A/Prof Karyn Lai
- Phone: 9385 1194
- Email: k.lai@unsw.edu.au
- Building: Morven Brown
- Room No: 326
Associate Professor - BA Program Convenor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
BA Hons, MA Hons (NUS), PhD, Philosophy (Sydney)
Research Summary
Karyn Lai’s primary research area is in early (pre-Qin) Confucian and Daoist philosophies. Her work is often of a comparative nature, drawing insights from Chinese philosophies to address issues in a number of philosophical areas including moral
philosophy, environmental ethics, reasoning and argumentation and epistemology.
Current research project
I am currently working on epistemology in the Confucian Analects. While ‘knowing’ in this text is often characterised as ‘knowing-how’ rather than propositional knowledge, I propose that this description is not sufficiently sensitive to the concerns
of the early Confucians and their focus on self cultivation. I propose that a particular conception of knowing—knowing to act in the moment—is better suited to capturing the Analects’ emphasis on exemplary lives in actual contexts. These
investigations might lead us to re-consider knowing-how in epistemology in western philosophy. In the longer term, I will extend these investigations to other traditions in pre-Qin philosophy.
Research students and their projects
Winnie Sung, PhD: Xunzi’s Concept of Xin (graduated in 2010; currently post-doc fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Ranie Villaver (PhD, Philosophy): Is there a Tension between the Zhuangzi’s Scepticism and its Normative Recommendations?: A Yangist Interpretation of the Neipian
Wai Wai Chiu (PhD, Philosophy): Zhuangzi’s Concept of Zhi (knowledge, knowing, wisdom)
Sarah Tilsley (PhD, Philosophy): Global Population and Personal Choices
Publications
Books
 Lai, Karyn. 2008. Introduction to Chinese Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. Paperback ISBN: 0521608929. |
"The writing is clear and articulate, and the discussion, while focusing on philosophical ideas, is sensitive to textual complexities such as the authorship of different layers of a text." - Shun Kwong-Loi, Chinese University of Hong Kong. More details at Cambridge University Press website See a review of the book at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews |
 Lai, Karyn. 2006. Learning from Chinese Philosophies: Ethics of Interdependent and Contextualised Self, UK: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN-13: 978-0754633822. |
"Learning from Chinese Philosophies explores early Confucianism and Daoism in order to engage today’s problems ... this is a clearly written work with stimulating interesting ideas and it lives up to the promise of demonstrating the
continued relevance of Chinese philosophies." - Sor Hoon Tan, Sophia, vol. 46, no. 1 (May 2007): 99-102. "A sound and probing book that deserves careful reading … what Lai presents here is meticulous and nuanced … Thoughtful and clearly argued, this work deserves attention by specialists and nonspecialists alike." - Russell Kirkland, Religious Studies Review, vol 33 no. 1, (2007): 86. Preview Book at Google Books |
 Lai, Karyn (ed). 2007. New Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Chinese Philosophy, MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-4051-6789-5. |
This anthology presents the distinctive insights of Chinese philosophy and their relevance to contemporary issues in a range of areas: moral philosophy, social and political philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology, environmental ethics, medicine
and psychological health. Contributing authors: Tang Yijie, Nathan Sivin, Chung-ying Cheng, Karyn Lai, Antonio Cua, Lauren Pfister, William Herfel, Dianah Rodrigues and Yin Gao. More details at Wiley website |
Chapters in Books
Lai, Karyn. (in press). Daoism and Confucianism. In Liu Xiaogan (ed). Dao: Companion to Daoist Philosophy, the Dao Companion to Chinese Philosophy Series (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Academic Publishers).
Lai, Karyn. 2007. Understanding Change: The Interdependent Self in its Environment. In Karyn Lai (ed), New Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Chinese Philosophy MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing: 81-99.
Lai, Karyn. 2003. Confucian Moral Cultivation: Some Parallels with Musical Training. In Kim-Chong Chong, Sor-Hoon Tan and CL Ten (eds) The Moral Circle and the Self: Chinese and Western Perspectives, Chicago, USA: Open Court Publishing. ISBN: 0–8126–9535–6.
View entire chapter, and sections of the book, at Google Books
Lai, Karyn. 2001. Attitudes to Nature in Classical Chinese Philosophy. In Companion to Environmental Philosophy, Dale Jamieson (ed), Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Co.
Refereed Journal Articles
Lai, Karyn (with Stephen Hetherington ). 2012. Practising To Know: Practicalism and Chinese Philosophy. Philosophy (forthcoming).
Lai, Karyn. 2011. Assessing participation skills: online discussions with peers. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education IFirst: 1-15. ( 26 Jul 2011) DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2011.590878.
Lai, Karyn. 2008. Learning from the Confucians: Learning from the Past. Journal of Chinese Philosophy 35. 1: 97–119.
Lai, Karyn. 2007. Wuwei and Ziran in the Daodejing: An Ethical Assessment. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 6.4: 325-337.
Lai, Karyn. 2006. Li in the Analects: Training in Moral Competence and the Question of Flexibility. Philosophy East and West 56.1: 69-83.
Lai, Karyn. 2006. Philosophy and Philosophical Reasoning in the Zhuangzi: Dealing with Plurality. Journal of Chinese Philosophy 33.3: 365-374. View postprint version.
Lai, Karyn. 2003. Critical Notice: "Joel J. Kupperman, Learning from Asian Philosophy". Australasian Journal of Philosophy 81.1: 126-133. View postprint version.
Lai, Karyn. 2003. Conceptual Foundations for Environmental Ethics: A Daoist Perspective. Environmental Ethics 25: 247-266.
Lai, Karyn. 2000. The Daodejing: Resources for Contemporary Feminist Thinking Journal of Chinese Philosophy 27:2: 131-153. View postprint version.
Lai, Karyn. 1995. Confucian Moral Thinking. Philosophy East and West 45.2: 249-271.
Refereed Conference Publications
Lai, Karyn. 2007. Understanding Confucian Ethics: Reflections on Moral Development. Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics 9.2: 21-27. View postprint version.
Lai, Karyn. 2003. Holism and Connectedness: the Daodejing and Environmental Philosophy. In Ke-li Fang (ed) Chinese Philosophy and the Trends of the 21st Century Civilization, Beijing, PRC: Commercial Press. ISBN 7-100-03557-0
Contributions
Editor, Philosophy Compass (Comparative Chinese Philosophy section)
Other Information
Involvement in Professional Organisations
International Society for Chinese Philosophy (ISCP)
Regional Representative (Australia) (2005- ).
President (2003-2005).
Vice-President (2001-2003).
