Learning from Chinese Philosophy with Prof. Bryan Van Norden | Oxford China Forum 2020 - Events No.1

Thoughts from Event Host Yifei Chen: I think the 90 participants in attendance from different time zones and academic disciplines could all have agreed on one thing, that it was difficult not to be impressed by Prof. Van Norden’s passion and depth of knowledge. One can almost see a resemblance between the charismatic professor labouring to put Chinese philosophy on the map in western academic philosophy and Confucius going around the Warring States (the universities?), trying to convince them to follow his ideas. Flowing effortlessly from Kant’s racist views to insightful interpretations of Zhuangzi’s sceptical arguments, he gave a thorough and brilliant defence of the idea that Chinese philosophy is nuanced, insightful and relevant to problems discussed in modern Western academic philosophy. It was an honour to host such a wonderful guest for our first event of the term, and I’m sure Prof. Van Norden will be back with OCF in the future, if only to answer all those leftover questions from October’s enthusiastic audience. Video Editor: Zixi Cai