Zhao Tingyang ( zh, s=趙汀陽, p=Zhào Tīngyáng; born 1961 in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

) is a

political philosopher Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

credited with modernising the ancient Chinese concept of

Tianxia ''Tianxia'' (), literally meaning "(all) under Heaven", is a Chinese term for a historical Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with polit ...

Biography

Zhao Tingyang graduated from

Renmin University of China The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

and

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

, and is now a professor in the Institute of Philosophy at the

and is a

senior fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Peking University Berggruen Research Institute. He was also a Pusey Distinguished Fellow at the

Harvard–Yenching Institute The Harvard–Yenching Institute is an independent foundation dedicated to advancing higher education in Asia in the humanities and social sciences, with special attention to the study of Asian culture. It traditionally had close ties to Harvard ...

in 2013. His works are mainly on

metaphilosophy Metaphilosophy, sometimes called the philosophy of philosophy, is "the investigation of the nature of philosophy". Its subject matter includes the aims of philosophy, the boundaries of philosophy, and its methods. Thus, while philosophy character ...

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

and

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

. In 2005, he published ''The

System: An Introduction to the Philosophy of a World Institution''. His book ''Investigations of the Bad World: Political Philosophy as First Philosophy'' was published in 2009. According to Zhao's reconstruction of the ''tianxia'' system, ''tianxia'' presupposed "inclusion of all" and implied acceptance of the world's diversities, emphasizing harmonious reciprocal dependence and ruled by virtue as a means for lasting peace.

Bibliography

Books

*''On Possible Life'', 1994, 2004 *''One or All Problem'', 1998 *''The World without a World-view'', 2003 *''The Tianxia System: An Introduction to the Philosophy of a World Institution'' (Chinese Edition: 2005). ISBN 9787300142654; ''All under Heaven: The Tianxia System for a Possible World Order.'' Berkeley: University of California Press. English Edition (2021). ISBN 9780520325029 *''Investigations of the Bad World: Political Philosophy as First Philosophy'', 2009 *''First Philosophy: From Cogito to Facio'', 2012 *''Contemporary Chinese Political Thought: Debates and Perspectives''

Selected academic articles

*Zhao Tingyang. 2012. ‘The Ontology of Coexistence: From Cogito to Facio’. ''Diogenes'' 57:4, (228): 27-36 *Zhao Tingyang and Yan Xin. 2008. The Self and the Other: An Unanswered Question in Confucian Theory. ''Frontiers of Philosophy in China'' 3, (2): 163-176 *Zhao Tingyang. 2009. Ontology of Coexistence. ''Diogenes'' 228, (4): 35-49 *Zhao Tingyang. 2009. A Political World Philosophy in terms of All-under-Heaven (tian-xia). ''Diogenes'' 56, (1): 5–18, 140 *Zhao Tingyang. 2006. Rethinking Empire from a Chinese Concept 'All-under-Heaven' (tian-xia). ''Social identities'' 12, (1): 29-41 *Zhao Tingyang. 2007. ‘“Credit Human Rights”: A Non-western Theory of Universal Human Rights’. ''Social sciences in China'' XXVIII, (1): 14-26 *Zhao Tingyang. 2005. On the Best Possible Golden Rule. ''Social sciences in China'' XXVI, (4): 12-22

References

External links