Nature | Warp, Weft, and Way

Awalt-Conley, Neo-Confucianism and Physicalism

At my invitation, my former student Dylan Awalt-Conley has agreed to make the following short essay public as a Guest Post. Please address any questions or comments to Dylan.

Neo-Confucianism and Physicalism

Despite general enthusiasm for engaging with the Neo-Confucian imaginary in a serious philosophical way, there seem to be some widely held reservations against its use in scientific contexts. Yet I believe that much of the intuitive incompatibility between the Cheng-Zhu metaphysic and a scientific framework comes from a sense of ‘science’ that is constrained by an implicit ontological reductionism. If we are willing to take Neo-Confucianism seriously, then the ontology invoked by concepts like li and qi can provide an experimentally sound alternative to physicalism, complete with new ways of thinking and working scientifically.

Continue reading “Awalt-Conley, Neo-Confucianism and Physicalism”

April 19, 2016 Posted by Steve Angle | Chinese philosophy - 中國哲學 - 中国哲学, Comparative philosophy, Metaphysics, Nature, Neo-Confucianism, Science | 7 comments

International Conference on Nature and Value in Chinese and Western Philosophies

I am pleased to be able to share the program for a conference that Tao Jiang of Rutgers University has organized, with some assistance from me and from Ruth Chang of Rutgers. Anyone who is interested in attending can contact Ms. Susan Rosario (see below) for information.

1st Annual Rutgers Workshop on Chinese Philosophy (RWCP)

An International Conference on Nature and Value in Chinese and Western Philosophies

April 4-5, 2013
Rutgers University Inn & Conference Center 178 Ryders Lane
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
USA

Continue reading “International Conference on Nature and Value in Chinese and Western Philosophies”

January 30, 2013 Posted by Steve Angle | Chinese philosophy - 中國哲學 - 中国哲学, Comparative philosophy, Conference, Nature | 10 comments

Xunzi and the Mohists on Natural Disasters

In a famous passage, Xúnzǐ argues that natural disasters lead to catastrophe only because of human failings: with the proper preparation, floods and droughts still occur, but do not devastate. I’m probably not the only friend of this blog who found special poignancy in this argument while lecturing on it in the aftermath of Katrina.

The news today has been good. Irene seems to have weakened unexpectedly. (I hope this hasn’t changed since last I saw good information.) Here in Philadelphia, it looks like we’ll get a category one hurricane, the equivalent (in Hong Kong terms) of a typhoon signal ten. I think there was just one of those in the ten years I lived in Hong Kong; we didn’t even lose internet. I’m preparing mostly by baking lots of bread and making lots of hummus. I’m still a bit nervous, because I don’t know what I can expect from local construction, and the American infrastructure is (understandably, to an extent) less robust than Hong Kong’s. And there are lots of people more vulnerable than I am, and lots of people who have been and are going to be hit harder. I’m glad that friends have evacuated the Jersey shore, and am proud of friends who are part of the preparations and will be part of the response.

In any case, it’s got me thinking about Xúnzǐ, and also about the Mohists, who would have interpreted a storm like Irene as a punishment from heaven. Continue reading “Xunzi and the Mohists on Natural Disasters”

August 27, 2011 Posted by Dan Robins | Chinese philosophy - 中國哲學 - 中国哲学, Mohism, Nature, Xunzi | 2 comments

Warp, Weft, and Way is a group blog of Chinese and Comparative philosophy. Its primary purpose is to promote and stimulate discussion of Chinese philosophy and cross-tradition inquiry among scholars and students of philosophy, whatever their level of training. Contributors include active scholars with a variety of philosophical interests and approaches. Readers are encouraged to use the Discussions forum page to submit any questions that they may have about the content, study, or profession of Chinese and Comparative philosophy.

Contributors Stephen Angle and Manyul Im administer the blog behind the scenes. Any questions or requests regarding the blog and its operations may be directed to them. Contact information is available under their entries on the Contributor page. In order to maintain a dynamic conversational quality, discussion comments are not initially moderated. As a policy and a courtesy to other participants, comment or discussion authors must identify themselves with their first and last names. Exceptions will be made by request only to one of the administrators. If the blog administrators are unable to contact and verify identity, entries will be removed. While a SPAM robot stands guard to prevent obvious intrusions, the administrators reserve the right to judge the appropriateness of any posted comment.

Warp, Weft, and Way is an academic venture. Neither the administrators nor the contributors profit financially from its contents.

NOTE: Any quoted material from the blog that is published elsewhere must be properly cited, according to professional standards, for example as outlined here. Posts and comments are the intellectual property of their contributors.

Like us for New Post updates on your Facebook feed!