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18Physical Externalism and Social ExternalismJournal of Philosophical Research 27 381-404. 2002.In this paper I examine the foundations of physical externalism and social externalism and argue that these foundations are incompatible. Physical externalism is based on a direct reference theory of natural-kind terms, while social externalism is based on a description theory of natural-kind terms. Thus, physical externalism and social externalism are incompatible just in the same way that the direct reference theory of proper names is incompatible with the description theory of proper names. M…Read more
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165Is Human History Predestined in Wang Fuzhi’s Cosmology?Journal of Chinese Philosophy 28 (3). 2001.In traditional Chinese cosmology, this pattern could be very well explained in terms of the fluctuation of yin and yang, or as the natural order of Heaven. This cosmological explanation fits natural history well. There are natural phenomena such as floods, draughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc., that are beyond human control. These events have their determining factors. Once those factors are present, a natural disaster, however unfavorably viewed by humans, is doomed to take place. …Read more
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160A nonreductionist's solution to Kim's explanatory exclusion problemManuscrito 24 (1): 7-47. 2001.In numerous papers Jaegwon Kim argues that nonreductive materialists (i.e., those philosophers who believe that there are no irreducible non-physical objects in the universe, and yet there are irreducible psychological properties which are indispensable in intentional psychological explanations) face two problems. One is that intentional mental properties are not causally relevant; the other is that explanations appealing to these properties are excluded by explanations appealing to physical, in…Read more
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228In Religion Compass, April 2007
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117This paper calls for a reconstruction of Chinese metaphysics that recognizes the distinct features of Chinese worldview, while at the same time explores the speculative thinking behind the dominant ethical concerns in Chinese philosophy. It suggests some research topics for constructing a Chinese moral metaphysics, without turning it into a metaphysical ethics – the difference between the two is that the former is fundamentally “truth-pursuing” while the latter is “good-pursuing.” This paper arg…Read more
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On Individualism as a Theory of ContentDissertation, The University of Rochester. 1993.The present dissertation deals with the issue of the individuation of beliefs. This is an issue that falls into philosophy of psychology as well as philosophy of language. There are two major schools of thought that are involved in the debate. Individualism claims that the individuation does not need to take intentional, semantic properties of beliefs into account, while Anti-Individualism claims that it does. The former is represented by Jerry Fodor and the latter is represented by Tyler Burge.…Read more
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82Chinese Qi-Naturalism and Liberal NaturalismPhilosophy, Theology and the Sciences 1 (1): 59. 2014.
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210___ (i) There is a difference between hearing Clyde play the piano and seeing him play the piano. ___ (ii) A perceptual belief that he is playing the piano must also be distinguished from a perceptual experience of this same event.
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139In this paper, I shall present a comparative study of two leading Daoists’ different conceptions of truth in the context of modern metaphysical debate on realism and antirealism. My basic contention in this paper is that both Laozi and Zhuangzi embrace the realist's thesis that the world is largely independent of us and the way we are; it has its own objective nature.
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66Class meeting time: T R 9:55 - 11:10 AM Instructor: JeeLoo Liu Office location: Welles 107 Office hours: M W 2-4 PM E-mail: [email protected]..
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172Liu, Liangjian 劉梁劍, Heaven, Humans, and Boundary: An Exposition of Wang Chuanshan’s Metaphysics 天· 人· 際· 對王船山的形上學闡明: Shanghai 上海: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe 上海人民出版社, 2007, 12+271 pages (review)Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 8 (1): 105-108. 2009.
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Book Review (review)Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 8 105-108. 2009.Liu, Liangjian 劉梁劍, Heaven, Humans, and Boundary: An Exposition of Wang Chuanshan’s Metaphysics 天· 人· 際· 對王船山的形上學闡明 Shanghai 上海: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe 上海人民出版社, 2007, 12+271 pages
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258The status of cosmic principle (li) in neo-confucian metaphysicsJournal of Chinese Philosophy 32 (3): 391-407. 2005.In this paper, I attempt to make use of Western metaphysical taxonomy to explicate the cosmological variances in Chinese philosophical schools, especially with regard to the debates among the Neo-Confucian thinkers. While I do not presume that Chinese philosophers dealt with the same Western issues, I do believe that a comparative study of this nature can point to a new direction of thinking concerning the metaphysical debates in Neo-Confucianism. This paper is divided into three parts. In Part …Read more
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149Readings from the lu-Wang school of neo-confucianism (review)Philosophy East and West 61 (2): 388-391. 2011.
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Mind |
Asian Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
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Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Language |
Philosophy of Mind |
Meta-Ethics |
20th Century Philosophy |
Cognitive Sciences |
Asian Philosophy |