International Conference: In pursuit of wisdom: Ancient Chinese and Greek perspectives on cultivation

15-18 January 2016

University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia Conference website: https://cultivationinchinaandgreece.wordpress.com/

What does it take to live well? Ancient Chinese and Greek philosophy present accounts or models of life lived well: a Confucian junzi, a Daoist sage and a eudaimonic life. Philosophical discussions in these traditions bring to light pictures of the good life as well as its constitutive elements. These include, for example, the Stoic life of virtue, Aristotelian intellectual virtues, Confucian virtue ethics, and Daoist ideals of nonaction. Yet, living well is not simply about having the right kinds of pursuits or ends nor is it just about how particular activities are executed. The good life is primarily about agency, and a richer account is facilitated by understanding how it is cultivated. At this conference, we aim to extend existing debates on the good life by investigating the processes associated with cultivating or nurturing the self in order to live such lives, ably and reliably… (read more at the Conference website: https://cultivationinchinaandgreece.wordpress.com)

Keynote Speakers

Professor Sophie-Grace Chappell, The Open University, UK, editor of “Intuition, Theory and Anti-Theory in Ethics” (Oxford University Press, 2015) and author of “Knowing What To Do: Imagination, Virtue, and Platonism in Ethics” (Oxford University Press, 2014) and “Reading Plato’s Theatetus” (Hackett, 2005)

Professor Yahei Kanayama, Nagoya University, Japan, author of numerous articles in Greek philosophy, especially on Plato, and translator of Greek philosophical texts such as all the works of Sextus Empiricus (Kyoto University Press, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2010, together with Mariko Kanayama).

Professor Poo, Mu-chou, Chinese University of Hong Kong, editor of “Rethinking Ghosts in World Religions” (Brill, 2009) and author of “Enemies of Civilization: Attitudes toward Foreigners in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and China” (SUNY, 2005) and “In Search of Personal Welfare: A View of Ancient Chinese Religion” (SUNY: 1998).

Professor Lisa A. Raphals, University of California, Riverside, USA, author of “Divination and Prediction in Early China and Ancient Greece” (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and “Sharing the Light: Representations of Women and Virtue in Early China” (SUNY, 1998).

Professor Wang Keping, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, PRC, author of “Reading the Dao: A Thematic Inquiry” (Continuum Publishing, 2011) and “Spirit of Chinese Poetics” (Beijing Foreign Languages Press, 2008).

Paper or Panel Proposals

We invite paper or panel proposals, submitted on the Registration Form (available for download from the conference website

Papers are allocated 20 mins for presentation with 15 mins for discussion. Panels may be grouped in twos or threes.

The due date for Paper and Panel proposals is 15 November 2015.

Conference Organizers

Professor Rick Benitez, Philosophy Department, The University of Sydney<http://sydney.edu.au/arts/philosophy/staff/profiles/rick.benitez.php>

Dr Hyun Jin Kim, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne<http://shaps.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/dr-hyun-jin-kim>

A/Professor Karyn Lai, School of Humanities and Languages, University of New South Wales, Australia<https://hal.arts.unsw.edu.au/about-us/people/karyn-lai/>