會議緣起與宗旨
環顧當代學術發展，儘管近代臺灣哲學發展思潮為當代東亞理論中最具影響力和最重要的一環，但仍不為世界哲學研究領域視為特色。實際上，臺灣哲學研究之發展對東亞和當代世界有兩項極為重要成就：首先，它們保存了中國傳統文化，特別是對儒家思想的貢獻；其次，其特定創新哲學方法和體系發展深刻影響了整個東亞地區的理論話語。
現代臺灣的哲學思潮研究主要集中在20世紀下半葉，當時中國大陸的哲學理論主要著眼於馬克思主義思想的中國化。因此，臺灣哲學成為數十年來中國傳統思想的發展、現代化和升級的唯一動力，也融合、體現了西方思想的特徵。因此，臺灣的哲學思潮很快在傳統上深受古典儒家思想影響的東亞社會擴散，例如日本和韓國思想界。
本次會議由斯洛維尼亞盧比亞納大學東亞研究圖書館（East Asia Resource Library），以及臺灣漢學研究中心共同籌辦。預計將匯集歐洲和東亞的重要學者共同討論臺灣哲學家的思想。本研討會旨在向更廣泛的國際學術界介紹、討論和交流有臺灣哲學研究者的研究成果以及思想和方法論。此外，也將在會中解釋臺灣哲學研究中特定的政治，社會和意識形態背景。會議研討主題將針對以下方向進行研討：
會議子題
- 臺灣學者在維護中國知識分子傳統（特別是儒家，道教和佛教）中的作用與貢獻。
- 臺灣對中國哲學的解釋。
- 介紹20世紀下半葉與最近的臺灣哲學及其學者研究成果。
- 臺灣知識分子在當代哲學和文化話語中形成脈絡之識別地位。
- 臺灣哲學思維中常見文化條件線索的分析和解釋──具體臺灣文化因素與臺灣哲學家所採用的理論和思想方法的關係。
- 儒學傳統的保存與政治，社會和知識背景。
- 歷史與政治：20世紀下半葉的兩岸關係。
時間
2019年10月17日至18日
地點
斯洛維尼亞盧比亞納大學University of Ljubljana 行政大樓主樓
主辦單位
國家圖書館漢學研究中心（中華民國）
盧比亞納大學東亞研究圖書館（斯洛維尼亞）
聯絡人
摘要繳交盧比亞納大學東亞資源圖書館(斯洛維尼亞)
羅亞娜教授 請點此連結
臺灣聯絡單位，漢學研究中心 (中華民國)
黃文德組長 wende@ncl.edu.tw 電話 +886 2 23619132 分機 314
會議專屬網址：
報名網址：
LIST OF PANELS AND ABSTRACTS
Thursday, October 17, 11:00 – 12:00
Keynote speech
Huang, Kuan-Min:
Dissemination and reterritorialization: Mou Zong-san, Tang Jun-yi, and Refreshment of Contemporary Confucian Philosophy
散種與再疆域化──唐君毅、牟宗三與當代新儒家哲學的資源更新
當代中國哲學家唐君毅係新儒學的代表人物之一，在經過一九四九年的流亡經驗後，定居於香港，他所提的「花果飄零」頗似於離散（diaspora）的經驗，但同樣的隱喻策略也導出「靈根自植」的積極價值肯定。從觀念論哲學與儒家價值體系的角度來看，「靈根自植」帶有倫理要求。但若從思想資源的散種過程來看，夾在流亡與殖民地之間的生活處境卻逼顯出一種新的思想可能性。若擺脫文化抵抗的姿態，而從思想資源的重分配與再開發來說，文化保守主義的立場弔詭地產生文化疆界的重新劃定。「靈根自植」具有再疆域化的概念潛力。同樣地，有類似經驗的牟宗三也有其哲學實驗的空間，透過重新解讀康德，尋求與儒家思想的會通，藉由「智的直覺、「良知自我坎陷」這類哲學術語重新塑造中國哲學論述的可能性。兩位哲學家的作法提供了一種跨越疆界的可能，除了歷史距離之外，我們或許可以思考概念疆界的跨越，探索思想資源如何更新。
Tang Junyi, a contemporary Chinese philosopher, is one of the chief representatives of Neo-Confucianism. After living in exile in 1949, he settled in Hong Kong. His concept of "the wandering of flowers and fruits" (花果飄零) is similar to the experience of dispersion (diaspora), but the same metaphorical strategy also derives its positive value from another Chinese philosophical concept, namely the notion of "self-transplantation of the spiritual roots" (靈根自植). From the perspective of conceptual philosophy and the Confucian value system, “self-transplantation of the spiritual roots” is grounded on certain ethical requirements. However, from the perspective of the process of scattering philosophical resources, the life situation in the colonial exile has enabled him to launch a new philosophical possibility.
If we get rid of the attitude of cultural resistance, and from the redistribution and redevelopment of philosophical resources, the position of cultural conservatism can reconcile the re-delimitations of cultural boundaries. Hence, the notion of "self-transplantation of the spiritual roots" has the conceptual potential of reterritorialization.
Similarly, Mou Zongsan, who had comparable experiences, has also succeeded to establish new spaces for his philosophical innovations. Through reinterpreting Kant, he sought to communicate with Confucianism and to reshape Chinese philosophy through the philosophical terms such as "intellectual intuition” (智的直覺) and the “self-negation of the moral self” (良知自我坎陷).
The practices of these two philosophers provide new possibilities of surpassing borders. In addition to the historical distance, we may hence become able to think about the leap of conceptual boundaries and to explore how the philosophical resources can be revived, and adapted to the requirements of the contemporary world.
Thursday, October 17, 13:30 – 15:00
Panel 1: The Great Master of Taiwanese philosophy: Mou Zongsan
1. Ady Van den Stock:
Life and Learning, or Learning how to Live? Remarks on Mou Zongsan’s Autobiography at Fifty
While contemporary academic philosophers are usually (perhaps unjustly) not suspected of leading the most interesting of lives, the properly philosophical refusal to draw a sharp delineation between living and thinking, as expressed for instance in Socrates’ famous rejection of an “unexamined life”, arguably remains of considerable intellectual as well as “therapeutic” interest to this day. In any case, it seems safe to say that philosophy, frequently blamed for its supposed “uselessness”, has the potential to make life more interesting, even if it almost never provides ready-made normative solutions and often even proves unable to offer anything in the way of emotional guidance or reassurance. In this paper, I will explore the problem concerning the relation between philosophy and human existence by delving into Mou Zongsan’s (1909-1995) Autobiography at Fifty (Wushi zishu 五十自述) from 1957, fifty being the age when Confucius claimed to finally “know the mandate of heaven” (知天命). While sometimes identified as the most “philosophical” of all New Confucian thinkers, Mou’s highly abstruse and complex reinvention of Confucianism, one mediated by Kant’s transcendentalism, was grounded in what he took to be the traditional Confucian affirmation of a veritable “learning of life” (shengming de xuewen 生命的學問), in which human existence is not extrinsic to, but rather appears as both the beginning and end-point of philosophical reflection. In this respect, it is worthwhile considering how Mou deals with the relation between “learning” and “life” in his own autobiography. How does Mou portray his own (intellectual) development? Which turning-points does he identify in his own life, and how are these “immanent” experiences related to his transcendental and metaphysical concerns? Does Mou approach philosophy as something conductive to leading a fuller and more meaningful existence, or does his predominantly tragic outlook reflect a definitive rupture between “learning” and “life” under modern conditions? These are some of the questions I will try to engage with in my paper.
2. Jana S. Rošker:
A Philosophical Relation between Taiwan and Japan: Models of dialectical thought in Mou Zongsan’s and Nishida Kitaro’s theories
Against the background of a general reflection on the central methodological problems faced by all researchers in comparative transcultural philosophy, this presentation will first address some problems linked to the incommensurability of different culturally conditioned philosophical frameworks. On this basis, I will briefly outline the specificities of the general traditional Chinese referential framework that has significantly influenced most East Asian philosophies. In this context, I will – inter alia - focus on the specific view of concepts of opposition and contradiction, pointing to the fundamental differences between the central models of traditional East Asian dialectics on the one hand and the Hegelian schema on the other.
These differences will then be concretely treated through the optics of the concept of nonbeing or absence (wu, mu 無) and the self-negation of the moral self, based on philosophical essays by two theoreticians who are among the most important and influential East Asian philosophers of the 20th century. These are the founder of the Japanese Kyoto school Nishida Kitaro (1870-1945) on the one hand, and the main representative of the 2nd generation of Taiwanese Modern Confucianism, Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) on the other.
3. Tak Lap Yeung:
Mou Zongsan’s appropriation of “transcendence” and “immanence” and his contribution to the world philosophy
“Transcendence” and “immanence” are not original concepts in Asian philosophical traditions. Nevertheless, many contemporary Asian philosophers adopted this conceptual pair as one of the most important terminological appropriations from the West for the sake of reinterpreting their own philosophy thoughts. In this paper, we take one of the founders of New Confucianism, Mou Zongsan 牟宗三 (1909-1995), who spent his entire late academic life in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as an example to illustrate how the contemporary Asian philosopher adapted and adopted the alien philosophical concepts.
At first, by the comparative philosophers’ observation, we gain a general picture regarding the inner references about “transcendence” and “immanence” in the transcultural philosophical context. We will see the philosophical and theological assumptions towards the relationship among human, world and God in the West. Then we will examine the modification of this conceptual pair by Kant, Husserl and Heidegger. We will see the change of the meanings of this conceptual pair, form an antagonistic relation to a cooperative relation. Afterwards, Mou’s reception and modification of this conceptual pair will be discussed according to his understanding of Western and Chinese philosophy. We will see how Mou illustrates the special character of Chinese philosophy by his modification of these terms in the context of his dispute with Kant’s and Heidegger’s understanding of transcendence and human finite.
By the above reconstruction, I believe, we can not only see the significance of a transcultural discourse that reveals the basic differences rooted in different cosmos-metaphysical traditions but also, through an understanding of the modification of terms, participate in a dynamic debate regarding the pros and cons of different philosophical systems.
Thursday, October 17, 16:30 – 18:30
Panel 2: Studies of Daoist Philosophy
1. Fabian Heubel:
Transcultural Potential. Reflections on Transcultural Zhuangzi-Studies in Taiwan
Taiwan is a region of East Asia in which the complex effects of hybrid modernization have been experienced in particularly direct and painful ways. But this situation also gave rise to perspectives in the study of philosophy, which differ significantly from the Chinese mainland. Why did transcultural philosophy find good conditions for development in contemporary Taiwan?
My paper will address this question by situating the recent development of "transcultural Zhuangzi-Studies" within a larger cultural and political constellation.
2. Lai Shi-san:
Zhuangzi’s Deconstruction of Chinese-centered Civilization and Its Contemporary Significance——From the Unity to the Difference——
“The Deconstruction of the Center” is a core idea of Zhuangzi, one of the most important thinkers in the Daoist tradition of the Chinese Civilization. In this idea, a dominant civilization (e.g., Chinese culture in the past or Western culture in the present time) more often than not is a violent process of power expansion while establishing its center of order. Despite the fact that this process is usually decorated by the principles of morality or the lights of truth, Zhuangzi uncovers its delicate disguises. A four-face statue of the Yellow Emperor has been a mythological symbol of the construction of a Chinese unity throughout the history, and ancient Emperors Yao and Shun have been adorable metaphors for the politics of “transferring ruling-power to capable candidates”, but Zhuangzi criticizes them as being violent and hypocritical respectively. Zhuangzi suggests that we be aware of violence hidden in the unity of Culture and Politics and appreciate diversity beneath difference and respect the otherness of the marginal. We can know something about the present by learning something from the past. Past and present can be mutually referenced. Zhuagnzi’s critical thinking as depicted above perhaps sheds some revelatory light on our contemporary regional politics between big and small countries, such as the complex relationship between China and Taiwan, Chinese culture and Taiwanese culture.
3. Wu Hui-Ling:
Research in Daoist Thinking Patterns: Wang Pi’s “Te Yi Wang Yen”
Wang Bi (226-249) was one of the most important philosophers in Neo-Daoism. The “Neo-Daoism” means the philosophy in the Wei-Chin period (220-420), that is based on Wing-Tsit Chen’s translation in his book, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Wang Bi cited Chuang Tzu to illustrate the thinking pattern of “De Yi Wang Yen” (得意忘言). Wang Bi proposed “De Yi Wang Yen” which mean when you grasped the meaning of text classics, the words and language were therefore no more necessary. According to his theory, Wang Bi explained his viewpoint while he wrote commentaries on both Book of Changes and Lao Tzu. Contemporary scholar Chen Guying (1935- ) has an important contribution to the study of Daoism; he believes that Wang Bi’s “De Yi Wang Yen” could explain the influence of Daoism (Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu) on Neo-Daoism, and then this study also could emphasize the importance of Daoism in Chinese philosophy. The presentation introduces and analyses Chen’s study “The interpretation method of ‘Te Yi Wang Yen’ and the application of genealogy” (從「得意忘言」的詮釋方法到譜系學方法的應用), which can reveal a modern application of the thinking patterns in Daoist philosophy.
4.Steven Marsh:
Humor as a part of Life Philosophy: Professor Yeh Hai-Yen’s Interpretation of the Zhuangzi
Professor Yeh Hai-Yen (葉海煙) has recently retired from decades of teaching Chinese philosophy to many students in Taiwan. I was fortunate enough to benefit from his instruction and am thankful for all that I have learned. In my humble estimation, he has helped shape both the contemporary and future of Chinese philosophy research in Taiwan, especially when it comes to Confucianist and Daoist Ethics.
However, early on, Professor Yeh wrote about Zhuang Zi’s Life Philosophy, highlighting and interpreting the many aspects of Zhuang Zi’s philosophy as well as their relevance in today’s world. In his thesis The Life Philosophy of Zhuang Zi, Professor Yeh delineates an overview of life’s meaning and purpose according to the ancient thinker. One aspect that Professor Yeh stresses is that the philosophy of Zhuang Zi starts from the limited but strives for the unlimited.
Keeping this notion in mind, this paper would like to look at the aspect of humor in the Zhuang Zi and how it is used and developed as a way of life toward the unlimited. I would then like to extend on Professor Yeh’s work and take a look at how Zhuang Zi’s use of humor could be tied in with the modern incongruity theory of humor as well as highlight its specific philosophical implications.
Friday, October 18, 9:00 – 10:30
Panel 3: Taiwanese philosophy from broader East Asian Perspectives
1.Kang Byoung Yoong:
Studies of Taiwanese Philosophy in South Korea – a critical overview
This study examines how Taiwanese philosophy has been received and researched in South Korea since its commence to the present day. Amongst the three essential thoughts in contemporary Taiwan including Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, it focuses on Confucianism by surveying the academic papers on Taiwanese philosophy published in South Korea from the end of the twentieth century to present (1994-2018). After giving a thematic overview of the papers, the study explores the tendencies and particularities that have prevailed the South Korean scholars' take on Taiwanese philosophy. Sixty-one related papers are summarised and reviewed, and each of them is classified by the publication date, language, keywords and so on. The survey also selects and addresses eleven philosophers who were highly influential in the formation of modern Taiwanese philosophy. It is necessary to revisit their works to clarify the trend in Taiwanese philosophy studies in South Korea, if not the hole therein. The study aims to show the originality and scarcity of East Asian philosophy as a research subject, not only in the amount but also the quality compared to Western philosophy. There are two reasons why Taiwanese philosophy needs more scholarly conversation in South Korea. First, the subject can fill the gaps in the history of philosophy studies in South Korea, which has been dominantly inclined to the Western philosophy; it is time that one turned the attention to East Asian philosophy, specifically Taiwanese philosophy. Also, it can provide a new perspective to the existing studies on Taiwanese philosophy. By looking at Taiwanese and Chinese philosophy from an angle such as South Korea, one can offer another interpretation of Asian philosophy. The study, then, serves a cornerstone that can boost discussion, hence a balanced development in South Korean philosophy studies as well as East Asian philosophy.
2. Marko Ogrizek:
Huang Chun-Chieh and Comparative Philosophy: Multiple Ways of Studying Confucian Ethics Across Texts and Contexts
Confucianism cannot be posited as merely a philosophical tradition, but it can nevertheless be said to possess key elements of philosophy of ethics, which have time and again been able to intercend both the tradition's historical as well as its' cultural bounds. While Huang Chun-chieh points out that it is more appropriate to speak of Confucianisms, plural, basic Confucian values and notions possess the ability to move from context to context while retaining certain characteristics and changing others. The proper approach to the study of Confucianisms should therefore be interdisciplinary, but philosophy should also have a part to play. Understood within the bounds of the project of Confucian ethics (a project that can be seen as dynamic and ongoing), the question becomes whether the study of a broader and more diverse range of expressions of Confucian thought – praticularly through the methods of comparative philosophy as an open philosophical dialogue – could help throw new light on important aspects of Confucian ethical thought as such. It is argued that a philosophical study of Confucian thought should also take part across diverse texts and contexts. Taking as an example the teachings of certain Japanese Confucian scholars and contrasting them with newer non-Chinese interpretations (as for example the »role ethics« interpretation ) of Confucian notions, the following presentation tries to show that using methods of comparative philosophy, especially aided by a broader interdisciplinary approach, can be an important way of studying Confucian ethics across texts and contexts.
Friday, October 18, 11.30 – 13:00
Panel 4: Confucianism in Modern Taiwan
1. Téa Sernelj:
Xu Fuguan's Basic Contributions to Taiwanese Philosophy
The presentation deals with the philosophic theory and epistemological methodology of the Modern Confucian Xu Fuguan徐復觀 (1903 – 1982), a significant Taiwanese philosopher of the 20th century whose theoretical contributions are in the center of academic interests in China and Taiwan, however almost completely unexplored in the West. Xu Fuguan was a Chinese intellectual and historian who made important contributions to Modern Confucian studies. He belonged to the second generation of Modern Confucianism, the stream of thought that has mainly been developed during the 20th century in Taiwan and Hong Kong. It is distinguished by a comprehensive attempt to revitalize traditional (particularly Confucian and Neo-Confucian) thought by means of new influences borrowed or derived from Western philosophical systems. It is defined by a search for synthesis between Western and Chinese traditional thought, aiming to elaborate a system of ideas and values, suitable to resolve social and political problems of the modern, globalized world. The presentation will introduce Xu’s central contributions to Taiwanese philosophy of the 20th century, and will focus on his critique of the avant-garde movement that prevailed in Taiwan in the second half of the 20th century.
2. Yeh Hai-Yen:
The Contemporary New Confucianism of Liu Hsu-Hsian
Liu Hsu-Hsian（1934-2016）is a representative figure of Contemporary New Confucianism whose numerous academic and philosophical contributions are worthy of our reflection, as they provide an open-minded and diversified look at modern Chinese thought.
In his early years, Dr. Liu focused in cultural philosophy, integrating the strict philosophical thought process of western philosophy with the humanistic and aesthetic emphasis of oriental cultures. He extended that to find a thread in traditional Confucianism that would tie in with a contemporary image of a “good Confucian,” through the reconstruction of Zhu Zi and Huang Zong-Xi’s theory of “mind.”
He followed this up by taking part in the Global Ethics dialogue in which he contributed a deeper understanding of Confucian ethics with a worldwide audience. Dr. Liu’s Contemporary New Confucianism proceeds from theory to practice, from the individual to the collective, and from the self to the other in developing a broad, systematic, and integrated basis for comparative philosophy.
3. Nicolas N. Testerman:
Political Theology and Political Metaphysics in Sinophone Philosophy: Chen Lifu’s Invention of the Modern Sovereign
Chen Lifu (陳立夫) became Chiang Kai-shek’s loyal philosopher, ideological propagandist and bureaucrat focused on modernizing the party's administration following the violent purge of leftists from the KMT in 1927. As chief architect of the KMT’s political metaphysics and ethical praxis since Sun Yat-sen, Chen’s philosophical contributions to political modernity and theories of sovereignty are substantial, yet he is seldom seen as a philosopher and rarely recognized as a Taiwanese philosopher. There is reason for this oversight as Chen retreated from political life for more than fifteen years in 1950 by exiling himself to New Jersey farmland in the United States. He did not relocate to Taiwan, this time as a settler colonist, until 1966 to assist Chiang in implementing the “Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement”. Moreover, even though Chen lived in Taiwan until his death in 2001, his role as philosophical ideologue became largely administrative allowing him to focus on cultural, educational and scientific initiatives. This has tended to overshadow Chen’s earlier role as miner of China’s cultural essence which he used to develop a political metaphysical system justifying Chiang’s position as sovereign and the KMT’s fusing of the Confucian conceptual tradition to modern fascism. A contemporary of well-known New Confucian philosophers, Chen is also excluded from this group despite articulating the onto-political myth of cultural essence New Confucian philosophers repeatedly echo in Taiwan such as Mou Zongsan, Fang Dongmei and Wu Kang. By engaging with the emerging field of Sinophone Studies and Taiwanese literary modernism this paper argues for recognizing Chen Lifu as: 1) a New Confucian Philosopher; 2) a Sinophone philosopher; and 3) a vitalist philosopher responsible for constructing a political metaphysics justifying autocratic rule, hierarchy and violence akin to Carl Schmitt, a member of the Nazi party, who contributed greatly to our understanding of the modern state, sovereignty and political theology. Addressing this dark preservation of the Confucian tradition, as well as the re-invention of its autocratic and oppressive tendencies within a modern conception of party politics and governance must be deconstructed before the violent contradictions of modern sovereignty in Taiwanese philosophy can be overcome.
Friday, October 18, 14:30 – 16:30
Two parallel round tables
ROUND TABLE A
Discourses on politics of Taiwan and politics about Taiwan
Chair and Discussant of the panel: Professor Zlatko Šabič, University of Ljubljana, and Director-General, East Asia Resource Library (EARL)
1. Nina Pejič:
Discourse surrounding the cross-strait relations and the rise of the People’s Republic of China in international relations
The economic and political rise of People’s Republic of China (PRC) in international relations has triggered a new wave of academic discussions on the implications of such rise both in its relations with the neighbours, as well as in its relations with other main actors in the international community. The rise of PRC is a source of fascination as well as uncertainties for the academic community: how to understand its new role in the international system? What to expect in terms of changes in the international governance? As PRC becomes a more active member of the international system, the prevailing answers to these questions will shape public opinion to PRC’s increased involvement in international relations. What are therefore the lead perceptions on the rise of PRC among the academic community and what frameworks do the scientists use to determine the implications of its ascending power?
2. Saša Istenič Kotar:
China-Taiwan Cross-Strait Relations: Protecting the Status Quo
The interaction between the governments of the Republic of China (Taiwan, ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (China, PRC) has since 1949 undergone significant changes and a number of possible future developments can either hasten or stall the resolution of Taiwan’s future status. The variables engaged in cross-Strait interaction come from a highly complex network of actors from both internal and external environment which make the current status quo in the Taiwan Strait extremely vulnerable. China’s rise has already altered the balance of power at the Taiwan Strait and between China and the United States. Accordingly, it is going to be increasingly difficult for the Taiwanese government to maintain the current state of affairs in cross-Strait relations. As China’s economic, military and diplomatic leverage over Taiwan will only grow stronger, many observers believe, that Beijing will only more likely be tempted to accelerate the progress toward national unification even by military means. How can Taiwan protect its current status quo as a de facto independent country and prevent such scenario to happen?
3. Cha, Jung-Mi:
Taiwan’s unique Securitization Discourse on Cyber Space
Cyber security has been a rising issues for the global security. However, the term of cyber security seems to be still vague and the consensus on the seriousness of cyber threat does not seem enough. Copenhagen School has dealt with cyber security as an example of an attempted securitization-Pentagon securitizing the catastrophic impact of hacking on critical infrastructure- that is ruled our on the grounds that it has “no cascading effects on other security issues.” Buzan called the securitization of cyber space ‘politicalization.’ This means that securitization process has political.2) In these context, cyber security discourse can be political and be reflection of the perception of the leaders. It means each country has different concepts and discourses on the cyber security. Taiwan has somewhat different perception and attitude toward cyber threat because of their unique political and international status because of the China’s “One China Policy.” With growing diplomatic isolations, Taiwan has getting more threat perception on the growing cyber attacks, loosing political autonomy. This study will investigate Taiwan’s cyber security discourse which are much more focusing on the self-reliance, self-defense, the technological development and governmental readiness. This study will be focused on the analysis on the cyber security doctrine which Taiwanese government has published. Taiwan government officially passed the ‘Developing a National Information and Communication Infrastructure Security Mechanism Plan 2001-2004’ in 2001, since then Taiwan government has published ‘National Cyber Security Strategy’ every five year. This study will analyze the security discourse based on these cyber security plans and will include the Taiwanese government public announcement and literature reviews on the scholars articles in Taiwan. In conclusion, these unique cyber security discourses of Taiwan can be suggested as a good case as the securitization of cyber threat.
ROUND TABLE 2
Discourses on politics of Taiwan and politics about Taiwan
Chair and Discussant of the panel: Professor Mitja Saje, Emeritus, University of Ljubljana
1. Jana S. Rošker:
A precarious Relation or the long and windy road of Taiwanese philosophy in Balkan
The main goal of the CCKF research project dealing with Taiwanese philosophy, which has been currently implemented at the Department of Asian Studies at the Ljubljana University, is to systematically introduce it to the European (and especially South-East European) academic public. It aims to spread the most important achievements of modern and contemporary Taiwanese philosophers, along with their contributions in the field of contemporary philosophical theory to the academic public in the Balkan area. There are two main reasons for the immense importance of Taiwanese philosophy for East Asia and the contemporary academic world: 1. First, they can be found in its contributions to the preservation of traditional Chinese thought during the latter half of the 20th century. 2. Secondly, its development of specific innovative philosophical approaches and systems have been since this period profoundly influencing the theoretical discourses in the entire East Asian region. Since the Western academic world is to a large extent unaware of both above-mentioned facts, the aim of our project is to raise awareness about the importance of these contributions in Europe, especially in the regions of Balkan. These regions have been hitherto namely completely ignorant about the vivid and important role Taiwanese scholars were playing in the East Asian academic world at the threshold of the third millennia. Therefore, this presentation introduces several methods by which the cultural, academic, and educational exchange between the two areas can be achieved, strengthen and developed.
2. Nevad Kahteran:
Tu Wei-ming's Concrete Confucian Humanity and Lee Ming-huei's Intellectualized Confucianism in the project on Islamic-Confucian-Daoist dialogue in the Balkans
Tu Weiming's revitalization of the Confucian discourse is an indication that a new vision of Chineseness from pluralistic, tolerant, and dialogical perspectives is emerging on the horizons with full recognition of the value of openess, cultural diversity and self-reflexitivity. The author is indebted to professor Tu in this regard for his kind help during writing his own research from that academic year on A Platform for Islamic-Confucian-Daoist Dialogue in the Balkans hoping that paving the ways on religious-cultural communication will broaden the philosophical horizons. Hence, it is significant that a project on Islamic-Confucian-Daoist dialogue in the Balkans could find a place in this conference. Finally, the importance of Islamic works in the language of Neo-Confucian, i. e. Han Kitab and Tu's contribution to the work on Liu Zhi, which attracted me aditionally to him, is a deep interpenetration of the Confucian and Islamic traditions, without any kind of syncretism.
The cultivation of a new spirit of philosophy that cuts across the classical borders and opens its understanding of „universality“ to multitude of cultural and intellectual histories is subject of recently published „Nove granice kineske filozofije“ (New Frontiers of Chinese Philosophy). This publication contains knowledge, that is very much needed in Bosnia Herzegovina; it can enhance young scholars working in the Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian language in the Balkans. This connection was already established by bringing to Bosnia another distinguished scholar, namely Lee Ming-huei from Academia Sinica in Taipei. He delivered a series of public lectures in this country.
3. Ivana Buljan:
Sinology and Taiwanese studies in Croatia
This speech will be organized around three topics, related to sinology in Croatia.
Firstly, I will introduce my own PhD research on one of the main texts of Chinese Confucianism, Chunqiu fanlu. Chunqiu fanlu is ascribed to a pivotal Han scholar Dong Zhongshu. However, recent research shows that Chunqiu fanlu is a composite work with many different layers. In this study, I have also included several secondary sources from modern Taiwanese interpreters and theoreticians.
Secondly, I will outline the history, the current state of affairs and future perspectives of the study of Sinology at the University Zagreb.
Thirdly, I will include brief reports on lectures of a prominent Taiwanese scholars delivered at the University of Zagreb. 2014 Professor Lee Ming-huei from Taiwan delivered a lecture on Contemporary New Confucianism and 2019. Saša Istenič Kotar who has established the Taiwanese study center at the Ljubljana University, has also brought to the Zagreb University several renewed experts in this field of research.
Friday, October 18, 17:00 – 18:30
Panel 5: Religion, ethics and culture
1. Bart Dessein:
The heritage of Taixu: Taiwan, philosophy, and beyond
Early twentieth-century Buddhism in China was dominated by two main developments. Confronted with the intrusion of ‘Western’ modernity, one group of monks attempted to purify Buddhism through a fundamentalist reform, focusing on a select number of texts. Diametrically opposed to this movement, was the movement led by Taixu (1890–1947) (original name Lü Peilin) who embraced modernity. Taixu advocated a superstition-free Buddhism (in this criticizing the Buddhist ritual practices as they had become prominent since the Ming Dynasty), that would turn the here-and-now into a ‘pure land’. In the so-called ‘Buddhist academies’ (Foxue yuan) he established, a curriculum that emphasized the study of Yogâcâra and Madhyamaka texts – texts that were especially appreciated by European academics at that time – was offered.
The thisworldly orientation of Taixu’s reform movement explains the concept ‘renjian fojiao’ (humanistic Buddhism) that is association with him. After the Communist Party had taken over power in mainland China, a younger generation of Buddhists developed this ‘renjian fojiao’ on Taiwan: Hsing Yun (Foguang Shan), Sheng Yen (Fagu Shan), Wei Chueh (Chungtai Shan), and Cheng Yen (Tzu Chi movement). This progressive social engagement of Taiwanese Buddhism stands in surprising contrast to the political conservatism of these same monks. In a context in which, against the background of political developments in the mainland, Taiwan was perceived as the ‘repository of Chinese traditions,’ the conservative climate under KMT rule was appreciated by them as a guarantee for the safeguarding of the Buddhist faith.
In this paper, I will address the issue of Taixu’s heritage, focusing on the ‘national’ value of his Republican thinking for the contemporary period, as well as on how his philosophy has encroached on the field of Buddhist studies in Taiwan.
2. Lin Ming-chao:
The Contemporary Studies on the Ethics of the Zhuangzi in Taiwan
The current study of the Zhuangzi in Taiwan academic circles has begun to care about the ethical issues. If ethics is a study of the normative issues about interpersonal relationships, interaction and behavior, what then is the reflection on the issue in the Zhuangzi? Is there a meaningful discussion of ethical issues in this text? What is the difference in the ethical thinking of Zhuangzi on the one, and Confucianism on the other side? Can we find the specific guidelines on ethical behavior in the Zhuangzi? What is the image of the ideal community in the Zhuangzi? These are some important points of discussion in the current academic circles in Taiwan about the ethical implications in the Zhuangzi. This article will introduce and comment on the important themes of Taiwanese scholars' research on Zhuangzi's ethics, point out its significance and value, and reflect on the possible development in the future.
3. Tho N. Nguyen:
Molding the Modern East Asian Dragon: An Anthropocosmic View in New Confucianism
The dragon symbol is a special imaginary figure created by the people of East Asia. Its archetypes appeared primarily as totemic symbols of different tribes and groups in the region. The formation of early dynasties probably generated the molding of the dragon symbol. The symbols of dragons carried deep imprints of nature, obviously it originated in ecological and social foundation. It concealed alternative messages of how ancient people at different locations dealt with or interacted with nature. Under the pressure of standardization during the medieval and late imperial periods, the popular dragon had to transform physically and ideologically. It became imposed, unified, and framed, conveying ideas of caste classification and power and losing its ecological implications. The dragon almost jumped from the semi-ecological domain into a totally social caste system.
In contemporary times, science and technology have advanced human’s ability to improve the world; however, it seems that people have abused science and technology to control nature, consequently damaging the environment (pollution, global warming, etc.). The dragon symbol needs to be re-defined, “re-molded”, re-evaluated and reinterpreted accordingly, especially under the newly-emerging lens - the Neo-Confucian “anthropocosmic” view by a group of Taiwanese Confucian scholars, from Liang Shuming and Mou Zongsan to Tu Weiming and other scholars. The research finds out that, the Chinese-born concept of Tianrenheyi and Confucian human-nature interrelation interpreted in the anthropocosmic vision not only promote the revitalization of long-standing progressive Confucian philosophy in modern life but also effectively pay significant contribution in responding to the contemporarily ecological crises and building a healthy human-nature relationship. In such a roadmap, classical symbols and icons (like the dragon) can function well as the important catalysts if they are being reshaped and reinterpreted accordingly.
