Special Topics In Chinese Philosophy Ii

AY2017/2018 Semester 2

Chinese philosophy is often known as the aggregation of many schools of thought and traditions, in contrast with the Western philosophy which is usually categorized by various philosophy questions. This course aims to inspire a critical reflection on this claim and develop students' ability in discovering the hidden philosophical questions in Chinese classical texts with the help of the phenomenological method. This course will be divided into two parts. The first part of the course introduces the basic characteristics of phenomenological method. Student will be able to apply the phenomenological method to raise philosophical questions. The second part of the course will examine how Chinese philosophy and phenomenology interact upon the following philosophical issues: (1) life and being,(2) ethics and community, and (3) truth and reality. In each lesson, we will include one text from the both traditions and highlight their similarity and difference in the approach to the questions. Students will have to give reflection notes on these topics. Among all, they have to choose one topic and write a research proposal as the final assignment to demonstrate their understanding of the topic.