Latest Posts
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao
It's been a month since my last post, a fairly large interval for me. My disappearance from the blogosphere and twitterdom should not be taken as a sign of lethargy. Rather, I have been distracted by other work. First,… Continue reading
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The Olympics and Selective Westernization
I think it is safe to say that the Olympics, as a concept and "movement," emerged in the modern era as a European project to universalize certain values of competition and character-building. A Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, revived a… Continue reading
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Mao Zedong and the PRC’s Olympic Gold Anxiety
First of all, let me send out congratulations to all the Chinese athletes at the London Olympics. There have been many outstanding accomplishments, gold and non-gold, for a truly great team. And much has been made about the gold rush. … Continue reading
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Gu Kailai Proffers a Confucian Defense
The scandalous story of Gu Kailai, wife of disgraced Chongqing boss Bo Xilai, is back in the news, with the formal announcement of charges being filed against her for intentional murder a British man. I don't want to get swept… Continue reading
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Confucianism is not an obstacle to democracy
It is often suggested that the most appropriate political expression of modern Confucian thought, itself a vast and varied universe of ideas, is some sort of authoritarianism. Recently, Eric X. Li invoked Confucius when arguing that “democracy is not the… Continue reading
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The Chinese Political System is not a Meritocracy
Daniel A. Bell has a piece today in the CSM, arguing that the PRC political system is, basically, a meritocracy that holds lessons that might correct the flaws of US democracy. Bell is a philosopher and he tends to operate… Continue reading
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The Mandate of Heaven and Communist Party Leadership Transitions
The Beijing flood has gotten me to thinking about the Mandate of Heaven (as my last post suggests). To repeat: natural disasters have historically been taken as signs of the loss of imperial regime legitimacy in China. And Bill Bishop… Continue reading
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The Politics of Rain in Beijing
The first thing to do in response to the horrendous flooding in and around Beijing over the weekend is to express condolences to the families of the 37 (at least) people who died. It must be truly devastating to lose… Continue reading
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Education is a Dialogue
Just want to give a quick shout out to Mark Edmunson for his op-ed in yesterday's NYT: "The Trouble with Online Education." With all the recent foofaraw recently about on-line courses and MOOCs, various people at various places (most notably… Continue reading
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A First Look at Chinese Philosophy
A book review in Asia Times caught my eye. It considers what appears to be a new edition (2011?) of Arthur Waley's classic text: Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. Professor Dmitry Shlapentokh, a historian from the Indiana University-South… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 