Warp Weft Way

Many of us value autonomy in decision-making: we want to make our own choices and think for ourselves. But we also know that in many areas of life, it is well advised to have greater faith in people who know more than we do, in experts such as doctors, scientists, plumbers, chess coaches, teachers, and maybe even philosophers.

In this episode of This Is the Way, we explore moral autonomy and moral deference in Confucian philosophy, focusing on Xunzi’s powerful defense of trusting tradition, ritual, and moral experts. We also explore some powerful objections to Xunzi by later Confucians who worried that too much deference to external sources might make real moral understanding -- and thus real moral virtue -- impossible.

Key passages

Passage 1: Analogy to learning crafts
天下之人，唯各特意哉，然而有所共予也。言味者予易牙，言音者予師曠，言治者予三王。三王既以定法度，制禮樂而傳之，有不用而改自作，何以異於變易牙之和，更師曠之律？無三王之法，天下不待亡，國不待死。

With regard to all people in the world, it is indeed the case that they each have their own particular ideas.

Episode 34 of “This Is the Way”: Deference and Autonomy in Confucian Ethics – Warp, Weft, and Way Episode 34 of “This Is the Way”: Deference and Autonomy in Confucian Ethics May 19, 2026 Many of us value autonomy in decision-making: we want to make our own choices and think for ourselves. But we also know that in many areas of life, it is well advised to have greater faith in people who know...

The 2-week Visiting Programs organized by the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at the Department of Philosophy of The Chinese University of Hong Kong are now open for application.

Overview:
In order to promote exchanges with scholars from around the world, the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture has established several exchange programs to provide financial assistance for visiting scholars to conduct research and participate in academic activities organized by the Centre.
Eligibility:
Scholars, postdoctoral fellows and PhD students from the field of Chinese Philosophy are welcome to apply.
Application Procedures:
Please complete the attached application form and send it together with your CV to [email protected]. For postdoctoral fellows and PhD students, please also invite two referees to submit reference letters to us by email directly.

Application Open: 2-Week Visiting Programs at CUHK The 2-week Visiting Programs organized by the Research Centre for Chinese Philosophy and Culture at the Department of Philosophy of The Chinese University of Ho

Issue 14:2 of Asian Studies has been published; the theme is "Thematic Focus: Latin American Perspectives on Asian Humanities." See here.

ToC: New issue of Asian Studies

Sungmoon Kim's A Confucian Theory of Power has been published by Manchester University Press (https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182661/). The book contains a lead essay by Kim, responses from several theorists, and Kim's replies.

Part I Lead essay
1 A Confucian theory of power Sungmoon Kim

Part II Responses
2 Is Confucian active citizenship too demanding? Stephen C. Angle
3 "Power" as a conceptual tool: From a Confucian relational perspective Sor-hoon Tan
4 Power, responsibility, and structural injustice Sharon R. Krause
5 Confucius and America's comic book heroes: Great power as great responsibility Rogers M. Smith
6 Responsibility and meritocracy Zhuoyao Li
7 Meritocracy, democracy, and power David B. Wong

Part III Reply
8 Reply to commentators Sungmoon Kim

New Book: Kim, A Confucian Theory of Power Sungmoon Kim's A Confucian Theory of Power has been published by Manchester University Press (https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182661/). The book

The newest issue of Asian Philosophy has come out through Taylor and Francis Online. We invite you to check out the articles through this link. Please also find the table of contents below.How reductive is Buddhist reductionism in the Nikāya Suttas?
Soo Lam Wong

World of the stone from Heidegger’s three-fold thesis to Iwakura (磐座) in Japanese culture
Engin Enzaki

In search for Mingjia thought – name, reference and referent in the Yinwenzi
Paweł Zygadło

Intuitions in epistemic thought experiments east and west: What went wrong?
Manhal Hamdo

From emotion regulation to the cultivation of existential feelings: A Zhuangzi-inspired perspective on flourishing as an affective being
Qiannan Li

Li Zehou and modern new Confucianism: two distinct views on history and modernization of China
Jana S. Rošker

ToC: Asian Philosophy 36:2 The newest issue of Asian Philosophy has come out through Taylor and Francis Online. We invite you to check out the articles through this link. Please also fin

Jiani Fan (范佳妮) has published a new book: 山水风景之间——中西诗画中的风景再现与美学 / Between Shanshui and Landscape: Toward a Comparative Aesthetics of Chinese and Western Poetry and Visual Arts (Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company (生活·读书·新知三联书店), April 2026).
The book focuses on Ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese, and modern French poetry and visual arts, and engages with aesthetic concepts such as Stimmung (mood/attunement), the Sublime, Ruins, and Emptiness (Vide), as well as their Chinese counterparts. A comparative journey across traditions and media.

New Book: Fan, Between Shanshui and Landscape Jiani Fan (范佳妮) has published a new book: 山水风景之间——中西诗画中的风景再现与美学 / Between Shanshui and Landscape: Toward a Compa

We are pleased to announce that the 2026 meeting of theNortheast Conference on Chinese Thought (NECCT)will be held October 30–31, 2026, at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. This annual conference brings together scholars and graduate students working on Chinese thought across disciplines and methodologies, and welcomes both historically focused and comparative work engaging Chinese perspectives.

Our keynote speaker will be Mercedes Valmisa, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gettysburg College. Trained at Princeton University and National Taiwan University, her work moves across philosophy of action, metaphysics, and social philosophy to ask a deceptively simple question: what does it mean to act?

Drawing on Chinese philosophy and other cross-cultural resources, she develops an account of agency that is relational, collective, and distributed rather than centered on a self-contained individual.

CFP: 2026 NECCT at Bentley University We are pleased to announce that the 2026 meeting of theNortheast Conference on Chinese Thought (NECCT)will be held October 30–31, 2026, at Bentley University

Philip J. Ivanhoe and Hwa Yeong Wang's collection of translations of Korean Confucian thinkers Readings in Korean Confucian Philosophy (Hackett, 2026) has been published recently. Description
Intended as a resource for those interested in studying the development and core characteristics of Korean Confucian philosophy, this volume provides accurate and
philosophically astute translations from the writings of eight important and influential Korean Confucian thinkers of the premodern period. The general Introduction offers brief sketches of each thinker, his place within the tradition, and his most important contributions. Selections are complete and annotated to enhance accessibility. Each selection is introduced by an overview of the work. A substantial Bibliography includes both primary sources consulted and suggested further readings in English.

New Book: Ivanhoe and Wang, Readings in Korean Confucian Philosophy Philip J. Ivanhoe and Hwa Yeong Wang's collection of translations of Korean Confucian thinkers Readings in Korean Confucian Philosophy (Hackett, 2026) has been

A review by Daniel Bell of Brian Bruya and Wenwen Li, trans., Dialogues of Confucius: The Complete Text (Princeton, 2026) has been published in the Times Literary Supplement. An excerpt:
..A magnificent new translation by Brian Bruya and Wenwen Li introduces this treasure of intellectual history to the anglophone world. We now know much more about Confucius the person, and about the context for some of the puzzling quotes in the Analects. Best of all, we learn new arguments that push the boundaries of the rich and complex Confucian tradition in new directions....

Bell Reviews Bruya and Li, trans., Dialogues of Confucius A review by Daniel Bell of Brian Bruya and Wenwen Li, trans., Dialogues of Confucius: The Complete Text (Princeton, 2026) has been published in the Times Lite

What's the best way to fight corruption: harsh laws and fear of punishment, or rituals and moral transformation? In this episode we discuss a deep disagreement that takes its inspiration from the political philosophies of the Confucian philosopher Xunzi and the Legalist philosopher Han Feizi. We are also happily joined by Professor Daniel Bell of the University of Hong Kong, one of the world's leading experts in Chinese political thought. Bell reimagines the views of Xunzi and Han Feizi in his book Why Ancient Chinese Political Thought Matters: Four Dialogues on Chinese Past, Present, and Future. There he stages he stages the debate as a dialogue between a modern-day Professor Xun and his student Han Fei, set against the backdrop of the recent anti-corruption campaign in the People's Republic of China.

Episode 33 of “This Is the Way”: Carrots, Sticks, and Rituals What's the best way to fight corruption: harsh laws and fear of punishment, or rituals and moral transformation? In this episode we discuss a deep disagreement

Notre Dame is hosting an in-person "Workshop on Emotions and Morality in Eastern Philosophy" that will also be available on zoom. See here for more details and for free registration.

Hybrid Workshop: Workshop on Emotions and Morality in Eastern Philosophy Notre Dame is hosting an in-person "Workshop on Emotions and Morality in Eastern Philosophy" that will also be available on zoom. See here for more details and