Dr Christine Tan is a Filipino-born philosopher whose main areas of expertise are Chinese and Comparative Philosophy in general, and Neo-Daoist philosophy in particular. Before joining Yale-NUS College, she did her PhD at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where she wrote her dissertation titled ‘Freedom as Self-realisation: Zide in the Neo-Daoist Philosophy of Guo Xiang’. Before that, she did her MA and BA at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, where her areas of focus were psychoanalysis and post-structuralist philosophy.
Dr Tan has published extensively in Chinese philosophy (with a specific focus on Guo Xiang). Her work has spanned a variety of epistemological themes from classical and medieval Chinese textual analysis to problem-driven treatments of traditionally Euro-centric issues such as freedom and autonomy. This includes published journal articles on Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Ultimately, her goal is to push the boundaries for how we understand selfhood, agency, and community from inter-cultural and truly global lenses.
Dr Tan’s main areas of research is in Chinese Philosophy, specifically in Daoism and Neo-Daoism. She is also interested in Social Epistemology, especially with post-colonial or decolonial approaches. Most of her publications specifically address issues that are often talked about in mainstream Anglo-European philosophy, but tacked from the perspective of Chinese philosophy, not simply because she believes that Chinese philosophy can contribute something new, but also that philosophical concepts do and should evolve to address an increasingly global word. She is currently writing a book which outlines Guo Xiang’s philosophy of Freedom.
Research Specialisations
- Chinese Philosophy (Classical Chinese Philosophy, Neo-Daoism/Wei-Jin Xuanxue)
- Continental Philosophy (Psychoanalysis, Post-structuralism, Critical Theory)
- Social Epistemology
Journal Articles:
“The Possibility of Moral Cultivation in the Ontological Oblivion: A Re-exploration of Hongzhou School of Chan Buddhism through Guo Xiang,” Philosophia (vol. 22:1, 2021)
“Guo Xiang’s Ontology of Zide 自得: Self-realization Beyond the Binary Self.” Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies (vol. 69:1, 2021)
“The Equal Onto-Epistemology of the ‘Equal Discourse of Things’ [齊物論 Qiwulun] Chapter: A Semantic Approach.” Tetsugaku: International Journal of the Philosophical Association of Japan (vol. 2, 2018), 282-295.
“The Butterfly Dream and Zhuangzi’s Perspectivism: An Exploration of the Differing Interpretations of the Butterfly Dream against the Backdrop of Dao as Pluralistic Monism.” Kritike: An Online Journal of Philosophy (vol. 10:2, 2016), 100-121.
“The Cultured Man as the Noble Man: Jun zi 君子 as a Man of Li 禮 in Lun yu 論語.” Kritike: An Online Journal of Philosophy (vol. 9:2, 2015), 177-192.
Book Chapter:
《易經》與和諧的人之教化：從王弼和韓康伯注中重讀《易經》的宇宙本體論及人的地位 in 治氣養心之術：中國早期的修身方法 (The Arts of Ordering the Body and Developing the Mind: Early Chinese Self-Cultivation Methods), Edited by Paul Fischer. Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 2017, 36-49.
Book Review:
Book Review for “History of Chinese Philosophy Through Its Key Terms (Wang et. Al., 2020)” Comparative and Continental Philosophy (vol 13: 1, 2021)
