Category Archives: Comparative philosophy

New Series: Anthem Series in Ancient East-West Philosophy

Anthem Press has just established a new, exciting series in Ancient Philosophy, East and West. This is a brief description of the Series and its main aims:

Anthem Series in Ancient East-West Philosophy

(Ancient Greek philosophy, Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, Arabic philosophy, Chinese philosophy, Comparative philosophy)

The book series aims to make exciting, innovative studies in ancient comparative philosophy (written by younger and more experienced academics) available to undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as to scholars. Key themes in this series will be ancient philosophy, that is, ancient Greek, Buddhist, Chinese and Arabic philosophies, researched and assessed both on their own terms and comparatively (in relation to each other as well as to contemporary philosophy).

There would be two main kinds of volumes in the series: introductions and studies.

Introductions will be around 50k at maximum (although in some cases they may be longer if dealing with different philosophical traditions at the same time) and will be aimed at scholars and students wishing to read accessible accounts of the main philosophical traditions of antiquity. Studies will be around 70-100k and will provide more systematic coverage of key-topics and authors in ancient philosophical traditions, again in one of them or comparatively.

Please contact the series editor, Ugo Zilioli (Faculty of Theology and Religion / Oxford Network Ancient Philosophy), if you need further information/want to discuss a proposal/wish to send in a formal proposal: ugo_zilioli@yahoo.co.uk

Angle Reviews Slote, Philosophical Essays East and West

My review of Michael Slote’s 2023 book Philosophical Essays East and West: Agent-Based Virtue Ethics and other topics at the intersection of Chinese thought and Western analytic philosophy has now been published on-line in Mind (see here). The review begins:

For more than a decade, Michael Slote has been undertaking an ambitious program of philosophical engagement with Chinese philosophy. The volume under review is the latest fruit of this engagement, which to date has resulted in at least seven English-language journal articles (the earliest dating from 2009) and one prior collection of essays; a bilingual English-Chinese book; numerous Chinese-language essays (translated from English originals); and a collection of essays called Michael Slote Encountering Chinese Philosophy in which a variety of scholars discuss his work and Slote responds. The present review will focus on Philosophical Essays East and West while keeping this larger body of work in view.

Over the course of the fairly lengthy review I discuss Slote’s “world philosophy” approach and his extensive use of the concepts of yin and yang, xin, and various other categories derived from Chinese philosophy. In brief, I find Slote’s work to be both methodologically and substantively fascinating. Comments are of course welcome!

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.

四海为学 “Collaborative Learning“ Roundtable: Considering Non-Humans

On January 9th at 9:00am Beijing time the 四海为学 “Collaborative Learning” Project will host a roundtable on “Considering Non-Humans”. To find details and the Zoom link, please visit the project’s event page. No pre-registration or passcode is required is required for Zoom participation.
A list of the project’s upcoming events can be found at the calendar here.

四海为学 “Collaborative Learning“ Lecture by Fabian Heubel

On January 6th at 19:00(pm) Beijing time the 四海为学 “Collaborative Learning” Project will host a lecture by Professor Fabian Heubel, titled “Without Nothingness: Reflections on Transcultural Entanglements of Being and Way”. To find details and the Zoom link, please visit the project’s event page. No pre-registration or passcode is required for Zoom participation.
A list of the project’s upcoming events can be found at the calendar here.

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!

Call for applications: Way and Being Seminar-workshop

Way and Being: Between Daoist and Pre-Socratic Approaches is a seminar-workshop designed for students engaged in or interested in research opportunities within Chinese and/or Greek philosophy. The program includes 90-minute presentations and discussions led by invited speakers on related topics. Additionally, students will have the chance to share and discuss their ideas with peers and speakers in 30-minute sessions. Students who are currently working on or planning to explore pre-Socratic philosophy and/or Daoist philosophy in their bachelor, master, or doctoral theses are particularly encouraged to apply.

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CFP: SACP Annual Conference

The 57th annual Conference of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy will be held at Leiden University from July 9-11, 2025.

We invite individual and panel proposals on any topic consistent with the SACP mission of advancing intercultural philosophy. The SACP board especially welcomes paper and panel submissions that reflect diverse Asian and comparative approaches to traditional philosophical concerns, as well as critical engagement with contemporary issues of global concern.

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