Webinar: Empathy and Chinese Perspectives

Webinar: Empathy and Chinese Perspectives

International conference: Monday April 22, 2019, 6am-10.30am EST 

Co-sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame 

Please join us by Zoom video webinar worldwide linked below:
https://notredame.zoom.us/j/951292005

Keynote speakers:
Yong Huang [6.00am- 6.45am] Professor of Philosophy at the Chinese U. of Hong kong, China
• Talk titled “Empathy with Devils”

Yanyan Zhao [6.50am- 7.35am] Research Assistant at the Philosophy Department, Fujian Academy of Social Sciences, China
• Talk titled “The Relation between Empathy and Moral Principles: A Comparative Perspective”

Roni Leung [7.40am- 8.25am] Professor of Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
• Talk titled “The Empathy-Induced Motivation to Help: Insights from the Neo-Confucian Cheng Hao”

Darcia Narvaez [8.30am- 9.15am] Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, US
• Talk titled “Sustainable Societies and Cultivation of Empathy”

Michael Slote [9.20am- 10.30am] UST Professor of Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Miami, US
• Talk titled “The Yin/yang Basis of Empathy and Benevolence” 

The teleconference is organized by the following questions:

• Does empathy as a concept have any important place in the history of Chinese thought?

• How can a Western notion of empathy be useful to present-day Chinese ethical thinkers?

• How can a Western sentimentalism and care ethics, with their emphasis on empathy, critically compare on the whole with classical and more recent Chinese ethics?

• How can a Western notion of empathy do explanatory work that cannot, or perhaps can, be done with different ideas from the Chinese tradition? For example, there is the question of how our notion of empathy can clarify or be clarified by Chinese notions like yin/yang and Dao (the Way).

• What can we learn from viewing empathy as a form of receptivity to others, following the Chinese tradition of Confucius, Mencius, and others who emphasized such receptivity to an extent that Plato and Aristotle did not? Speaking more broadly, one can importantly ask about the relative places of this broader receptivity in Western and Chinese philosophy (whereas Westerners don't place the same emphasis on receptivity). 

• How do indigenous-first nation views align with Chinese?

• How do psychological research and observation contribute to the discussion of empathy? 
Questions can be directed to Program Chair, Christopher Caulfield: [email protected]
Public free live viewing will be available by video teleconference using Zoom, and video audience will be invited to ask questions during discussion. For video link updates and further details visit www.phipod.com 

Local viewing RPI Student Union, Patroon Room 2424 Troy NY 12180, April 22, 2019, 6AM- 10.30AM