RAS Philosophy Series | Human Nature, Power, and Order Part 1: Xunzi

A Close-Reading Seminar Series on Four Early Chinese Political Philosophical Texts

As artificial intelligence transforms our sense of self, and global orders undergo tectonic shifts, the voices of Warring States China feel eerily prescient. Faced with their own era of profound technological disruption, crumbling institutions, and social fragmentation, ancient philosophers were forced to ask the very questions confronting us today: what does it mean to be human, how do we rebuild fraying social bonds, and how should political authority be exercised?

Join the RAS Philosophy Club for a four-part seminar series dedicated to close readings and vigorous discussion of primary texts from four pivotal masters: Xunzi, Mengzi, Mozi, and Han Feizi.

November 28: Xunzi — Bending Crooked Wood: Crafting Virtue Through Ritual and Discipline

In our first session we will introduce four key topics:

• What is inborn in human nature, and what can or should be changed?
• What is the relationship of the past to the present, and what is important about historical precedent?
• What are rituals, and how do they create social order?
• What is harmony, how is it produced, and what are its effects?

January 9: Mengzi — Are We Born to Be Good? Cultivating the Moral Sprouts

February 20: Mozi — Impartiality and the Critique of Aristocratic Culture

March 27: Han Feizi — Law, Power, and the State

Led by James Miller and Giuseppe Ginepro, the seminar series will examine the four thinkers whose arguments shaped China's classical debate on human nature, governance, and moral authority. Through direct textual analysis of core passages, we will unpack how these rival masters answered the timeless questions of the nature of humanity, how society should function, and how order is maintained, and consider their relevance for the contemporary context.

• Classical Chinese readings with English translation may be downloaded in advance from the GlueUp website.
• Tickets may be obtained individually for each event. There is no obligation to attend the whole series.
• Future dates may be adjusted.