Lei Zhong

I am Professor of Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Before joining CUHK, I taught at Peking University and Lingnan University. I obtained a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, an M.Phil. in Philosophy from Peking University, and a B.A. in Economics from Renmin University of China.

I mainly work in philosophy of mind, moral philosophy, and metaphysics, striving to develop a robust version of anti-reductionism about mentality and morality. I have also done research in related areas, such as epistemology, philosophy of language, political philosophy, and comparative philosophy. I always aim to address relatively “big” philosophical issues and to reveal the connections among apparently different topics at a deeper level and in a broader context. I am currently working on a five-year project, “An Emergentist Theory of Mind”, supported by the RGC Research Fellow Scheme of Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

As a leading Chinese analytic philosopher, my work has regularly appeared in top philosophy journals and stimulated worldwide responses and discussion. My research is listed in the key works of the “Exclusion Problem” entry in the PhilPapers index, and also acknowledged in major reference resources (such as Oxford Bibliographies in Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and Philosophy Compass). Three conferences discussing my philosophical theories were organized in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, respectively. Some of my works have been translated into Chinese by other scholars. I have received the RGC Research Fellow Award in 2022, the Research Excellence Award of CUHK in 2020, and the Young Researcher Award of CUHK in 2017.

Besides philosophy, I have a special interest in Classical Chinese poetry. I also enjoy watching movies & TV series, doing physical exercise, and exploring different parts of the world.