Humanist Impulses in Traditional Chinese Thought - A presentation by Kirill Thompson September 15, 2011

Two perceived weaknesses of humanist thought, at least as it has come down to us in the Anglo-American tradition are its individualist predilection and species centrism. In the present talk, Kirill Thompson contends, to summarize roughly, that Confucius established a humanistic ethic based on a relational notion of self, that Mozi broke through the inherent hierarchies of Confucius' perspective, and that Laozi and Zhuangzi extend the position to other creatures and the ecology in a manner he calls critical or deep humanism. In conclusion, the Chinese philosophical tradition provides suggestive
conceptual resources for rethinking humanistic ethics.

Kirill Thompson is Associate Dean at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at National Taiwan University.
Professor Thompson is a specialist in Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi, in particular, but also investigates pre-Qin thought and other developments. His interests include Western philosophy as well, especially the Greeks through Plato, Modern philosophy, and major 19th and 20th century figures. Some of his recent work includes “Fox Koan and Dream: Dogen’s New Light on Causality and Purity,” “Zhu Xi’s Transformation of Zhongyong,” and “Self-Culture in the Electronic Age: The Perspective of Zhu Xi’s GeWu ZhiZhi.” He is currently editing Sinica Humanitas: A Source Book in Chinese Humanism, a compendium of traditional Chinese ethical arguments and discussions that display humanist impulses.

Official Website: http://www.ias.umn.edu/