Category Archives: Chinese philosophy – 中國哲學 – 中国哲学

Hutton Reviews Tan, ed., Methodologies Handbook

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2017.05.21 View this Review Online   View Other NDPR Reviews

Sor-hoon Tan (ed.), The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy Methodologies, Bloomsbury, 2016, 375pp., $176.00 (hbk), ISBN 9781472580313.

Reviewed by Eric L. Hutton, University of Utah

This 18-chapter anthology is potentially of interest to at least three distinct audiences: philosophers and other scholars whose primary focus is not Chinese philosophy, undergraduate and graduate students who aspire to become specialists in Chinese philosophy, and scholars who are already established specialists in Chinese philosophy. My review will be organized around what the volume offers and how well it serves each of these potential audiences.

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Announcing “The Deviant Philosopher” Website

A team based at the University of Oklahoma have just announced a splendid new website devoted to teaching “deviant philosophy.” It is made up of Primers, Units and Lessons, and Exercises and Activities, all designed to be incorporated into existing courses or to spur the creation of new ones. The editors are also very interested in new content, so please contribute! Their discussion of the meaning of “deviant philosophy” helps to make clear the scope of the project:

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Bern Workshop on Emotions as Skills in Chinese and Græco-Roman Ethics

The Good Life and the Art of Feeling: Emotions as Skills in Chinese and Græco-Roman Ethics
Workshop, University of Bern, June 7-9
The workshop is a part of the project “The Art of Feeling: Cultivated Emotions in Early Chinese and Græco-Roman Thought” at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Bern (Project description here) and will consist in talks by several prominent scholars of Ancient and Chinese philosophy and open discussions. The poster with more information is here.
The workshop is open to anyone interested, but registration is required to participate in the conference dinner and for accommodation.
For registration and further information, please contact David Machek at david.machek@philo.unibe.ch.

Bay Area Conference on Chinese Thought — deadline extended

Thor Harris and I have received several good abstracts for next year’s meeting of the Bay Area Conference on Chinese Thought (BACCT), but we could use a few more to round out the group. Please note that BACCT is meant for presenting works in progress as well as finished papers. Scholars working on Chinese thought from any disciplinary approach are welcome. And student presentations are also welcome, so please notify your grad students.

The conference will be held at the University of California Davis on October 14-15, 2017. Those interested in participating should submit an abstract of no more than one single-spaced page, along with a CV, in Word or PDF format. Please email these to Justin Tiwald <jtiwald@sfsu.edu> and Thor Harris <thorr@ucdavis.edu> with the subject line “BACCT Submission.” The deadline for submissions has been extended to May 30, 2017.

Chan at Harvard on “Democratic Equality and Confucian Hierarchy”

Faculty Seminar with Joseph Chan – “Democratic Equality and Confucian Hierarchy”

The Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard will be hosting a seminar with Joseph Chan, who will present his paper, “Democratic Equality and Confucian Hierarchy.” Archon Fung will be the discussant. This event is co-sponsored with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

DATE & TIME: Tuesday, May 23 3:00-5:00pm
LOCATION: Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics

More information here.

Harris Reviews Fraser, The Philosophy of the Mozi

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2017.05.07 View this Review Online   View Other NDPR Reviews

Chris Fraser, The Philosophy of the Mozi: The First Consequentialists, Columbia University Press, 2016, 293pp., $40.00 (pbk), ISBN 9780231149273.

Reviewed by Eirik Lang Harris, City University of Hong Kong

When I was a graduate student casting around for ideas for a dissertation topic, one of my mentors suggested that I find some topic X, generally denigrated in the literature, and formulate an argument of the sort, “X is not as stupid as it sounds.” In an important sense, this is what Chris Fraser has done in examining the early Chinese text the Mozi. He examines the philosophical ideas of the Mohists as they appear in this text and provides not only the most charitable account of their philosophical ideas to appear in any Western language but also the first book length treatment of this text by a philosopher in at least 50 years.

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