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

ACPA Call For Commentators for 2013 Pacific APA Group Sessions

[From Dr. Bai Tongdong, ACPA President and Professor of Philosophy, Fudan University]

Dear all,

The Association of Chinese Philosophers in North America (ACPA) will try to host two panels at 2013 Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA).  Due to the limitation of space, the second panel might not be accepted by APA (this happens to all group meetings), but we are very hopeful.  Each presentation will have a commentator to comment on.  Please reply to me at baitongdong [at] gmail [dot] com if you are interested in commenting on any of the six presentations we are going to propose to APA.  Thank you for your considerations!
Best wishes,
Tongdong

Association of Chinese Philosophers in North America (ACPA) Group Panels at the APA Pacific Convention

March 27-30, 2013, at the Westin St Francis in San Francisco

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"Growing Pains" and Chinese Philosophy

At dinner at a recent conference I had a very interesting conversation with Liu Qing from East China Normal University. He told a few of us how the television show Growing Pains (starring Alan Thicke and Kirk Cameron) had made a big impression when it was shown in China. For many children at the time, it was their first acquaintance with parents who reasoned with their children instead of just giving orders. He said the younger generation (meaning now people in their late 20s or 30s) began to ask their parents why they couldn’t be more like the parents on the show and explain their position to their children instead of expecting to be obeyed all the time. They began to question the parameters of the parental relationship they had grown up with and ask for more equal treatment

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Buffalo ISCP International Conference on Chinese Philosophy

Call for Papers
18th International Conference on Chinese Philosophy
By the International Society for Chinese Philosophy (ISCP)

Chinese Philosophy and the Way of Living
July 21-24, 2013
State University of New York at Buffalo

Deadline for submission of the abstracts and symposium proposals: November 30th, 2012.
Please send to  buffaloiscpconference@yahoo.com

For details, please visit the Conference website: http://iscp.philosophy.buffalo.edu/

The theme of the conference
One major characteristic of Chinese philosophical tradition is that it is not just a matter of theoretical pursuit, but is more a practical enterprise. Philosophy is thought to be a “Learning of Living” (生命的学 问), and doing philosophy is to practice a way of life that one chooses and to cultivate and transform character. The central question of Chinese philosophy is “what is the Dao?” and dao (literally, road or way) is the way in which human beings should lead their lives. This conception of philosophy differs from the prevailing modern university conception of philosophy, according to which philosophy is mainly a theoretical discipline and philosophical reflection is peripheral to life.
The conception of philosophy is worth studying, keeping alive, and reviving as an alternative way of doing philosophy. It is similar to the idea that philosophy is the “art of living,” which was prominent in ancient Greek/Roman philosophy, especially in the spirit of Socrates. His motto that “the unexamined life is not worth living” clearly shows that what is examined is “life” rather than “knowledge” or “proposition.” The Jewish tradition is also characteristic of the idea that letter and spirit, idea and life, are inseparable. In the West this conception has been marginalized in modern times, but seems to have experienced a sort of renaissance, as can be seen in the works of (to name only a few) P. Hadot, A. Nehamas, M. Nussbaum, and others.
The Buffalo conference is to explore in details and in depth Chinese conception of philosophy as a learning of living. It seeks not only to deepen our understanding of the nature of Chinese philosophy, but also, through a cross-cultural comparative approach, to enrich the conception of philosophy as a way of living and contribute its revival in contemporary philosophy.

Sub-themes of the conference include but are not limited to:

1.    Chinese philosophy as a learning of living
2. Philosophical discourses and philosophical practicality
3.  Justifying a way of living: metaphysics, aesthetics, and rhetoric
4. Practical wisdom
5.  Moral psychology
6. Formation of self, character, and virtue
7. Happiness, death and suicide
8. Politics and the way of living
9.  Philosophical therapy and spiritual practice
10. The Art of Living: Chinese and Greek
11. The Art of living:  Chinese and Jewish
 12. Methodology of comparative study

On-line Review of Haiming WEN, Chinese Philosophy

A review by by Jung Lee (Northeastern University) of Haiming WEN (Renmin University)’s new book, Chinese Philosophy (Cambridge, 2012), has just been published at NDPR. Lee is rather critical of the role played in Wen’s book of Western philosophical categories; these categories are particularly prominent in Wen’s book because he organizes his chronological chapters around what he takes to be the major philosophical emphasis in the period (e.g., political philosophy for Pre-Qin thought; epistemology for Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism).

Invitation to Review Books in Chinese for Dao

From Tongdong Bai:

Dear friends,

As you know, one of my duties is the book review editor in Dao.  I am in charge of the Chinese books section.  That is, I am looking for reviewers who can review recently published books in Chinese on Chinese philosophy.  I have come up with a list of noteworthy books that are published in last year (some earlier).  If you are interested in reviewing any one of them, please let me know.  I’ll have a review copy sent to you (for you to keep).  The detailed requirements of the review can be found in a related link toward the bottom of this message.  I’ll attach the list below. Continue reading →

ISCWP Call for Papers for Pacific Division Meeting of American Philosophical Association, March 27-30, 2013 San Francisco

Dear Colleagues,

The International Society for Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Philosophy (ISCWP) plans to sponsor one or two panels at next year’s Pacific Division Meeting of APA, which will take place at the Westin St Francis in San Francisco from March 27 to 30, 2013. We hereby invite submissions.

Our Goal: We would like to encourage submissions of individual papers that are comparative, as well as panels which combine philosophers working primarily in Chinese traditions with those working primarily in Western traditions, aimed at promoting more in-depth engagement between the two groups. We have not stipulated any specific themes for the panels, but the Board might organize a panel on “The Idea of Justice: Dialogues cross Traditions.” We especially welcome paper proposals on this topic.

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Classical Daoism – Is There Really Such a Thing? Part 3

[Scott Barnwell posts Part 3 of his series “Classical Daoism – Is There Really Such a Thing?,” parts 1 and 2 of which also appear here and here at WW&W. We’re using the “Reblog” function for the first time. Feel welcome to initiate discussion here or on his own site. In any case, please direct all comments or questions to Scott.  – Manyul]