Beyond Free Will: Variety in Understanding of Choice, Luck, and Necessity June 20-23, 2022 Vilnius University, Lithuania

Call for papers

Contemporary Western discourse on freedom and choice – some of the most championed modern
values – is usually anchored in the concept cluster of free will and autonomous choice. In turn,
academic research on free will in philosophy (including experimental philosophy) and psychology is
largely based on a limited conceptual framework with roots in particular debates in Christianity and
European philosophy. This framework is currently challenged by multidisciplinary and
interdisciplinary approaches applied in the fields of area and Asian studies, comparative philosophy,
and also empirical research in cross-cultural psychology, and anthropology.

​In the present multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary conference, we invite scholars from philosophy,
psychology, anthropology, Asian studies, religious studies and other related fields to discuss theoretical alternatives to the dominant framework that are sensitive to cultural differences and local contexts as well as empirical research - especially cross-cultural and cross-linguistic – on conceptualisations of free and constrained action and cultural practices in dealing with these constraints.​

For more information, see the flyer.

Call for Papers- 1st Online Conference of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy  “Chinese Philosophy: Paths between Convergence and Divergence” -  December 3, 2021

As previously announced, due to the ongoing pandemic, the 4th Biennial Conference of EACP has
been postponed to the year 2023. However, our community of scholars needs opportunities to meet
and exchange research outputs before that time, thus the board – although convinced that online
conference could never substitute a face-to-face meeting – has decided to organize an online
conference in the meantime.

The conference theme is “Chinese Philosophy: Paths between Convergence and Divergence”.

It is usually acknowledged that Chinese philosophy bloomed during the Warring States, in an epoch
of cultural and political division when thinkers or masters roamed from one state to the other, trying
to present their ways of thinking and governing to the different rulers. Therefore, despite the antihistoric and monolithic Orientalist interpretation of China, this philosophy arose thanks to the
richness of the divergence of thoughts. Simultaneously, since the Han, the Chinese Empire showed
a holistic attitude aiming at composing those divergences, often at the price of homologation.
However, thanks to the disrupting and enriching effect of Buddhist thought, refined syncretic
schools arose as that of the Song and Ming Neo-Confucians. Furthermore, since the first Jesuits entered China, the meeting with Western thought has presented both divergent and convergent streams, which continues to be the case nowadays. Contemporary philosophy in China shows this divergence-convergence paradigm constantly at work. Despite this paradigm being in common with other civilizations’ histories, Chinese thought provides a very peculiar view on the question of divergence-convergence which contributes to a more prolific transcultural definition of the paradigm. This peculiar view – which we can differently name correlative thought, nonduality of opposites, relational thinking, binary categories system, etc. – took a large variety of forms in the long history of Chinese thought. One of the most renowned and influential is the yin-yang 陰陽 theory, but the paradigm is also evident in Han historiography, Huayan Buddhism, naturalist poetry, and Neo-Confucianism, not to mention contemporary New Confucianism, where we can find extraordinarily relevant and innovative instances of this paradigm. In this conference, speakers are invited to discuss their research to shed new light on the richness of this correlative intellectual attitude from any perspective: metaphysical, ethical, historical, theoretical, linguistic, rhetorical, esthetic, etc.

Scholars interested in Chinese philosophy and philosophy in China are invited to submit proposals
for individual papers or panels to the organizers of the conference: Selusi Ambrogio
<selusi.ambrogio@unimc.it>, Mercedes Valmisa <mvalmisa@gettysburg.edu>, and Jan Vrhovski
<jan.vrhovski@ff.uni-lj.si>.

Abstracts should be no more than 250 words. Panel proposals should include the title and a brief
description of the panel and the names, affiliations, email addresses of the participants, and the titlesof each participant’s presentation with 250 words abstracts. The deadline for submission is
October 31, 2021. Notice of acceptance of proposals will be sent to your email address by
November 21, with instructions for how to access and links to the conference.

The official languages of the conference are English and Chinese.

Please find the announcement on EACP Board's decision to postpone the 4th EACP Biennial Conference in Macerata, containing information on other pending issues (General Assembly) and scheduled events (EACP Online Events​2021_eacp_macerata_postponement_announcement.pdf) in the PDF attachment.

2ND EACP ONLINE EVENT: COMPARATIVE, POST-COMPARATIVE, OR TRANSCULTURAL? - CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND NEW METHODOLOGIES
We cordially invite you to our next EACP ONLINE EVENT -
Symposium with general discussion under the title
COMPARATIVE, POST-COMPARATIVE, OR TRANSCULTURAL?
CHINESE PHILOSOPHY AND NEW METHODOLOGIESDate and time: Friday, July 23, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 (CET)
Speakers:
Fabian Heubel: “Identity and Sameness. Between Comparative and Transcultural Philosophy“
Hans-Georg Moeller: "Some Remarks on Post-Comparative Philosophy"
Vytis Silius: "Postcomparative philosophy: between universality and particularity"
Geir Sigurðsson: “In Defense of Comparative Philosophy: A Sino-Hermeneutic Approach”
Ralph Weber: “On the ‘Post’ in Post-Comparative Philosophy”
Jana S. Rošker: "Transcultural Philosophy of Sublation"
Location: ZOOM Link: https://uni-lj-si.zoom.us/j/95736132076
Topic: EACP online event (POST)COMPARATIVE TRANSCULTURAL PHILOSOPHY
Meeting ID: 957 3613 2076
At the beginning of the event, each of the speakers will give a very short (max. 10 minutes) individual statement on the topic, which will then serve as a starting point for the subsequent general plenary debate with the audience.
In this debate, we will all collectively share our ideas on some of the "hot questions" that stir many minds in contemporary research on Chinese philosophy. These may include (but need not remain limited to) the following topics:

• We will address problems encountered by Western (or Western-trained) researchers working in the field of Chinese philosophy. In this context, we will first shed light on the problems, methods, and positions of traditional comparative philosophy, which has been the subject of much heated controversy in recent decades.
• Although many Asian regions, including China, have redrawn the global map of geopolitical power in recent decades, the relics of (post)-colonial Eurocentric paradigms are still very influential in the foundations of intercultural discourses, including philosophical ones. If we are to achieve a better understanding of non-Western philosophical theories, we must also discuss these ideational remnants and confront them on the basis of their own methodologies.
• Our exchange will also include a discussion of intercultural and transcultural methodologies and shed light on some of the most common problems that arise in traditional intercultural comparisons in the field of philosophy.
• Taking into account the current state of the so-called post-comparative discourses in the field of transcultural philosophy and starting from the notion of culturally divergent frames of reference, we also aim to focus on specific semantic aspects of the Chinese philosophical tradition and try to answer the question about the role and function of discursive translations in transcultural philosophy dealing with Chinese philosophical discourses.

​
On these foundations, we hope to provide some new ideas for future approaches and principles in transcultural studies of Chinese philosophy.

23 April 2021 (14h00-16h00 CEST)
Speakers: Ralph Weber, Philippe Major, Chan Yim Fong and Milan Matthiesen (University of Basel).
While European-language scholarship on Modern Confucianism has been steadily expanding for the last 20 years, the approaches adopted in the field have remained for the most part either philosophical or historical. Building on the strengths of such approaches, the workshop will argue for an opening up of new and/or interdisciplinary perspectives by focusing on the value of a digital humanities approach to Modern Confucianism. Situated in the broader framework of a Sociology of Modern Confucian Philosophy, a digital humanities approach has the potential to reveal new and unforeseen perspectives on Modern Confucian Philosophy. For more information on the presenters’ Sociology of Modern Confucian Philosophy project based at the Institute for European Global Studies of the University of Basel, please visit their homepage at https://europa.unibas.ch/de/forschung/european-global-knowledge-production/the-exterior-of-philosophy/.
The event is organized by the European Association for Chinese Philosophy. If you would like to attend this event, please register with Philippe Major: philippe.major@unibas.ch

"The Board of the EACP wishes to announce its full and unanimous support and endorsement of the statement (http://chinesestudies.eu/?p=4435) issued on 9 April 2021 by the European Association for Chinese Studies (EACS) regarding the recent sanctions issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs against European China researchers."
The Board of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy, 19 April 2021

LISA INDRACCOLO: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, AGENCY AND MORAL AUTHORITY IN EARLY CHINESE PHILOSOPHY
​
The seminar cycle "Conversations on Chinese Philosophy - A Virtual Symposium" continues with Lisa Indraccolo's (Tallinn University) lecture "Civil Disobedience, Agency, And Moral Authority in Early Chinese Philosophy". The event will be held on Microsoft Teams on March 16 at 11.30 am. You can view the presenter's abstract here.indraccolo_conversations_on_chinese_philosophy_2021_abstract_final.pdf
For registration please follow the link here: https://cutt.ly/vkYG9fk
The virtual symposium is jointly organized by the University of Naples L'Orientale and Tallinn University. For future events consult the flyer below

The Croatian Philosophical Society is organising the international interdisciplinary symposium "East - West: Comparative Philosophy and World Situation", within the framework of the renowned international conference "Days of Frane Petric", to be held in Cres (Croatia) between 20 and 23 September 2020. They invite the scholars from different areas to apply for the participation in the Symposium.
Please follow the official letter of invitation to the symposium "East - West: Comparative Philosophy and World Situation", as well as the application form, which should be submitted until 31 March 2020 to the address: eastwest.croatia.2020@gmail.com.

CALL FOR PAPERS: 3RD BIENNIAL EACP CONFERENCE​
The 3rd Biennial Conference of the European of Association for Chinese Philosophy (EACP) will take place at Ghent University (Belgium) from September 5-7 2019. The conference theme of this edition will be Paradigms of Change and Changing Paradigms in Chinese Philosophy.
We are kindly inviting scholars of Chinese philosophy to submit proposals for individual papers or panels to Bart Dessein (bart.dessein@ugent.be) and Ady Van den Stock (ady.vandenstock@ugent.be).
Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Panel proposals should include the title and a brief description of the panel, as well as the names, affiliations, and contact details of the participants. Please also provide the titles of each participant’s presentation. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2019. Notice of acceptance of proposals will be sent to your e-mail address by the end of April 2019, with instructions on how to register and submit the conference registration fee (EACP members: 60 EUR for scholars and 20 EUR for students, non-members: 80 EUR for scholars and 30 EUR for students).
To encourage participation and inclusion of young researchers, there will be a Young Scholars Award. MA holders and PhD candidates who submit a paper proposal should indicate whether they wish to compete for the award. Winners of the award will be receiving a full travel grant as well as prize money.
The official languages of the conference are English and Chinese.

PARADIGMS OF CHANGE AND CHANGING PARADIGMS IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHYThroughout the long history of Chinese philosophy, the topic of change has been a recurrent and, in a sense, constant theme. Chinese conceptualizations of change extend from the classical Yijing to the processual outlook on reality, human existence, and socio-historical development articulated by many modern Chinese thinkers. This rich and varied historical trajectory has endowed the encounter between Chinese and Western thought in contemporary comparative philosophy with the potential to usher in philosophical paradigm changes outside of the field of Sinology.
We are inviting scholars to approach the conference topic from a broad perspective, as extending from the individual and social dimensions of existence to bodily and spiritual practices of self-cultivation and transformation. The organizing committee also welcomes contributions which do not directly or exclusively address the conference topic.
Keynote Speakers
Leigh Jenco (London School of Economics)
Haiming Wen 温海明 (Renmin University)
Organizing Committee
Prof. Bart Dessein, Department of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent University, Belgium (bart.dessein@ugent.be).
Dr. Ady Van den Stock, Department of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent University, Belgium (ady.vandenstock@ugent.be)
Venue
De Abt
Lange Kruisstraat 4
9000 Ghent, Belgium

Taiwanese Philosophy and the Preservation of Confucian Tradition

International Conference organized by University of Ljubljana, EARL Ljubljana, and TRCCS (Taiwan Research Center for Chinese Studies) in Taipei
10-12 October 2019
Description:

Although the philosophical currents in modern and contemporary Taiwan belong to the most influential and important streams of thought in contemporary East Asian theory, they are still unrecognized as specifically Taiwanese. The main reasons for the immense importance of Taiwanese philosophy for East Asia and the contemporary world are twofold. First, they can be found in its contributions to the preservation of traditional Chinese, especially Confucian thought. Secondly, its development of specific innovative philosophical approaches and systems profoundly influenced the theoretical discourses in the entire East Asian region. The philosophical currents in modern Taiwan were mainly developed during the second half of 20th century, in which the philosophical theory in mainland China was largely limited to the Sinization of Marxist thought. Hence, for many decades, Taiwanese philosophy represented the only driving force of developing, modernizing and upgrading traditional Chinese thought and its syntheses with Western thought. Hence, they soon also gained a wide spread popularity in most of the other East Asian societies that were traditionally influenced by classical Confucian thought, as for example Japan and South Korea.
The conference, organized by Ljubljana University, the EARL in Ljubljana and the TRCCS at the National Central Library in Taipei under the academic leadership by Professor Jana S. Rošker, Ph.D., will bring together leading European and East Asian scholars investigating the thought of Taiwanese philosophers. It aims to introduce their work to the wider international academic public, and to discuss and exchange knowledge regarding their philosophical approaches, ideas and methods. It will furthermore also illuminate the political, social and ideological backgrounds of the specific Taiwanese philosophy.
Given the fact that numerous Taiwanese philosophers belong to the pinnacle of contemporary theoretic achievements in the Chinese language area, and because there is still an almost complete lack of awareness of this fact in the European academic circles, the conference aims to clarify and to expose the following issues:

• The role and the function of Taiwanese scholars in the preservation of the Chinese intellectual (especially Confucian, but also Daoist and Buddhist) tradition;
• Taiwanese interpretations of Chinese philosophy;
• Introductions of recent Taiwanese philosophy and its authors, including both the ones who lived and worked in the 2nd half of the 20th century (e.g. Mou Tsung-san, Hsü Fu-kuan, Hu Shih, Fang Tung-Mei, Tai Lien-Chang etc) and the still active philosophers who deserve more international reputation, like Lee Ming-huei, Huang Chun-chieh, Lee Hsien-chung, Yu Ying-shih, Liu Shu-hsien, Tu Wei-Ming, Cheng Chung-Ying etc;
• The formation of a recognizable position of recent Taiwanese intellectual streams in the contemporary discourses on philosophy and culture;
• The analysis and explanation of common cultural conditioned threads in the Taiwanese philosophy – the relation between the specifically Taiwanese cultural elements and the theoretical and ideological approaches applied by Taiwanese philosophers;
• Political, sociological and intellectual backgrounds;
• History and politics: the cross strait relations in the second half of the 20th century.

Deadlines for participating scholars:
Abstract submission: 28 February 2019
Completed papers: 30 June 2019
Contact:
The abstracts and the papers should be sent to the chief organizer, Professor Jana S. Rošker (jana.rosker@ff.uni-lj.si).