10th Annual Midwest Conference on Chinese Thought

 Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL

April 25–26, 2014


Friday, April 25th

Lawson Hall, Rm 101

3:00–3:30   Opening Tea and Coffee


3:30–5:30  Cultivating Energies and Emotions in Chinese Traditions

 Paul Fischer, Western Kentucky University, “The Role of Human qi in Confucian Thought Before Mengzi.”

 Robin Wang, Loyola Marymount University, “The Epistemological Meanings of Anger: A Dialogue between Feminism and Early Chinese Texts.”

 Yinghua Lu, Southern Illinois University: “Respect and the Confucian Idea of Li (Ritual Propriety).”

 Brian Hoffert, North Central College, “Wisdom and Compassion: A Solution to the Dilemma of Chinese Buddhist Ethics.”

 Chair: Kevin Taylor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale


6:00    Dinner



Saturday, April 26th

Lawson Hall, Rm 101

9:0010:30  Moral Ideals in Early Confucian Thought

 Joshua Brown, University of Dayton, “Sonship and the Junzi: Filiality as Moral Hermeneutic in Early Confucianism.”

 Jifen Li, Nanyang Technological University and DePaul University, “An Account of Virtuous Human Being in Xunzi’s liyi.”

 Aaron Stalnaker, Indiana University, “Xunzi’s Vision of Rule by the Wise.”

 Chair: Matthew Williams, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale


10:30–10:45  Break


10:45–12:45  Ritual and Ethical Dimensions of Confucianism

 Huaiyu Wang, Georgia College and State University, “The Enchantment of Ritual and the Heart of Confucianism.”

 Michael Ing, Indiana University, “The Harmony Thesis and the Invulnerability of Integrity.”

 Andrew Lambert, Western New England University, “Early Confucian Thought and Care Ethics: An Amicable Split?”

 Chair: Kevin Taylor, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale


12:45–2:30   Lunch, location TBA


2:30–4:00  Perspectives on Dao

 Franklin Perkins, DePaul University, “The Laozi in Context: Debates on Cosmogony and Action in the Late 4th Century BCE.”

 Stephen Walker, University of Chicago, “Three Models of dao in the Zhuangzi.”

 Scott Brackenridge, Alfred University, “The Practical Political Consequences of Evening Things Out in the Zhuangzi.”

 Chair: Jonathan Flowers, Southern Illinois University Carbondale


4:00–4:15  Break


4:15–5:45  Keynote Address and SIU Department of Philosophy Leys Lecture, Kai-wing Chow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 “Ethics and Society: The Revival of Confucianism in Contemporary China.”

6:00   Dinner