Some of us Arctic anthropologists may not have China on the immediate radar of their interest. However, China has become an increasingly important player in the Arctic, through various projects such as the Arctic Silk Road, their interest in Arctic Council membership, and their Arctic Policy.

Our colleagues from the Nordic Network on Chinese Thought invite everyone to a world class seminar on the roots of Chinese political system – the origins of moral-political philosophy in China, by Professor Tao Jiang, Rutgers University.

He be the key-note speaker in a seminar, also online, on his most recent and celebrated book “Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early China” (Oxford UP, 2021). His paper is also available here

SYNOPSIS:

Professor Tao Jiang will remap the intellectual landscape of classical Chinese philosophy through key categories of humanness, justice and personal freedom. These categories and their early narrative formed the conceptual framework for the still on-going Chinese negotiation between the personal, the familial and the political domain, as well as the partialist humanness and impartialist justice in Chinese societies. Professor Emeritus Torbjörn Lodén will provide commentary notes on Jiang’s presentation. 

Here is the full programme of the seminar:

Date: 14^th of October, 2022

Time: 1400-1600 (HELSINKI TIME (GMT +3h ), 

Place: University of Lapland, Lecture hall 2 (LS2)

Zoom-link: https://eoppimispalvelut.zoom.us/s/64656074979

ID link to Zoom: 646 5607 4979

Passcode: 312295

Moderator: Professor Matti Nojonen

Program:

14.00-14.40 

“The Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early China – Contestation of Humaneness, Justice and Personal Freedom”

Tao Jiang

Professor of Classical Chinese and Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophies at Rutgers University

14.40-15.00

Commentary notes and Q&A

Torbjörn Lodén

Head of the Stockholm China Center at ISDP, emeritus professor of Chinese language and culture at Stockholm University Professor Emeritus, China Studies Stockholm University

15.00-15.20

“The evolution of concept ren (humanness) in Confucian philosophy”

Jyrki Kallio

Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Docent in International Relations and Chinese Studies at the University of Lapland

15.20-15.40

“Distanciation, Appropriation and Recontextualization: Applying Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics to Intercultural Philosophy”

Geir Sigurðsson

Professor of Chinese studies and philosophy, University of Iceland

15.40-16.00

“Summary remarks and few words on the role of concepts in Chinese traditional thought” and Q&A

Matti Nojonen

Professor of Chinese society and culture, University of Lapland