"There has been a notable lack of attention to the way that Eastern and Western metaphysics have significant areas of overlap in their traditions around the problem of mind and related issues. This seminar aims to remedy this fact by drawing together experts in Neo-Confucianism and Scholasticism, providing a basic introduction to both traditions and to their metaphysical perspectives. Questions regarding "mind" were central to debates among Neo-Confucians in the East as well as to many debates in later medieval Scholasticism."
"In the Scholastic tradition, there was extensive development of the Aristotelian account of the human being as a combination of body and soul, conceived of as matter and form, alongside long-standing Trinitarian reflection on the nature of 'person' as referring to something uniquely individual and particular. Scholastics likewise spent a great deal of time working out the cognitive mechanisms and modules through which we mentally interact with extra-mental reality."
An ATI Summer Seminar in Asian Philosophy and Scholasticism will take place at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, 18–27 June 2026. The program brings together experts in Neo-Confucianism and Scholasticism to introduce both traditions' metaphysical perspectives on the problem of mind and related issues. Scholastic work developed Aristotelian accounts of human beings as body and soul (matter and form), Trinitarian reflection on personhood, and detailed accounts of cognitive mechanisms linking mind and extra‑mental reality. Neo-Confucian thought raises parallel questions about mind, making comparative study relevant to contemporary concerns across neuroscience, physics, chemistry, ethics, politics, and cognitive science. Applications are due April 15, 2026; contact jdrooney@hkbu.edu.hk for information and application guidelines.
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