New Zhuangzi Book

My new monograph Zhuangzi: Ways of Wandering the Way has just been published in the UK by Oxford University Press. It is scheduled to ship in North America on August 1. A 30% discount is available by ordering online at https://global.oup.com/academic/ using promotion code AAFLYG6.

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Workshop on “Zhuangzi Beyond the Inner Chapters”

Update: Videos from this event have recently been posted on line. My talk is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38U1Pl8yl98 I spoke (virtually) on March 14, 2023, at a rewarding workshop on the Zhuangzi entitled “2023 Zhuangzi beyond the Inner Chapters in Seoul,” hosted by the K-Academic Expansion Project, Institute of Korean Philosophy and Culture, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul,…

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RCCPC Dài Zhèn Workshop

In what is probably among the first events of its kind — and I hope a harbinger of more — the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at CUHK is organizing an international workshop wholly devoted to the major Qing thinker Dai Zhen 戴震 on March 15-16. The workshop announcement is here. My paper…

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Book Discussion: Late Classical Chinese Thought

On February 2, the very constructive Sihaiweixue 四海為學 program organized by Paul D’Ambrosio hosted a book discussion on my recent book, Late Classical Chinese Thought. It was an honor and a pleasure to discuss the book with Karyn Lai, Winnie Sung, and Ellie Wang, among with Paul and other participants. A recording of the conversation…

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Aristotle and Xúnzǐ on the Good Life

In October I was honored to be invited to speak at “How Legitimate is the Philosophical Canon,” a conference on comparative Greek-Chinese philosophy held at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I am grateful to Pantelis Golitsis for organizing this event. My contribution to the discussion is linked here: Aristotle and Xunzi on the Good Life

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New Books Network Interview

Malcolm Keating recently interviewed me about Late Classical Chinese Thought for the New Books Network. It was a pleasure to discuss the book with such a careful reader. A podcast of the interview is here. Be sure also to check out Malcolm’s fascinating work on language and argumentation in Sanskrit philosophy. 

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Inversions, Leftovers, and Hazy Stuff

In October 2023 David Chai in the Department of Philosophy at CUHK organized a stimulating and (to me) fruitful roundtable on Brook Ziporyn’s new translation of the Daodejing, along with an interpretive essay Brook published to accompany the book. Here is the event announcement: https://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/web/zh-hant/node/753 My contribution to the discussion is posted here: Inversions, Leftovers,…

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Tsinghua Summer Mini-Course: Chinese Epistemology

As part of a regular summer program in the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University, I had the pleasure of meeting a circle of bright, enthusiastic students and up-and-coming young colleagues while teaching a mini-course this July. The course was devoted to early Chinese epistemology, which besides its inherent interest offers many potential insights and…

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Ren Da Talk: A Daoist Critique of Morality

The third leg of my recent Beijing trip was a visit to Renmin University to see old friends Li Jifen and Liu Wei and to meet a number of new friends, including some brilliant graduate students. My talk was a Chinese version of this paper, which sketches Zhuangist reasons for rejecting morality as a guide…

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