Macerata, Italy
16-18th Jun 2023
Deadline: 31st Dec 2022
The 4th Biennal Conference of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy (EACP) will take place in Macerata (Italy) on June 16-18, 2023. The theme of the conference is “Interpretation and reinvention.”
Every philosopher always has a forerunner to interpret. Any new philosophical theory is grounded in an existing theory, which it reinvents or contrasts. Every concept has its own history of contrasting and converging interpretations and reinvention. While this is obvious in the case of Western Philosophy, it is not always the case for China, whose cultural history is often improperly represented as static, converging, and repetitive. We all have in mind Raffaello Sanzio’s fresco The School of Athens that plastically represents the opposing visions of nature in ancient Greece. The painting is dynamic and full of individual traits of the more than twenty philosophers represented. Those figures, freshly painted by Raffaello, are opposing, rejecting, or reinventing their masters’ teachings and common sense. In this conference, we invite the scholars to participate in the process of “painting” the fresco of the thinkers of Chinese philosophy.
Confucius reinvented Zhou culture in a new philosophical and moral shape. Mozi openly dismissed ruist ritualistic doctrines. Mencius and Xunzi diverged in the interpretation of Confucius’s teaching. Hanfeizi made use of Laozi’s political view for creating a renovated legalist perspective. The School of Mystery, Chinese Buddhists Schools, Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism, Contemporary New Confucianism, etc., are all instances of the interpretative and reinventing activity inherent in Chinese philosophy. Chinese culture is certainly the expression of a strong and unique converging
attitude, but we should never neglect the dynamism of synthesis and reinvention. In this conference, speakers are invited to discuss their research and shed new light on the dynamism of the history of Chinese Philosophy from any perspective: metaphysical, ethical, historical, theoretical, linguistic, rhetorical, aesthetic, etc. Original abstracts able to show the converging or diverging links between thinkers or schools in any period of Chinese history are particularly welcome.
Scholars interested in Chinese philosophy and philosophy in China are invited to submit proposals for individual papers or panels to Selusi Ambrogio (University of Macerata), selusi.ambrogio@unimc.it.
Abstracts should be no more than 250 words. Panel proposals should include the title and a brief description of the panel and the names, affiliations, email addresses of the participants, and the titles of each participant’s presentation with 250 words abstracts. The deadline for submission is December 31, 2022. Notice of acceptance of proposals will be sent to your email address by early February, with instructions on how to register and submit the conference registration fee (EACP
members: 60 EUR for scholars and 20 EUR for students; non-members: 80 EUR for scholars and 30 EUR for students).
Keynote speakers of the conference: Jana Rošker (University of Ljubljana) and David Chai (The Chinese University of Hong Kong).
To encourage the participation and inclusion of young researchers, there will be a Young Scholars Award. MA holders and PhD candidates should submit a full paper and indicate whether they wish to compete for the award. Winner(s) of the award will receive a certificate, prize money from the Association and the possibility to publish of the paper(s) in the international academic journal Asian Studies https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/about (peer-reviewed and indexed).
As in Asia, particularly in the People Republic of China, Covid-19 restrictions are likely to still be in place, and we will allow a very limited number of selected speakers to participate digitally. Those unable to physically attend because of travel restrictions or because of a positive Covid-19 test during the days of the conference will be allowed to participate online (in that case, membership of EACP is compulsory).
Further information can be found on the website of the European Association for Chinese Philosophy (EACP) https://www.ea-cp.eu/. The official languages of the conference are English and Chinese.
Download this announcement’s PDF here…