Jana Rosker

The article examines conceptions of ecological humanism that approach the world as an integrated whole, drawing on prevailing strands of Chinese intellectual traditions in which human life is understood as inseparable from the dynamic patterns of the natural world. The Zhuangzi offers valuable resources for contemporary efforts to develop a more relational and integrative ecological philosophy that also accommodates free subjectivity. These starting points illuminate how Zhuangzi’s philosophical thought is connected to a distinct form of Chinese humanism and to discourses that conceive the human—nature relationship as holistic, but not irreductively fused. The article points to the possibility of an alternative worldview that can help us, in our limited time and space, find the possibility of living some kind of sustainable yet here-and-now moment.

This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of the philosophies of Li Zehou and Modern New Confucianism in terms of their perspectives on the history and modernity of China. Li Zehou’s philosophy is widely recognized for its significant contribution to contemporary global philosophy and ethics. However, his ideas also reveal some unique characteristics of his Chinese modernization theory that are not very well known in the Western world. Similarly, the philosophy of Modern New Confucianism cannot be overlooked when discussing the Sinophone philosophy of the latter half of the 20th century. By comparing the theories and approaches of these two prominent Chinese discourses, this paper seeks to identify the similarities and differences between their respective perspectives on the history and modernity of China. This comparative analysis will shed light on the distinctive features of these two important Chinese philosophical systems and offer insights into the development of Chinese thought in the contemporary global context.

This article offers a critical analysis of Li Chenyang’s Reshaping Confucianism: A Progressive Inquiry, situating it within the broader discourse of progressive Confucianism. It explores how Li reinterprets classical Confucian concepts to address contemporary social, ethical, and political challenges through both historical and philosophical methodologies. The essay highlights Li Chenyang’s principle of “progressive humanity,” which integrates traditional moral insights with modern values. It further examines Li’s intercultural and comparative strategies, exposing his dynamic reading of harmony (he 和) and gender equity through Confucian ethics. The author also engages with tensions between sentiment-based ethics and rational autonomy, especially in relation to feminist care ethics, drawing on Li Zehou’s 李澤厚 critiques. The analysis underscores the relevance of progressive Confucianism in shaping a globally inclusive ethical discourse and emphasizes its potential as a critical framework for addressing modern human and societal development.

Li Zehou’s claim that “harmony is higher than justice” (和諧高於正義) has aroused much discussion. This paper examines Li’s claim, treating it as a critique of liberal individualism, and explores some difficulties with his argument. In particular, following traditional Confucian thought, certain emotions are attached to specific relationships, creating relatively fixed patterns of emotional response. This suggests problems of oppression and anachronism. Seeking to avoid these difficulties, the paper explores how Li’s notion of harmony might be further developed by bringing together two prominent themes in Li’s work. These are guanxi or relational attachment, which Li elevates to the level of guiding doctrine or “ism” (guanxi-zhuyi 關係主義), and aesthetic value and experience. Placing guanxi networks at the center of practical reason can promote the generation of aesthetic goods in everyday social interaction, and the steady daily accumulation of such goods constitutes a plausible conception of the good life. This honors Li’s interest in guanxi or relationality, and offers another way to substantiate the ideal of harmony, one which can be placed alongside individualism and its requisite justice.

In this book, Jana S. Ros̆ker offers the first comprehensive overview and exegesis of the work of Li Zehou, who is one of the most significant and influential Chinese philosophers of our time. Ros̆ker shows us how Li's complex system of thought seeks to revive various Chinese traditions, and at the same time attempts to harmonize or reconcile this cultural heritage with the demands of the dominant economic, political, and axiological structures of our globalized world. Variously characterized as 'neo-traditional,' 'neo-Kantian,' 'post-Marxist,' 'Marxist-Confucian,' 'pragmatist,' 'instrumentalist,' 'romantic,' and more, Li's work was central to the period known as the Chinese Enlightenment in the 1980s and has helped modify and transform antiquated patterns of Chinese intellectual discourse. He is one of the rare Chinese thinkers whose work has had not only had a deep and lasting impact on Chinese intellectuals, but has acquired a broad readership outside of China as well. Seen from a broader intercultural perspective, Li's unique and imaginative approach to a wide range of basic theoretical problems has created new styles of intellectual investigation, while reminding us of our belonging to a common humanity, regardless of differences in our individual cultures, languages, preferences, and traditions.

This chapter argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the limits of the mainstream individualistic notion of resilience and, in light of these limits, it advances a new, relational notion of the concept of resilience that contributes to the individuals’ well-being and takes into consideration the role of systemic inequality. The first half of the paper argues that the individualistic notion is flawed in two ways: i) it can foster ill-being because it is cognitively taxing, and ii) it discounts systemic inequality because it transfers the responsibility of any achievement and failure onto the single individual without regard for conditions of oppression. The second half of the paper reconceptualizes the concept of resilience as a relational notion that takes into account structural support as well as conditions of oppression and marginalization. According to this latter notion of resilience, the chapter argues that oppression, lack of material conditions, or lack of structural support are elements that can impact the appropriateness of calls to be resilient. A relational notion of resilience fosters well-being because it puts the collective community at the center (instead of the individual) and it takes into consideration material conditions and structural injustices.

The study of perception and the role of the senses have recently risen to prominence in philosophy and are now a major area of study and research. However, the philosophical history of the senses remains a relatively neglected subject. Moving beyond the current philosophical canon, this outstanding collection offers a wide-ranging and diverse philosophical exploration of the senses, from the classical period to the present day. Written by a team of international contributors, it is divided into six parts: Perception from Non-Western Perspectives Perception in the Ancient Period Perception in the Medieval Latin/Arabic Period Perception in the Early Modern Period Perception in the Post-Kantian Period Perception in the Contemporary Period. The volume challenges conventional philosophical study of perception by covering a wide range of significant, as well as hitherto overlooked, topics, such as perceptual judgment, temporal and motion illusions, mirror and picture perception, animal senses and cross-modal integration. By investigating the history of the senses in thinkers such as Plotinus, Auriol, Berkeley and Cavendish; and considering the history of the senses in diverse philosophical traditions, including Chinese, Indian, Byzantine, Greek and Latin it brings a fresh approach to studying the history of philosophy itself. Including a thorough introduction as well as introductions to each section by the editors, The Senses and the History of Philosophy is essential reading for students and researchers in the history of philosophy, perception, philosophy of mind, philosophical psychology, aesthetics and eastern and non-western philosophy. It will also be extremely useful for those in related disciplines such as psychology, religion, sociology, intellectual history and cognitive sciences.