How do we become good? What is the process by which we acquire the virtues? We examine these question by focusing on some key concepts in Mencius’s account of moral development such as reflection and extension. This discussion also centers on Mengzi 1A7 and the famous “king and the ox” passage that has been the subject of much conversation and debate. Continue reading →
Category Archives: Emotions
Episode 9 of “This Is the Way”: Moral Sprouts
What is the nature and source of morality? Are human beings naturally inclined toward moral goodness? The early Confucian thinker Mencius (Mengzi) believed that human beings by nature possessed certain moral sprouts that could be nurtured and developed into robust virtues. In this episode we explore Mencius’s account of these moral sprouts, examining both philosophical and psychological justifications for their existence. Continue reading →
Book of Interest: Cairns and Virág, eds., In the Mind, in the Body, in the World
Oxford University Press has recently published Douglas Cairns and Curie Virág, eds., In the Mind, in the Body, in the World: Emotions in Early China and Ancient Greece. The Oxford Scholarship Online version (with links to all the abstracts, and full text for those with institutional subscriptions) is here:
https://academic.oup.com/book/56286
And the print version is here:
Richard Kim – Columbia Society for Comparative Philosophy Lecture: “THE ROLE OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS IN THE GOOD LIFE: REFLECTIONS FROM THE ZHUANGZI” Friday October 11 at 5:30pm
THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Welcomes: RICHARD KIM (Loyola University Chicago)
With responses from: CHRISTOPHER GOWANS (Fordham University)
Please join on October 11, 2019 at 5:30 for his lecture entitled,
THE ROLE OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS IN THE GOOD LIFE: REFLECTIONS FROM THE ZHUANGZI
ABSTRACT: The philosophical and psychological literature on well-being tend to focus on the prudential value of positive emotions such as pleasure, joy, or gratitude. But how do the negative emotions such as grief fit into our understanding of well-being? It is often assumed that negative emotions are intrinsically bad far us and that we should work toward eliminating them, especially from the perspective of our own well-being. Continue reading →
Sanders Reviews Virág at BMCR
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018.03.58 (on the BMCR blog)
Curie Virág, The Emotions in Early Chinese Philosophy. Emotions of the past. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Pp. xiii, 219. ISBN 9780190498818. $90.00.
Reviewed by Ed Sanders, University of Roehampton (ed.sanders@roehampton.ac.uk)
Early Chinese philosophy is outside the usual range of BMCR’s interests, but this review considers the book from a Classicist’s perspective. The period covered by the volume is the early-5th to the late-3rd centuries BCE, the ‘Warring States’ period in China, when political disunity created the situations in which a number of philosophers and their schools could flourish. These schools were characterized inter alia by a wide range of views on emotion, and this volume examines the place of emotions within their various natural, psychological, ethical and political philosophies. The exact mix of these varies quite considerably between schools.
The introduction notes that the primary term for ‘emotions’ (qing) developed early in this period out of its earlier meaning of ‘how things are’, and includes both objective and subjective aspects. Lists of ‘basic feelings’ comprised some or all of “joy (xi), anger (nu), sadness (ai), delight/pleasure (le), fear (ju), love (ai), dislike (wu), and desire (yu)” (p. 6, Chinese characters removed). This suggests that other emotions might involve more complex mixtures of these – though the point is not developed.
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.
New Book: Virag, The Emotions in Early China
Oxford University Press has just published Curie Virag’s The Emotions in Early Chinese Philosophy; see here, and the Table of Contents is after the break.
Discussion of Slote’s “Reset Button”
The article from the current issue of Dao that we have chosen for discussion is Michael Slote’s “The Philosophical Reset Button: A Manifesto,” available via open-access here. This time around, we offer opening comments from both BAI Tongdong of Fudan University, and myself (Steve Angle). Those comments follow here, and let the discussion begin!
New issue of Dao out / New article discussion upcoming
The latest issue of Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy has been published. We will continue our series of sponsoring discussion of an article from each issue; this time, we have chosen Michael Slote’s “The Philosophical Reset Button: A Manifesto.” It will be set to open-access, and within a week or so we will have a post announcing that the discussion is open. To whet your appetite, here is the abstract:
Frontiers of Philosophy in China 10:1
The latest issue of Frontiers of Philosophy in China has been published. Enjoy!
