Alexus McLeod
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
University of Dayton
Jesse Phillips Humanities Center, Room 421
300 College Park, Dayton, OH, 45469-1546
937-229-2870
email: mcleodaz@notes.udayton.edu
websites: http://unpolishedjade.wordpress.com,
http://udayton.academia.edu/AlexusMcLeod,
Employment:
University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
August 2009-present
Education:
University of Connecticut, PhD, Philosophy
May 2009 (Advisor: Joel Kupperman)
Dissertation: Moral Personhood in Confucius and Aristotle
University of Oklahoma, MA, Philosophy
May 2005
MA Thesis: Self-Knowledge and Buddhist Eliminative Reductionism
University of Maryland, BA, Philosophy, with honors
December 2002
Areas of specialization:
Chinese Philosophy
Ethics
Comparative Philosophy
Areas of competence:
Political Philosophy
Indian Philosophy (esp. Vedanta and early Buddhist metaphysics)
Native American Philosophy
Metaphysics/Logic
Publications:
[Books]:
Understanding Asian Philosophy: Ethics in the Analects, Zhuangzi, Dhammapada, and Bhagavad Gita, Bloomsbury Academic (forthcoming)
[Articles]:
“Moral Personhood in the Analects and the Bhagavad Gita”, in Theodor and Yao, eds. Brahman and Dao: Comparative Studies of Indian and Chinese Philosophy and Religion, Lexington Books (forthcoming)
“Wang Chong”, in Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography (forthcoming)
“In the World of Persons: The Personhood Debate in the Analects and Zhuangzi” forthcoming, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 11.4 (December 2012)
“Ren as a Communal Property in the Analects”; Philosophy East and West 62.4 (October 2012)
“Wang Chong” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (March 2012)
“A Pluralist Approach to Truth in Early Chinese Philosophy: Wang Chong”; Comparative Philosophy 2;1 (January 2011)
–Chinese Translation of “A Pluralist Approach to Truth in Early Chinese Philosophy”; in 中外人文精神研究 Zhongwai renwenjingshen yanjiu (Chinese and Foreign Research in Humanistic Spirit), Beijing Academy of Social Sciences (forthcoming)
“A Reappraisal of Wang Chong’s Critical Method Through the Wenkong Chapter of the Lunheng”; Journal of Chinese Philosophy 34; 4 (December 2007)
[Book Reviews]:
Book Review of Bryan W. Van Norden, Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy, in Philosophy East and West 60:4 (October 2010)
Book Review of David Wong, Natural Moralities, in Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 38:3 (September 2011)
Book Review of Zhou Guidian, Qinhan Zhexue 秦漢哲學 (Qin and Han Philosophy), in Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy (Winter 2011)
Book Review of Bryan W. Van Norden, Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy, in Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy (December 2011)
Presentations:
“The Problem of Identity in Zhuangzi,” American Philosophical Association 2012 Eastern Conference, Atlanta, GA, December 2012
“Ritual Duty in Xunzi and the Purva Mimamsa Sutra,” American Academy of Religion annual meeting, Chicago, IL, November 2012
“Two Problems Concerning Materialism in Wang Chong’s Lunheng,” 8th Annual Midwest Conference on Chinese Thought, Bloomington, IN, April 2012
“The Analects and the Bhagavad Gita on Moral Personhood,” American Academy of Religion annual meeting, San Francisco, CA, November 2011
“Community and Moral Agency”, invited lecture at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, May 2011
“Jia Yi and Lu Jia on Shame, Self-Cultivation, and Social Order”; American Philosophical Association 2011 Central Conference, International Society for Chinese Philosophy panel, Minneapolis, MN, March 2011
“Ambivalence Toward Children and the Ethics of Fatherhood in the Analects”; American Philosophical Association 2010 Pacific Conference, International Society for Chinese Philosophy panel, San Francisco, CA, March 2010
“A Reconstruction of Wang Chong’s Argument Against Han Feizi’s Legalism in His Essay Fei Han”; American Philosophical Association 2010 Pacific Conference, Association of Chinese Philosophers in North America panel; San Francisco, CA, March 2010
(later version presented at University of Dayton brown bag series, February 2011)
“The Human Nature Debate of Analects 18.5-7 and the Renjianshi Chapter of the Zhuangzi”’ American Philosophical Association 2009 Eastern Conference, Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy panel; New York, NY, December 2009
“Wang Chong on Shi and Han Dynasty Philosophical Method”; Midwest Conference for Asian Affairs 2009; Miami University, Oxford, OH, October 2009
“The Concept of Ren and Differing Views of the ‘Chinese Character’”; Midwest Conference for Asian Affairs 2009; Miami University, Oxford, OH, October 2009
“Rejection of Community and Non-Persons in Analects Book 18″; American Philosophical Association 2009 Pacific Conference, Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy panel; Vancouver, BC, Canada, March 2009.
“The Psychologization of the Confucian Ren”; American Philosophical Association 2007 Eastern Conference, International Society for Chinese and Western Philosophy panel; Baltimore, MD, December 2007.
(also presented at University of Connecticut, Philosophy Brown Bag Series, October 2007)
“Beyond Qingtan: A Reappraisal of the Philosophical Method of Wang Chong”; American Philosophical Association 2005 Pacific Conference, International Society for Chinese Philosophy panel; San Francisco, CA, March 2005
“The Evolution of Anatta: Contemporary American Conceptions of the Theravada “Not-Self”; Society for Indian Philosophy and Religion 2004 conference on globalization, Buffalo, NY, October 2004
Scholarships and Awards:
Multicultural Scholars Fellowship, University of Connecticut, 2005-2009
Courses taught:
Introduction to Philosophy (Dayton)
Introduction to Philosophy in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (Dayton)
Asian Philosophy (Dayton)
Seminar on Confucianism (Dayton)
Non-Western and Comparative Philosophy (Connecticut)
Introduction to Chinese Philosophy (Connecticut)
Professional Memberships:
American Philosophical Association (Central Division Member)
Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy
International Society for Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Philosophy
American Academy of Religion
University Service:
-Faculty Global Intercultural Study Travel Program Participant-University of Dayton, 2011
-Common Academic Program Pilot Service-University of Dayton, 2010-2011
-Philosophy Department Advisory Committee-University of Dayton, 2010-2011
-Developed new course in Contemporary Chinese Political and Ethical Thought, University of Dayton
Professional Service:
-Creator of Unpolished Jade: A Chinese Philosophy Blog (http://unpolishedjade.wordpress.com), and contributor to Warp Weft and Way: A Group Blog of Chinese and Comparative Philosophy (http://warpweftandway.wordpress.com)
-Manuscript Referee–Columbia University Press, Wiley-Blackwell
-Journal Referee–Philosophy East and West, Philosophy Compass, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, Frontiers of Philosophy in China, University Press of North Georgia
Languages:
Classical Chinese
Modern Chinese (Mandarin)
Sanskrit
German
