Visiting lecture/Human nature and animal nature in the East and the West

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Visiting Lecture

Human Nature and Animal Nature in the East and the West

Professor Weon-Ki Yoo, Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea
(PhD, Philosophy, Bristol 1999 and PhD, Korean Philosophy, Seoul 2003)

Tuesday 22 November 2011, at 11:15 -13:00 lecture room AG102 (Humanities building)
Thursday 24 November 2011, at 9:15 -12:00 lecture room AG209 (Humanities building)

This lecture is to reconsider the status of human beings in the natural world. Many philosophers in the East and the West have had a pertinent interest in defining or revealing human nature in order to understand why human beings have lived in such and such a way and to prepare for the future. However, it seems almost impossible to find any single definition that will satisfy all of them. For this reason, we shall compare the views presented by Mencius (and some other Neo-Confucians) in the East and, also, by Aristotle in the West and examine whether we can discover some new way of viewing human beings.

The ultimate aim of human beings is to be a sage, according to Mencius (and some other Neo-Confucians) in the East, or to be a happy man, according to Aristotle in the West. In this lecture, we shall closely examine their views on human nature in comparison with animal nature and, also, with the environment. This is not to present another sort of anthropocentric perspective, but to suggest a new way of viewing ourselves in relation to the environment.

1. To be a sage in the East (approximately 2 hours)
2. To be a happy man in the West (approximately 2 hours)
3. Comparing the sage's view and the happy man's view (approximately 1 hour)