The Intellectual Construction of Confucianism in Contemporary China and Taiwan. Since the 1980s China and Taiwan have witnessed the most sustained resurgence of intellectual interest in Confucianism of the twentieth century. This project will provide the first critical analysis of that revival by addressing the complex interaction of institutional, philosophical and ideological factors, rather than study one or the other in isolation. This will enable us to understand the processes by which Chi ....The Intellectual Construction of Confucianism in Contemporary China and Taiwan. Since the 1980s China and Taiwan have witnessed the most sustained resurgence of intellectual interest in Confucianism of the twentieth century. This project will provide the first critical analysis of that revival by addressing the complex interaction of institutional, philosophical and ideological factors, rather than study one or the other in isolation. This will enable us to understand the processes by which Chinese intellectuals have sought to make Confucianism a viable philosophical and cultural resource in the modern world; and to evaluate how successful they have been in achieving these goals.
Results: One monograph; one edited volume; several essays.
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Taste and community: the cultural origins of personal experience. This project explores how artistic value and meaning are attributed to artworks and how cultural artefacts and imaginative constructs may be seen to motivate ethical or socially oriented behaviour. It investigates this theme through an innovative new medium, involving a website and imagery, through which the expertise of philosophers and artists can be brought to bear on a social problem. Its outcomes will include new understandi ....Taste and community: the cultural origins of personal experience. This project explores how artistic value and meaning are attributed to artworks and how cultural artefacts and imaginative constructs may be seen to motivate ethical or socially oriented behaviour. It investigates this theme through an innovative new medium, involving a website and imagery, through which the expertise of philosophers and artists can be brought to bear on a social problem. Its outcomes will include new understanding of the process of perceiving meaning and value as a response to cultural artefacts.Read moreRead less
M.C.Escher and his Contemporaries: the Genesis of the Impossible. The project aims to produce a conceptual history of the twentieth-century impossible pictures movement which developed around M.C.Escher, to classify kinds of impossible pictures, and particularly to establish priorities over who discovered what. This requires geometrical construction, and rigorous logical and mathematical analysis. The project will employ the novel techniques available within the theory of inconsistency. The sign ....M.C.Escher and his Contemporaries: the Genesis of the Impossible. The project aims to produce a conceptual history of the twentieth-century impossible pictures movement which developed around M.C.Escher, to classify kinds of impossible pictures, and particularly to establish priorities over who discovered what. This requires geometrical construction, and rigorous logical and mathematical analysis. The project will employ the novel techniques available within the theory of inconsistency. The significance of this work is that it demonstrates the rich conceptual resources available within inconsistent content. Expected outcomes are a book aimed at the general reader, technical articles in logic and mathematics journals, and a expanded understanding of our human ability to grasp inconsistent visual contents. Read moreRead less
Reason and value in normative ethics. This project examines key questions about the foundations of ethical thought. It shows how, by reconceiving those foundations, we can reconcile the insights from different traditions of ethical thinking and cast new light on ongoing issues of ethical controversy.
The emotional construction of self representation. This project develops and defends the novel idea that self representation is an artefact of emotional processing. The account will involve case studies of psychiatric disorder characterised by developmental or acquired problems of self representation such as depersonalisation disorder and personality disorders.
The truth about false memory. This project is aimed at determining whether reports of long-forgotten episodes of sexual abuse arising during psychotherapy should be regarded as memories or not. This issue hinges on a number of conceptual questions about memory. The project will illuminate the debate on recovered memories of sexual abuse by addressing those questions.
Psychotherapy in dealing with grief in Antiquity - strategies for contemporary society. Death and aging pose a major cultural as well as economic problem for contemporary society. They are problematic in how we deal with them and a financial strain on society. By viewing grief as a universal human issue this project explores what contribution the ancient tradition can make to modern strategies. Ancient philosophical writings offer well-considered reflections on how to work through grief, while m ....Psychotherapy in dealing with grief in Antiquity - strategies for contemporary society. Death and aging pose a major cultural as well as economic problem for contemporary society. They are problematic in how we deal with them and a financial strain on society. By viewing grief as a universal human issue this project explores what contribution the ancient tradition can make to modern strategies. Ancient philosophical writings offer well-considered reflections on how to work through grief, while many literary expressions provide a further opportunity for empathy and recognition. Thus the project will investigate whether the classical arguments and various experience-based accounts offer both a rational and empathic source of consolation.Read moreRead less