Yujin Kim, Seokmin Yoon (South Korea)
Yujin Kim (South Korea) - PhD, Research professor, Department of Philosophy Kangwon National University, clinical director (The Korean Society of Philosophical Practice)
Undoing Fixation: Xunzi and Philosophical Counseling (Presentation)
Professor Xu, the deputy head of the mental
health education and counseling center at Peking University said that 40.4
percent of first-year students at the prestigious university feel life is
meaningless, and 30.4 percent hate studying. He referred to the phenomenon as
"Empty Heart Disease," or "kongxin bing" in Chinese, and described the symptoms
of "Empty Heart Disease" as: feelings of depression, loneliness, and
indifference; a sense of not knowing what life is for, despite outstanding
achievements; maintaining good relationships but feeling that they are based on
social obligation; and even suicidal thoughts. In order to demonstrate that
Xunzi philosophy can play an important role in relieving the symptoms of an
Empty Heart [空心],
this paper discussed the possibility of how several theories of Xunzi can be
applied to philosophical counseling. First, this paper tries to discover the
characteristics of the Emptiness [虛] , Unity [壹] and Stillness [靜] in Xunzi, which elucidate their relationship
with Kongxin. Second, this paper tries to describe characteristics of the
principle of end and beginning [終始] from Xunzi's philosophy as the motive power
for transition of stage. Third, this paper tries to establish a theoretical
basis of the interactive structure in Xunzi's counseling method, through the
explanation of the meaning, value and approach of "through the right to discern
the wrong" [是察非]
and "though the wrong to discern the right" [非察是]. The paper can be seen as an itemized
discussion, rare among research on philosophical counseling based on Chinese
philosophy, for it contains specific cases of their symptom of Kongxin.
Presentation Language: English
Seokmin Yoon (South Korea) - PhD, Assistant professor, Department of Philosophy Kangwon National University, Editor in chief "UNIVERSITAS: Monthly Review of Philosophy and culture" (A&HCI)
The Children Philosophy on Laozi and Zhuangzu (Presentation)
Since children philosophy was established as a
major research field, there has been a lot of discussion on the possibility,
methodology and educational contents of children philosophy. In the process of
defining children philosophy and searching for the methodology, three aspects
have been discussed continuously: 'philosophy of children', 'philosophy for
children' and 'philosophy with children'. In order to demonstrate that
traditional philosophy can play an important role in shaping the composition of
children philosophy, this paper discussed the possibility of children philosophy
and personality education from the perspective of Taoism. First, this paper
tries to discover the characteristics of ' philosophy of children ' in Taoism,
which emphasizes 'return to nature' and explores the methods. Second, this
paper tries to describe characteristics of the 'philosophy for children' from
Taoism, which actively denies the norms or acts being imposed from outside
Third, this paper tries to establish a theoretical basis of 'philosophy with
children' in Taoism, which emphasize spontaneity. Through the ideals of utopian
children philosophy of education, it is possible to explore the contents of the
social philosophy of children philosophy and education through a new
establishment of social relationships and the enhancement of morality as a
foundation of morality. Through these methodologies of children philosophy and
personality education in Taoism, the paper seeks to explore the contents of
moral education and children philosophy from the standpoint of the
establishment of a new social relationship ([親]) and moral cultivation ([德]) as its origin.
Presentation Language: English