University of Oregon
Department of Philosophy
PhD
Boone, North Carolina, United States of America
  •  11
    Bringing together an unparalleled selection of original and translated readings from different eras and various traditions, this reader includes texts from well-known North American philosophers alongside writings by Native, Latin, African, Mexican, and Asian Americans, revealing the interweaving tapestry of ideas endemic to the Americas. Through its pluralistic approach, it promotes intercultural dialogue and understanding. Primary texts are thematically arranged around major areas of philosoph…Read more
  •  6
    As a virtue, loyalty has an ambiguous place in our thinking about moral judgments. We lauded the loyalty of firefighters who risked their lives to save others on 9/11 while condemning the loyalty of those who perpetrated the catastrophe. Responding to such uneasiness and confusion, Loyalty to Loyalty contributes to ongoing conversation about how we should respond to conflicts in loyalty in a pluralistic world. The lone philosopher to base an ethical theory on the virtue of loyalty is Josiah Royc…Read more
  •  23
    Thoreau and the Confucian Four Books
    Philosophy Compass 16 (7). 2021.
    Henry David Thoreau read three English translations of the Confucian Four Books and produced undated translations from a French translation of these texts. This study examines the relationship between Thoreau and Confucian thought via his engagement with this set of translations. Selections from the English translations were reprinted in the “Ethnical Scriptures” columns of the Transcendentalist periodical, The Dial. This study examines this understudied column, considering the possible impact t…Read more
  •  14
    ABSTRACT It has recently been argued that in Analects 17.21, Confucius advises a disciple to do something that he, Confucius, believes to be morally wrong. According to Frederick Choo, despite believing that it is morally wrong to not properly observe the three-year mourning ritual for a deceased parent, Confucius tells Zai Wo that he should do so. Choo offers two justifications for Confucius’s doing this. In this essay, I argue that the justifications Choo offers for Confucius’s advising Zai Wo…Read more
  •  6
    John J. Kaag, Idealism, Pragmatism, and Feminis
    European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 5 (2). 2013.
    Traditionally, the history of American philosophy has been conceived of in terms of an intellectual lineage comprising monumental male figures (e.g., Emerson, Peirce, James, and Dewey). In recent decades, this picture has broadened in scope and nuance. Philosophers once regarded as ancillary have gained recognition as original and influential thinkers in their own right. The last two decades have been witness to the resurgence in scholarly attention to figures such as Josiah Royce and Jane Ad...
  •  14
    Confucian Ethics in Western Discourse by Wai-ying Wong
    Philosophy East and West 69 (1): 1-3. 2019.
    Wai-ying Wong's Confucian Ethics in Western Discourse is an unusual book. The majority of its content is republished material, with Wong citing in the Acknowledgments twenty previously published articles duplicated in its pages. The book is organized in four parts: The Characteristics of Confucian Ethics, Confucian Ethics in Western Discourse, The Heritage and Development of Neo-Confucianism: The Thought of [the] Cheng Brothers, and Confucian Ethics and Contemporary Cultural Phenomena. These sec…Read more
  •  24
    Feminist Encounters with Confucius (edited book)
    with Sor-Hoon Tan
    Brill. 2016.
    This collection contributes to current debates and explores new topics of engagement between Feminism and Confucius’s teachings, variously interpreted. Besides care ethics and role ethics, questions of gender oppression and education, it includes essays on epistemology and environmental ethics.
  •  29
    The killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and others have instigated widespread debate concerning the ethics and politics of police behavior toward young black men in America. This article shows how Josiah Royce’s philosophy of loyalty provides a useful theoretical framework for diagnosing and working to overcome strained relations between police and black citizens in the United States. The author begins by establishing the relevanc…Read more
  •  23
    Introduction: Physicality, Spirituality, and Chinese Philosophy
    Journal of Chinese Philosophy 43 (1-2): 6-8. 2016.
  •  23
    William James's "The Dilemma of Determinism" essay, delivered and published in 1884, concerns the competing doctrines of determinism and free will. In the essay, James suggests compelling reasons why it is more rational to believe in free will than it is to believe in determinism. In this thesis, I contend that not only does "The Dilemma of Determinism" offer a coherent and forceful argument for the rationality of belief in free will, but it also contains rich insights into James's moral and rel…Read more
  •  26
    The killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and others have instigated widespread debate concerning the ethics and politics of police behavior toward young black men in America. In this article, I show how Josiah Royce’s philosophy of loyalty provides a useful theoretical framework for diagnosing and working to overcome strained relations between police and black citizens in the United States. I begin by establishing the relevance of …Read more
  •  31
    In this highly original work, Mathew A. Foust breaks new ground in comparative studies through his exploration of the connections between Confucianism and the American Transcendentalist and Pragmatist movements. In his examination of a broad range of philosophers, including Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Charles Peirce, William James, and Josiah Royce, Foust traces direct lines of influence from early translations of Confucian texts and brings to light conce…Read more
  •  4
    William James and the Promise of Pragmatism
    William James Studies 2. 2007.
    In this article, I address the matter of what James's Pragmatism has to offer someone today, a full century after its publication. Toward this end, I underscore the theme of meliorism present in the text, focusing on notions of "promise" employed by James at several points therein. James's emphasis on "promise" is predicated upon a deeply intimate relationship between humans and the world, such that our relationship to the universe is much like that which exists between promising parties. I argu…Read more
  •  3010
    Nitobe and Royce: Bushidō and the Philosophy of Loyalty
    Philosophy East and West 65 (4): 1174-1193. 2015.
    In recent years, scholars have increasingly paid attention to the philosophy of Josiah Royce. Long lost in the shadow of fellow classical American figures, Royce’s philosophy has enjoyed a renascence, with a spate of publications in a variety of venues studying and applying his thought.1 Like his philosophical brethren, Royce wrote on a wide variety of subjects, his discussions underpinned by a smattering of influences. Much has been remarked of the various Western sources that made an impressio…Read more
  •  31
    Confucianism and American Pragmatism
    Philosophy Compass 10 (6): 369-378. 2015.
    One area of the East–West comparative philosophy that has received a good deal of attention in recent years is the relationship between Confucianism and American Pragmatism. Scholars engaging these traditions have argued that they are mutually elucidating and mutually reinforcing. Often, upon locating resonance between a Confucian philosopher and an American Pragmatist philosopher, scholars combine the conceptual resources of the two, developing a Confucian–Pragmatist hybrid concept or theory. S…Read more
  •  27
    In The Problem of Christianity, Josiah Royce describes the case of the traitor as embodying "the exemplary type of moral tragedy" which he will use toward the adumbration of a theory of atonement. Royce describes the redemptive process of the traitor as a "tragic reconciliation, " for his sinful deed can never be undone. Still, the traitor can, with regard to his treason, "bring out of the realm of death a new life that only this very death rendered possible." In this article, it is argued that …Read more
  •  3
    This essay first describes the distinctively American character of the life and thought of Josiah Royce, conceiving of Royce as equal parts Puritan and pioneer. Next, the author’s recent experience teaching Royce’s philosophy of loyalty in China is discussed, highlighting pedagogical challenges encountered and techniques employed to navigate these hurdles. A summary of Royce’s philosophy of loyalty is given, incorporating examples used in the classroom. It is shown that upon applying Royce’s phi…Read more
  •  17
    On Pragmatism (review)
    Newsletter of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy 32 (99): 45-48. 2004.
  •  38
    Confess Your Contradictions: Schelling, Royce, and the Art of Atonement
    Journal of Speculative Philosophy 26 (3): 516-530. 2012.
    Two of Josiah Royce's lectures in Lectures on Modern Idealism concern the work of F. W. J. Schelling, the "poetic seer of splendid metaphysical visions" whom Royce considered "the prince of the romanticists."1 These lectures are titled "The Dialectical Method in Schelling" and "Schelling's Transcendental Idealism." In the former, Royce remarks that "there are two simple ways to avoid all dialectical complications. One is an easy way, viz., not to think at all. The other is a prudent way, viz., n…Read more
  • John Dewey in China: To Teach and to Learn, Jessica Ching-sze Wang (review)
    Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 13 (1): 97-99. 2013.
  •  42
    In this paper, I accompany William James and Mary Whiton Calkins in the steps each takes toward his or her respective proposal of a moral equivalent of war. I demonstrate the influence of James upon Calkins, suggesting that the two share overlapping formulations of the problem and offer closely related—but significantly different—solutions. I suggest that Calkins's pacifistic proposal is an extension of that of her teacher—a feminist interpretation of his psychological and moral thought as broug…Read more
  •  43
    Loyalty in the Teachings of Confucius and Josiah Royce
    Journal of Chinese Philosophy 39 (2): 192-206. 2012.
    Loyalty is central to the philosophies of Confucius and Josiah Royce. In the case of Confucius, we see this significance in the emphasis placed in the Analects on zhong (“loyalty,” “other-regard,” or “dutifulness”) and xiao (“filial piety” or “filiality”). In the case of Royce, we see this significance in the emphasis placed on loyalty in The Philosophy of Loyalty. Moreover, in Confucius's and Royce's interactions with disciples and students, we witness appreciable loyalty, to their students and…Read more
  •  34
    Sex and Selfhood: What Feminist Philosophy Can Learn from Recent Ethnography in Ho Chi Minh City
    Journal of International Women's Studies 14 (3): 31-41. 2013.
    This article explores the connection of class dynamics to the moral agency of sex workers and their clients. It revisits the analyses of several contemporary feminist theorists, placing these analyses in dialogue with a recent ethnographic study of the sex work industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In light of this comparative analysis, it is argued that accurate understanding and assessment of the moral agency of sex workers and their clients requires attunement to the complex and evolving cla…Read more