The Joy of Chinese Philosophy

Chinese philosophy is one of the oldest and richest philosophical traditions in the world. In his recent book, The Joy of Chinese Philosophy, Michael Beaney explores some central ideas and themes in Chinese philosophy through detailed analysis of the famous passage ‘the Happy Fish dialogue’ in the Zhuangzi, one of the canonical texts of Daoism. According to Beaney, Chinese philosophy is still rarely taught or studied in Europe. Should we engage more with Chinese philosophy? And how can we do so in an accessible way? In this GRIPh lecture, Beaney will discuss how Chinese philosophy helps us to uncover and interrogate some of the most basic assumptions of Western philosophy, deepening self-awareness about our own philosophical methods and projects.

Michael Beaney (毕明安) is Regius Professor of Logic at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, Visiting Chair Professor of Philosophy at Peking University in China, and Honorary Professor of History of Analytic Philosophy at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Educated at Oxford, he taught at various universities in London and Yorkshire before taking up his current posts. His most recent book is The Joy of Chinese Philosophy (De Gruyter, 2026). He was Editor of the British Journal for the History of Philosophy from 2010 to 2020, and remains an Associate Editor.

GRIPh Lecture
The GRIPh Lecture is the annual lecture of the Groningen Institute of Philosophy. This lecture is organised by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Groningen, in cooperation with Studium Generale Groningen.