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The history of philosophy is a history of men talking to men, about other men. Our answer to the question ‘What is philosophy for?’ has been shaped by this historical narrative. My talk explores an answer to this question posed by the woman philosopher Mary Midgley. Midgley argued that philosophy is a necessity, not a luxury. She described it as ‘something we are doing all the time, a continuous, necessary background activity which is likely to go badly if we don’t attend to it’ (2018:81). These insights of Midgley’s have been systematically underappreciated and overlooked within the academic discipline of philosophy. My talk questions the connection between Midgley as a philosophical practitioner, and her conception of philosophy as a practise. I will ask whether and to what extent being a minority in philosophy impacted the way Midgley conceived of the practise of philosophy. And further, how our accepted practise of the history of philosophy sustains and perpetuate the neglect of women philosophers (and other minorities). Overall, our standard story of men, talking to men about men, needs disrupting to include the (her)stories of overlooked philosophers. And doing so might change our conception of philosophical practise itself.

Discussions about the decolonization of philosophy take place within the wider context of efforts to interrupt inherited hierarchies of knowledge and reimagine higher education as we know it. In this presentation I offer some insights from recent research and pedagogical experiments that engage the challenges and complexities of undertaking decolonizing work in a contemporary educational context characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). Rather than prescribe a single pathway forward, I invite people to develop the capacities and the stamina to walk toward as-yet-unimaginable futures with more honesty, humility, and hyper-self-reflexivity. In particular, drawing on my work with the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures research/arts collective, I will review a series of pedagogical frameworks that we have developed for inviting intellectually and relationally rigorous engagements with social and ecological challenges.

There has been a lively debate over the relationship of Confucianism to democracy. Samuel Huntington’s dismissal of Confucian democracy as an oxymoron has been overtaken by a variety of different proposals on whether or not the Confucian political ideal could be democratic. Disagreements among the participants in this debate include issues to do with interpretation of Confucian canonical texts, the most important of which is arguably the Analects. This talk will discuss some of the key passages in the Analects for understanding the political thought of Confucius and its implications for constructing a Confucian democracy today.

A major controversy in the study of the Analects has been over the relation between the two central concepts of li (rites, rituals of propriety) and ren (humanity, human excellence). Confucius seems to have said inconsistent things about this relation. Some passages appear to suggest that ren is more fundamental than li, while others seem to imply the contrary, and it is therefore not surprising that there have been different interpretations and characterizations. In this presentation, I will present an interpretation that I believe best characterizes the relation between li and ren. Using the analogy of language grammar and mastery of a language, I propose that we should understand li as a cultural grammar and ren as the mastery of a culture. In this account, society cultivates its members through li toward the goal of ren.

This talk explores the advantages and disadvantages of viewing the Analects through the lens of contemporary moral theory. It looks in particular at Kantian deontology, which Sinophone scholarship on the text has tended to stress; virtue ethics, which is more prominent in Anglophone secondary literature; and role ethics, which has emerged as a potential alternative to both deontology and virtue ethics. These discussions reveal that Sinophone and Anglophone philosophers are starting to engage one another, which is helping to spur the related (though not identical) process of dialogue between Western and Chinese philosophical traditions. Concern about an unhealthy hegemony of Western categories is by no means a thing of the past, but we are beginning to see glimpses of a future that is pluralistic, open, and global.

There is an apparent  contradiction between Zen way of life and scientific studies of nature.  However, on the fundamental level they have in common search for  reality: through critical examination of facts, acceptance of  impermanence of things and phenomena, and non-reliance on scriptures.  Implementing and understanding common ground in both outlooks can lead  to finding the meaning of human existence, personal flourishing and  happiness.

Tai Chi is a popular method of self-cultivation and health enhancement that goes back to a 17th-century combination of martial arts and healing exercises (daoyin). The latter are first documented in the 3rd century BCE and today activated, under biomedical auspices, in the practice of qigong. To facilitate the smooth movements of Tai Chi, teachers emphasize certain key ideals, such as overall freedom from tension or relaxation, an upright  posture, natural breathing, a sense of centrality, weight separation,  mental focus, and an awareness of the body (and nature) as one unity. These concepts relate directly to certain core Daoist values, most  importantly, oneness or the holographic nature of the universe,  continuous change and constant motion, naturalness (spontaneity),  nonaction or pervasive fluidity,  as well as authenticity, integrity,  simplicity, and sufficiency. This presentation will outline the historical development of Tai Chi  and its major characteristics, then describe how its practice embodies  key aspects of Daoist philosophy, cosmology, and ethics.

Contradictions (and, arguably, the acceptance thereof) pervade Buddhist  Philosophy. What is the point of those contradictions? In this talk, I  shall argue that contradictions are an important soteriological  instrument (upāya) for the practitioner. The enigmatic catuṣkoṭi, a  statement to the effect that every proposition holds, does not hold,  both holds and does not holds, and neither holds nor does not hold, is  noteworthy in this context. In Western research, the catuṣkoṭi has been responsible for plenty furore. Recently, Graham Priest (2010, 2018) has put forward an interpretation of the catuṣkoṭi in non-classical logic. With resource to this technical apparatus, we can uncover the family resemblance of the Kōan practice of the Zen tradition with the catuṣkoṭi. The Kōan, as I shall argue, may be considered an abbreviated catuṣkoṭi. It is generally accepted that the Kōan is  a soteriological instrument on the journey towards enlightenment  (satori). Thus, given their resemblance, I argue by induction that the catuṣkoṭi is more than a purely logical instrument, applied to refute philosophical enemies – it, too, has soteriological importance.

The purpose of many  computer products in the area of information and communications  technology is to capture the user’s attention, distract it from the  actual place where the user is situated, and export it to some virtual  space where advertisers practise their persuasion. The enterprise has  been enormously successful, though the effects on users aren’t always  benign (anxiety, depression, etc). Philosophically, the more insidious  effects are on how we think and who we think we are, encouraging  calculative thinking and a post-Cartesian self-image of ourselves as  disembodied minds only contingently situated in physical places. The  implications for education deserve careful consideration.

A growing number of philosophers are recognizing the value of  psychoanalysis in enriching our understanding of rational psychic  integration—a central task within the Platonic-Aristotelian ethical  tradition. Here, I join their ranks by proposing that ancient Greek  ethical concepts and Freudian psychoanalytic insights may be jointly  applied to conceptualize the psychiatric illness anorexia nervosa as an ethical disorder, and to suggest a means of treating it as such. Drawing  from the Stoic theory of the emotions, as well as Aristotelian virtue  ethics, I identify the anorexic’s characteristic fear of gaining weight  and pleasure at losing weight as symptoms of an excessively rigid  understanding of virtue and vice—one constitutive of a false conception  of eudaemonia. After describing strengths and weaknesses of  this particular characterization of the disorder, I argue that Freudian  psychodynamic theory enriches this psycho-ethical portrait by  illuminating how unconscious wishes mediate communication between the  rational and non-rational parts of the soul. These psychodynamic  relations yield a disordered understanding of eudaemonia that  is maintained, reinforced, and shielded from self-conscious criticism  through a kind of ‘ersatz reason’, or a logical structure masquerading  as reason.  I conclude by suggesting psychoanalytic talk-therapy  may function as a kind of Socratic dialogue that helps anorexics  perceive and give voice to their true unconscious fears and basic  desires—such as love, success, respect, and self-esteem. In so doing,  psychoanalysis may help anorexics achieve a central task Aristotle  attributes to ethical life: training the non-rational soul to ‘speak  with the same voice’ as the rational soul.

It is well-known that Stoic  ideas about ethical guidance and the therapy of emotion influenced the  formation of modern cognitive therapy. This paper outlines those links  and also explores how far the two practices are parallel in their aims  and methods with special reference to Epictetus’ ‘Discourses’  and ACT therapy. Bearing in mind the broader theme of the conference, on  the intellectual challenge of philosophy (and its significance for  practice), I ask how far the distinctive theoretical commitments of  Stoic ‘therapy’ render it different in its objectives and procedure from  modern cognitive psychotherapy.

Zen kōans serve a didactic function within the institution of Buddhist  schools, with teachers using them to help their pupils reach  enlightenment. In this paper, I suggest that Platonic dialogues function  similarly to Zen kōans in their inducement of aporia. Thus, reading and understanding the role Zen kōans are intended to play within Buddhist schools illuminates the role of aporia in Western philosophy. Using Plato’s Seventh Letter as a guide for  reading Platonic dialogues, I analyze the form of Platonic dialogues  generally and highlight how the commentarial traditions engage  dialectically with the original texts. Second, I compare and contrast  the form and function of Zen kōans and Platonic dialogues, taking the  authority of the master and philosopher and their orientation towards  truth as the driving force in both. I focus on a kōan written,  ostensibly, by Qingyuan Weixin in the 13th century and Plato’s Republic. I then show how, when stripped of content, the engagement with Zen kōans can be understood in terms of the catuskoti. I suggest how this might also be the case for Platonic dialogues.