Contemporary Chinese New Scholastic philosopher Professor Vincent Shen (1949-2018) made outstanding contributions to the integration of Scholastic philosophy and Chinese philosophy throughout his life. To commemorate the sixth anniversary of Professor Vincent Shen’s death, the Department will specially host the “Being, Thinking and Meaningfulness of Life - International Conference in Memory of Professor Vincent Shen on the Sixth Anniversary of His Death” at Fu Jen University’s Guoxi Building from June 6 to June 8, 2024. On the one hand, it continues Vincent Shen’s efforts to localize or indigenize Catholic Scholastic philosophy and further seeks to solve the dilemma of Chinese modernity. On the other hand, in the post-metaphysical, post-secular, and post-globalization era, it actively explores new directions for the theoretical research of Chinese New Scholastic philosophy, actively resolves interpretive conflicts in cross-cultural philosophy and religious dialogue, and in the AI era, between the self and the diverse other, about ultimate reality, being and death, natural ecology and environmental ethics, the translatability of art and aesthetics, Chinese and Western medical philosophy, care ethics, care philosophy or philosophical counseling and other philosophical practices.

            The co-organizers of this international conference include: Fu Jen University Catholic Academic Research Institute, Fu Jen University Department of Religion, National Chengchi University Department of Philosophy, National Central University Institute of Philosophy, École des hautes études en sciences sociales /Centre de recherches sur les arts et le langage; Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Catholic University in America; Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto.

          We publicly invite researchers serving in academic research units and scholars in teaching units to submit the latest research results in various fields on the following conference sub-themes. The sub-themes of this conference are as follows:

      (1) Vincent Shen’s thought and philosophy

      (2) Chinese Philosophy and Scholastic Philosophy

      (3) Intercultural Dialogues in Philosophy and in Religion

      (4) Ultimate Reality, Generosity and Strangification

      (5) Being, and Death and Life Education

      (6) Nature, Ecology and Environmental Ethics

      (7) Self and Multiple Others in the Age of AI

      (8) Visuality, Translatability and Universalizability in Art and Aesthetics

      (9) The Public Sphere in the Post-Globalization (including wars and pandemic)

      (10) Philosophy of Medicine, East and West (including care ethics, philosophical counseling, philosophy of care, etc.)