on Tianxia
Please note: this talk is cancelled to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus
Under the title Hyperpresent, five contemporary thinkers will give a talk on a new idea that they introduced themselves. Afterwards, they will engage in a conversation with philosopher Laurent De Sutter – who curated this series.
‘Tianxia’ (or ‘All-under-heaven’) is a conceptualization of the world as the composition of three realms: the physical, psychological and political, which places inclusivity and harmony at the heart of a global worldview above other considerations, transcending the notion of the nation state. In a highly interconnected and globalized world, the idea of Tianxia can offer a new 21st century vision of international relations and world order, based on a harmonized global organization defined by the ‘all-inclusiveness principle.’ Promoting the ontology of co-existence and relational rationality hand in hand with rational risk aversion in a globalized world, this pivot makes the case that Tianxia could offer a new vision for the contemporary world order, redefining the universality and legitimacy of politics far from the exhausted categories of Western liberalism.
• Zhao Tingyang is a philosopher and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing. His work, at the crossroads of meta-philosophy, ethics and political theory, aims to update the Confucian heritage for the present. His latest book is Redefining a Philosophy for World Governance.
