Vice-Chancellor Visiting Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
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,…
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. A draft…
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…
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
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.
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,…
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…
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…
The week of June 26–30 I delivered two lectures in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University and greatly enjoyed meeting graduate students and colleagues there. My deep thanks to Professor Zheng Kai for organizing this visit and Dr. Huachao Wang for all his efforts making arrangements. Especially meaningful was that the first lecture took…
In June I delivered one of the keynote addresses for the International Society for Chinese Philosophy conference held at UC Riverside, June 20-23. I’m grateful to Lisa Raphals for the invitation to contribute and to Cheng Chung-ying, Tang Siufu, and other audience members for stimulating questions. My talk was titled “Standards Cannot Stand on Their…