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Philosophy by Frank Saunders Jr

~ 商柏正

Philosophy by Frank Saunders Jr

Author Archives: dr_sk_birdnerd

New Forum for Postgrads Studying Comparative and Chinese Philosophy

16 Friday Dec 2016

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in Uncategorized

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I’ve created an online discussion forum for postgraduate students studying comparative and Chinese philosophy. Check it out!

Blogging at Duke’s Center for Comparative Philosophy Blog

19 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in online discussion

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About the relationship between virtue and governance. There are some great posts at Duke’s CCP blog, so I will also add a link to it in the “Links” page.

More Updates

18 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in housekeeping

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I have added a Translations page in the Projects page and as a menu item under “Projects” above. I have also moved the previous content of the Projects page to a new Research page.

Making this addition is a bit of an experiment: good, published translations of the texts I’ll be working throughout my career with are in a bit of limbo right now: they’re becoming more common, but still having free, online versions is a good thing. I will both 1) add new translations as I finish them, and 2) update existing translations if I come to disagree with a previous translation of mine at some point, or find a typo. The page will grow as I add more content, and I hope it will become a useful resource.

As always, if you use my translations in your own work, please cite.

Finally, I’ve trashed the “For Students” page and moved those links to the “Links” page. Perhaps the “For Students” page will return at a later date.

Updates

12 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in housekeeping

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I just figured I’d announce a few updates to the site. I have:

  • altered the “Projects” page.
  • deleted my Academia.edu site.
  • added my CV to the “About” page.
  • added some photos to “Random”.

New Book Review Forthcoming

20 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in research news

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I have uploaded an author’s preprint of my review of Alexus Mcleod’s book, Theories of Truth in Ancient China: A Comparative Approach, forthcoming in Philosophy East and West.

The paper can also be found here.

MPhil Thesis Abstract

19 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in research news

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“Moral Standards, Spontaneity, and Beauty in Early Chinese
Philosophy”

This thesis is about three concepts in Warring States Chinese philosophy—fǎ 法,
xìng 性, and měi 美—that give rise to the three themes that make up the title of
this thesis: moral standards, moral spontaneity, and moral beauty.

In the first chapter, I defend my choice to focus exclusively on the Chinese concepts. Primarily, I argue that it is often a mistake to ascribe Western philosophical theories and concepts to early Chinese thinkers when we are in the business of interpreting ancient Chinese texts. To do so is to both ascribe too many Western habits of thought to ancient Chinese philosophers, and to give a false sense of similarity between Chinese and Western concepts. To this end, I offer three studies that showcase the importance of understanding the nature and role of Chinese concepts in Chinese philosophical thought.

In the second chapter, I discuss the concept of fǎ as the central concept of Mohist moral reasoning. By that I mean that the vast majority of Mohist normative reasoning is ultimately constituted by either direct or indirect appeals to fǎ. This overall interpretation has consequences for a number of contemporary discussions in Mohist scholarship, and I mention some of these consequences at the end of the chapter.

In the third chapter, I discuss the concept of xìng and the role it plays in Xunzi’s moral philosophy. After offering a charitable interpretation of Xunzi’s moral philosophy, I subject it to the criticism of the primitivists, a rival philosophical group. Overall I attempt to show that although the primitivists point to real weaknesses in the conceptual foundation of Xunzi’s program of moral education, his proposal is ultimately more practical than theirs given basic social and political realities.

In the fourth chapter, I discuss the concept of měi in Xunzi’s philosophy. I argue
in the first place that as a moral virtue, we might understand měi as a restricted
and particular notion of “moral beauty” in so far as it denotes both an aesthetic
evaluation and a moral evaluation. I argue in the second place that měi when
predicated of institutions, however, retains little of this connection with either
aesthetics or morality, and is instead more an assessment of the “orderliness” of
social customs.

In the fifth chapter, I suggest some of the work that might be done with these
concepts as I understand them. The concept of fǎ, for example, might serve as an
alternative to thinking of morality exclusively in terms of either laws or virtues.
The concept of xìng as a kind of natural spontaneity I think serves as an alternative to conceptions of human nature as what is innate. Finally, the concept of měi when generously reconstructed I think illustrates a virtue worthy of further philosophical examination and use.

Yesterday’s post, revised, on WW&W.

28 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in online discussion

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I’ve revised my post from yesterday and posted it on Warp Weft and Way. It can be found here.

Welcome

20 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by dr_sk_birdnerd in housekeeping

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Hi and welcome to my website! This is my first post.

Newer posts →

Welcome

You’ve reached the website of Frank Saunders Jr. I’m an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Yonsei University UIC. Here I’ll regularly update my projects, courses, publications, and occasionally photos. I’ll also provide links to philosophy and Chinese philosophy related materials as I encounter them.

Note: Any material that is quoted here should be properly cited according to academic standards. Respect the intellectual property of posters and commentators.

元 陸廣 丹臺春曉圖 軸

Recent Posts

  • On Truth and Chinese Philosophy
  • An overdue update
  • Re-vamping my Photography Website
  • Primitivism in the Zhuangzi
  • Review of Ma and Van Brakel’s Newest Book

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