights into philological and philosophical problems raised by the Gongsun Longzi and other closely-related texts equally attributed to the “School of Names”.
To access the book for further reading, please visit this site.
New book: Stanchina, The Art of Becoming Infinite
Gabriella Stanchina’s The Art of Becoming Infinite: Mou Zongsan’s Vertical Rethinking of Self and Subjectivity has just been published by Open Books; see here for full access. The publisher’s summary follows:
New Book: Chan, Towards Confucian Republicanism
Oxford has recently published Elton Chan’s Towards Confucian Republicanism: Democracy as Virtue Politics. In the book, Chan develops a theoretical framework of Confucianism for the twenty-first century. Chan argues that liberal Confucians must take seriously the internal authoritarian leanings of Confucianism–and then argue against such strands of the Confucian tradition. He shows that Confucians are keen on concentrating power in the hands of the virtuous not merely for promoting order and material livelihood, but also for general moral cultivation. Yet this use of political and moral hierarchy as institutional platforms for perfectionist development is self-defeating.
To counter the authoritarian turn in Confucian scholarship, Chan articulates a vision of a hybrid political order that brings together Confucianism and republican democracy. He makes the case that Confucianism stands a much higher chance of achieving its political and moral ideals–good governance and collective virtuous cultivation–when merged with republicanism. Covering a uniquely wide range of Confucian classics and outlining his novel vision for Confucianism, Chan addresses pressing issues in contemporary political philosophy, including virtue politics, balance of power, civic education, public reason constraint, and the role of civil society.
To access the book for further reading, please visit this site.
New Book: Angle and Jin, eds., Progressive Confucianism and Its Critics
I am happy to announce the publication of a new book, Stephen C. Angle and Yutang Jin, eds., Progressive Confucianism and Its Critics: Dialogues from the Confucian Heartland (Routledge, 2025). More information on the book can be found here. This book is a translation into English of a series of dialogues that I held with Chinese Confucians in Beijing in the spring of 2017. The Introduction and part of the first dialogue are available at Amazon here, in case you’d like to learn more. Enjoy!
Book of Interest: Contemporary Politics and Classical Chinese Thought, Toward Globalizing Political Philosophy
Oxford has recently published Contemporary Politics and Classical Chinese Thought: Toward Globalizing Political Philosophy. The book takes up the call of globalizing contemporary applied political philosophy and applies classical Chinese thought to a series of current sociopolitical issues, including the construction and deconstruction of political narratives; the legal standing of robots; the relationships among people, communities, and the environment; the funding (or defunding) of police; the status of private militias; and the question of justified revolution in liberal democracies, among others. To make progress on the thorniest sociopolitical issues facing the world, it is imperative to bring these previously underutilized and understudied resources to bear; only then might societies attain justice, peace, and flourishing equally enjoyed by all.
To access the book for further reading, please visit this site.
Book of Interest: Ethical Theory in Global Perspective
SUNY has published Michael Hemmingsen, ed., Ethical Theory in Global Perspective, an edited collection that aims to be an easy-to-teach introduction to ethical theory from a uniquely global perspective. In addition to key Western ethical theories—such as virtue ethics, consequentialism, various deontological theories, and care ethics—moral theories from a range of East Asian, South Asian, and African philosophical traditions and schools are also discussed, including Akan philosophy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and both orthodox and heterodox schools of classical Indian philosophy.
To view the table of contents, read an excerpt, or to obtain copies, please visit this site.
