Event: Public Reason and the Harmonious Society: The Future of Political Theory in Cross-Cultural Perspectives

[Editor's Note: One generally find oneself yawning at academic conferences, but this one has provocative potential.]

DATE: October 25 – 28

TIME: see below

PLACE:Third Floor, Main Building, Tsinghua University)

COST: FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Sponsors: Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Guangdong Province Philosophy & Social Sciences Association

Thursday, October 25

Arrival and Check-In (Tsinghua Ziguang International Exchange Center, �TZIEC�):
12:00 pm � 17:30 pm

6:00 pm-8:00 pm
Opening Dinner (TZIZC Dinning Hall)

Friday, October 26

7:30 am � 8:45 am
Breakfast (TZIEC Dinning Hall)

8:45 am
Meeting point for conference participants (TZIEC)

9:00 am – 10:15 am
Chair: Wan Junren (Tsinghua University)
Keynote Lecture by Michael Walzer (Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton): The Design of Democratic Discussions; Commentator: Cui Zhiyuan (Tsinghua University)

10:15 am � 10:30 am
Tea/Coffee break

10:30 am � 1:00 pm
Panel: Economic Growth, Rights, and Social Justice in China
Chair: Li Qiang (Peking University)
Thomas Pogge (Columbia): Growth Is Good! � But What Growth?

Li Weisen (Fudan University): The Deepening of the Marketization Process and China�s Future Road to a Rechtsstatt
Yao Dazhi (Jilin University): Social Justice

1:00 pm � 3:00 pm

Lunch (TZIEC) (extra time for our international guests to take a short nap to help recover from jetlag)

3:00 pm � 4:40 pm
Panel: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Political Philosophy
Chair: Stephen Macedo (Princeton University)

Bashir Bashir (Jerusalem University) and Avner de-Shalit (Jerusalem University): Teaching Political Philosophy in a Conflict Zone: The Case of Palestine/Israel

Tatsuo Inoue (Tokyo University): The Ambivalence of Globalization: A Cross-Cultural Challenge to Political Theory

4:40 pm � 5:00 pm
Tea/Coffee Break

5:00 pm � 5:50 pm (continued)
Sebastiano Maffetone (LUISS University): Human Rights and Cross-Cultural Perspectives

6:00 pm � 7: 00 pm
Free time

7:00 pm � 9:00 pm
Dinner (TZIEC)

Saturday, October 27

7:30 am � 8:45 am
Breakfast (TZIEC)

8:45 am
Meeting point for conference participants (TZIEC)

9:00 am � 10:40 am
Panel: Democracy and Pluralism
Chair: Daniel Bell (Tsinghua University)
Philip Pettit (Princeton University): From Republic to Democracy

Gu Su (Nanjing University): Overlapping Consensus and Public Reason in a Plural Democratic Society

10:40 am � 11:10 am
Tea/Coffee Break and Picture Taking

11:10 am � 12:30 pm
Panel: Chinese Debates on International Justice and Global Ethics
Chair: Sebastiano Maffetone (LUISS University)
Lu Feng (Tsinghua University): Is International Justice Possible?

Wei Zhengxiang (Tsinghua University): The Rise of China: Geopolitical Strategy and a Framework for a Roundtable Mode of Global Ethics

12:30 pm � 2:00 pm
Lunch (TZIEC)

2:00 pm � 4:30 pm
Panel: Public Reason and John Rawls
Chair: Avner de-Shalit (Jerusalem University)

Stephen Macedo (Princeton University): What Is Public Reason and Why Is it Controversial? Two Claims and Three Objections
Liu Xin (Sichuan University): The Implication of Rawls�s Approach to Public Reason
Gong Qun (China Renmin University): The Public of Reason and Public Reason

4:30 pm � 5:00 pm
Tea/Coffee Break

5:00 pm � 6:40 pm
Panel: Respect and Rationality
Chair: Thomas Pogge (Columbia University)
Ian Carter (University of Rome): Respect and the Basis of Equality
Po Chung CHOW (Chinese University of Hong Kong): Rationality, Teleology, and Congruence

7:00 pm � 9:00 pm
Dinner (TZIEC)

Sunday, October 28

7:30 am � 8:45 am
Breakfast (TZIEC)

8:45 am
Meeting point for conference participants (TZIEC)

9:00 am � 10:40 am
Panel: Confucian Perspectives on Politics, Democracy, and Justice
Chair: Neera Chandhoke (University of New Dehli)

Jiang Yi-Huah (National University of Taiwan): The Political in the Confucian Tradition: An Analysis of the Four Books

Stephen Angle (Wesleyan University): The Necessity of Participation: Toward a Modern Confucian Politics

10:40 am � 11:00 am
Tea/Coffee Break

11 am � 11: 50 am (continued)
Joseph Chan (University of Hong Kong): Is There a Confucian Theory of Distributive Justice?

11:50 am � 1:30 pm
Lunch (TZIEC)

1:30 pm � 3:30 pm
Panel: Ethics, Morality, Feminism and Ritual in Politics
Chair: Philip Pettit (Princeton University)
Wan Junren (Tsinghua University): Why Politics Needs Ethics

Xiao Wei (Tsinghua University): The Three Goods of Women�s Struggle for Citizenship Qualification: From Gender Equality and Gender Difference to Fair Gender Distinction
Daniel Bell (Tsinghua University): Hierarchical Rituals for Egalitarian Societies

2:30 pm � 3:00 pm
Tea/Coffee Break

3:00 pm � 5:30 pm
Panel: Justice, Just War, and Human Rights
Chair: Tatsuo Inoue (Tokyo University)
Neera Chandhoke (University of New Dehli): The Quest for Justice: The Ghandhian Perspective
Lian Cheng (Peking University): On the Making of a Moral Distinction in the Conduct of War
Luigi Caranti (LUISS University): Kant�s Theory of Human Rights

6:00 pm � 8:00 pm
Banquet and closing ceremony (Quanjude Peking Roasted Duck Restaurant)

Monday, October 29

Breakfast and check-out (8:00-12:00 pm)