- Team members:
- Bing Song,
- Xiangchen Sun,
- Tobias Rees
Notions such as being, becoming, reality, self, body, nature, truth, and cosmos constitute the epistemic ground of human understanding and continue to inform the normative architectures of modern societies. We maintain that genuine mutual understanding and appreciation begin with a return to these foundational questions, sustained through long-term engagement with one another’s conceptual worlds. Absent such depth of encounter, communication risks remaining shallow, falling short of the intellectual rigor required to bridge differences.
Being and Change
November 30, 2024
China Club Berlin
The first dialogue, held on November 30, 2024, at the China Club Berlin, focused on the theme of “Being and Change,” featuring Tobias Rees, founder of Limn, an AI studio located at the intersection of philosophy, art, and technology, and Sun Xiangchen, professor of philosophy of Fudan University. They examined the concepts of being and change (易) in Western and Chinese philosophical contexts, which shaped subsequent philosophical systems and modes of thought in both traditions.
Genealogy of Consciousness
July 30–31, 2025
University Church of St Mary the Virgin, University of Oxford
On July 30–31, at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, University of Oxford, the second dialogue explored the genealogy of consciousness, as well as related notions such as heart, mind, and awareness across different philosophical traditions. Sun Xiangchen and Tobias Rees approached the topic from pre-Qin Chinese thought and Western philosophical traditions, respectively. Diwakar Acharya of the University of Oxford contributed from the perspective of the Hindu tradition, Cheng Kaiyuan of Yang Ming Chiao Tung University from a Daoist angle, and Yao Zhihua of the Chinese University of Hong Kong from a Buddhist standpoint. Together, they engaged in a two-day cross-cultural exploration aimed at deepening the understanding of consciousness while enhancing theoretical clarity across diverse philosophical and cultural contexts.
