The Topos of Mu and the Predicative Self: The Kyoto School and Western Eco-philosophy J Baird Callicott Time: March 7, 2018 1pm – 2:15pm Location: Gross Hall 230E (Duke…
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Kenan Sponsored Center for Comparative Philosophy Talk Series
The Possibility of Religious Pluralism
Prof. Rajeev Bhargava (CSDS, Delhi)
Time: 9:00-11:00am Tuesday October 31st
Location: West Duke Building 204
Abstract: In this talk, Professor Rajeev Bhargava examines the theological, social and political conditions for the existence of religious pluralism.
Leave a CommentOur scholar David Wong participated in two workshops on the theme, “THE ENDS OF HUMAN LIFE IN ANCIENT INDIAN AND CHINESE TRADITIONS,” sponsored by the Parekh Institute of Indian Thought, Center for the Study of Developing Societies,, Delhi, India & the Berggruen Institute, LA, USA. There were two workshops, a smaller one that lasted three weeks composed of three scholars working in Chinese Philosophy, Roger Ames, Chenyang Li, and Wong, and scholars on Indian thought: Patrick Olivelle, Donald Davis, and Jens Schlieter, together with Rajeev Bhargava, Shall Mayaram, and Ananya Vajpeyi from the Center for the Study of Developing Societies.
Invited Workshop Series
Zhu Xi on the Motivation for Moral Action
Time: 12pm – 14pm 31st Aug (Lunch Provided)
Location: West Duke 08C
Speaker: Dr. Kai-chiu Ng (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Abstract:
Zhu Xi (1130–1200) said, “The mind/heart is a thing of action, and naturally has both good and evil [in its actions]. For example, compassion is good; seeing a child falling into a well without compassion is evil. To depart from good is [to perform] evil. While the original state of the mind/heart is not yet not good, we nevertheless cannot say evil is entirely unrelated to the mind/heart. If not the mind/heart, what undertakes it?”
Leave a Comment“Character and the Morally Exceptional: Empirical Discoveries and Moral Improvement”
June 18-28, 2018
Wake Forest University
Seminar Leader: Dr. Christian B. Miller
Becoming a virtuous person is one of the central goals of the ethical life. But how good of a job are most people doing in becoming virtuous? And are there any strategies for cultivating the virtues and becoming morally exceptional which can help us to do better? This seminar will examine these two questions in detail. In the first half, we will see whether character traits even exist in light of various results in psychology. If they do exist, how good do they tend to be? Here we will look at the situationist literature in philosophy, drawing on the work of Gilbert Harman and John Doris. We will also consider the cognitive-affective personality system approach in thinking about character traits (Nancy Snow, Daniel Russell), as well as the whole trait approach (William Fleeson) and my mixed trait approach.
Leave a CommentProfessor Owen Flanagan, the co-director of the Center for Comparative Philosophy (CCP), is to be honored by his former students and colleagues with a conference,…
David Wong is the Susan Fox Beischer and George D. Beischer Professor of Philosophy at Duke University.
the pluralist
Interview by Richard Marshall.
Click here for the whole interview!
‘I think that all moralities adequately serving the function of fostering social cooperation must contain a norm of reciprocity—a norm of returning good for good received. Such a norm is a necessity, I argue, because it helps relieve the strains on motivation of contributing to social cooperation when it comes into conflict with self-interest. I also identify a constraint I called “justifiability to the governed,” which implies that justifications for subordinating people’s interests must not rely on falsehoods such as the natural inferiority of racial or ethnic groups or the natural incapacities of women.‘
Leave a CommentThe Center for Comparative Philosophy Invited Workshop Series
Democratic Equality or Confucian Hierarchy?

Time: May 19th (Friday) 12:00-14:00*
Location: West Duke 204
Commentator: Dr. Alex Oprea
* Lunch is provided!
Abstract:
1 CommentKenan Institute Sponsored Cross-Cultural Workshop
‘Soft’ and ‘Hard’ Power in Islamic Political Thought
Dr. Vasileios Syros
Time: April 27th (Thursday) 12:00-14:00 *
Location: West Duke 08C
* Lunch is provided!
Dr. Vasileios Syros is currently a Maurice Amado Fellow at the Katz Center for Advanced
Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and a Senior Research Fellow at the Academy
of Finland.
Abstract:
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