Korean Philosophy: From a Comparative and Intercultural Perspective
International Conference
October 5–6, 2026, Hildesheim University
Conference Announcement
The North American Korean Philosophy Association (NAKPA) is holding its 11th Annual conference at the University of Hildesheim, Germany, on October 5–6, 2026. This year we are pleased to announce that the conference will be hosted by the Center for Advanced Studies “Philosophizing in a Globalized World” at the University of Hildesheim under the auspices of Prof. Sool Park.
The annual conference for this year will be devoted to: “Korean Philosophy: From a Comparative and Intercultural Perspective.” In view of the emerging importance of Non-Western philosophy, we accept papers that focus on philosophical topics related to comparative Korean/Asian/Non-Western philosophy as well as intercultural philosophy. It could even be on the very conception of intercultural philosophy.
For example, themes could be from traditional and contemporary Korean philosophy such as emotions, che-yong, Confucian learning, Buddhist meditation etc. Comparative topics stemming from Islam (sufism etc), Hinduism (advaita) or African/Africana philosophy (ubuntu, etc) would be welcome as well. Papers not directly related to this year’s conference theme will also be considered.
The keynote speaker will be Professor Marion Eggert (Ruhr-Universität Bochum).
Impressions
Highlights
- Keynote Address with Livestream: Prof. Marion Eggert: An Outsider’s View: On and In Korean (Confucian) Philosophy, Monday, Oct 5, 10:00–10:45
- Author-Meets-Critics — Jin Y. Park’s Marginality (Columbia UP, 2025), with critics Anthony Curtis Adler, Yoko Arisaka, Youngsun Back and George Tsai; respondent Jin Y. Park — Monday, Oct 5, 11:00
- Plenary Panel — The Realms of East Asian Literati Arts — Tuesday, Oct 6, 10:45
Program
Talks are 30 minutes (20-minute presentation + 10-minute discussion). Parallel sessions run in three rooms — Musiksaal (HC.K.1), the GloPhi Conference Room (HC.H.0.11) and HC.J.2.09; plenary sessions take place in the Musiksaal. The conference language is English.
Day 1 — Monday, October 5
| Time | Musiksaal · HC.K.1 | GloPhi · HC.H.0.11 | HC.J.2.09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:30–10:00 | Opening & Greeting Halla Kim (NAKPA President) · Sool Park (Local Organizer) · Rolf Elberfeld (University of Hildesheim) | ||
| 10:00–10:45 | Keynote Address Prof. Marion Eggert (Ruhr-Universität Bochum): An Outsider’s View: On and In Korean (Confucian) Philosophy · Chair: Halla Kim · 30 min lecture + 15 min Q&A | ||
| 10:45–11:00 | Coffee break | ||
| 11:00–12:30 | Plenary Panel 1 · Author-Meets-Critics — Jin Y. Park, Marginality Critics: Anthony Curtis Adler (Yonsei), Yoko Arisaka (Hildesheim), Youngsun Back (SKKU), George Tsai (Hawaii) · Respondent: Jin Y. Park (American University) · Chair: Sool Park | ||
| 12:30–14:00 | Lunch (Mensa) | ||
| 14:00–15:30 Slot 1 | Joseon Political Philosophy Chair: David Kim Hyeon Sop Baek (Hawaii) — Freedom and Decoloniality in Jeong Do-jeon’s Thought Juyong Kim (Warwick) — Mencian Autonomy in the Social World: the Neo-Confucian Reading of Mencius through Dasan Nikolett Roque-Kőrösi (Károli Gáspár) — Minbon and Political Responsibility in Silhak Thought | Dasan Jeong Yagyong Chair: Boram Jeong Sang Hyun Chung — The Human Body (shin) in Tasan’s Philosophy Insok Hwang (SKKU) — The Moral Subject of ‘Weighing’: Dasan’s Theory of Quan Eun-Young Kim (Ewha) — Jeong Yakyong in Comparative Dialogue with Hume and Kant | Modern Korean Thinkers Chair: Song Chong Lee Jae Won Edward Chung (Rutgers) — A Cosmotechnical Approach to Korean Vitalism: Kim Chiha Hye Young Kim (ENS Paris) — Shame and Ethical Self-Relation: Yun Dong-Ju and Agnes Heller Woo Hyun Jung (Sogang) — Immanent Transcendence in Tian, Kant, and Donghak |
| 15:30–16:00 | Coffee break | ||
| 16:00–17:30 Slot 2 | Mid-Joseon: Four-Seven Debate & Seongho Chair: Jin Y. Park Jeseong Bae / Youngsun Back (SKKU) — When Moral Emotions Go Wrong Jaeryung Lim (Ewha) — Seongho Yi Ik’s Theory of Perception (Jigak) Hajin Oh (Ewha) — Gong in Seongho Yi Ik’s Theory of Four Beginnings and Seven Emotions | Neo-Confucianism & Silhak Chair: Halla Kim · this room runs until 18:00 Bongrae Seok (Alvernia) — The Horak Debate and Intercultural AI Ethics Suk G. Choi (Towson) — Scholars of Silhak on Music Chan Lee (Korea University) — Vice in Neo-Confucian Ethics: Qi, Luck, and Moral Responsibility Martin Gehlmann (Bochum) — Teaching the Basics. The Role of the Elementary Learning in Chosŏn Korea · 17:30–18:00 | Korean Buddhism I Chair: Yoko Arisaka Edris Voet (Oxford) — The ‘Brief Transcriptions of Efficacious Resonance’ Sumi Lee (Ewha) — Between and Beyond the Ultimate and the Phenomenal Moonsuk Heo / Hye Yu Sunim (Hanmaum Seonwon) — Korean Buddhism: Hanmaum Seonwon’s German Branch |
| 18:00 | Conference Dinner Buffet (Musiksaal, HC.K.1) | ||
Day 2 — Tuesday, October 6
| Time | Musiksaal · HC.K.1 | GloPhi · HC.H.0.11 | HC.J.2.09 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–10:30 Slot 3 | Joseon Political Philosophy & Governance Chair: Halla Kim Heewon Byun (Ewha) — The Political-Philosophical Role of Shu Ji-hyun Ahn (SKKU) — The Canonization of the Simgyeong and Joseon Confucianism Hyangjun Lee (Chonnam National University) — Joseon from the Perspective of Neo-Confucian Narrative | Heart/Mind, Desire and Diagrams Chair: Suk G. Choi Borum Kim (Anyang) — Jeong Yak-yong’s ‘Chu-seo’: The Circuit of Reflected Desire Sangwho Shin (Academy of Korean Studies) — The Heart-Mind in Yulgok Yi I’s Philosophy Maria Long (Linnaeus) — From Taiji tu to Cheonmyeong do: Comparative Cosmology | Korean Buddhism II Chair: Song Chong Lee Thapakorn Kamnerdsiri (Thammasat) — Won Buddhism, Ethics and the Others Seolin Choi (Ewha) — Non-Obstruction and Transcendental Freedom in Wonhyo and Kant Johannes Baer (Hildesheim) — Social Ontology and Ethics in Uisang’s Hwaŏm ilsŭng pŏpkye to |
| 10:30–10:45 | Coffee break | ||
| 10:45–12:15 | Plenary Panel 2 · The Realms of East Asian Literati Arts Chair: David Kim Jiehua Cai (Munich) — The Development of Korean Literati Painting Cun-Yi Zhang (Munich) — Late Ming and Joseon Korean Literati Brush Notes Elmar Oberfrank (Munich) — The 64th Chapter of the ‘Journey to the West’ Marc Nürnberger (Munich) — Viewing Stones in Joseon Korea | ||
| 12:30–14:00 | Lunch (Mensa) | ||
| 14:00–15:30 Slot 4 | Methodological Reflections Chair: Jin Y. Park Jinwoo Park (SKKU) — Jing as a Condition of Ritual Performance Janghee Lee (Gyeongin Univ. of Education) — Asymmetry of Korean ‘Philosophy’ — On Metaphysics Seonhee Kim (Ewha) — Qi as Narrative: Understanding the Human Beyond Cognition | Religion, Ecology and the Non-Human Chair: Bongrae Seok Ye Eun Esther Ghim (SNU) — After Gaebyeok: World-Renewal, Bodily Immortality, and Crisis in Contemporary Korean New Religious Movements Jea Sophia Oh (West Chester) — Why Do We Need Goddesses Today? Toward Salim Thealogical Hermeneutics Qingqiu Feng (East China Normal University) — Empathy with Plants and Trees: “Issuing Forth and Attaining Due Measure” in Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism · online | Intercultural & Comparative Chair: Sool Park David Kim (San Francisco) — Joseon Gyeong in Woodruff’s Greco-Chinese Matrix Boram Jeong (Colorado Denver) — A Phenomenology of Nunchi and Affective Attunement Qian Ran (Bochum) — Truth and Public Discourse |
| 15:30–16:00 | Coffee break | ||
| 16:00–17:30 Slot 5 | Korean Culture & Religion Chair: Youngsun Back Anthony Curtis Adler (Yonsei) — A Tale of Two Dragons: Bong Joon Ho and Daoist Nature HyeonMinh Ryu (SNU) — Rectifying Names in the Wake of Tragedy: Xunzi, Stigmatizing Reclassification, and the Politics of Naming in Itaewon Wonjean Lee (Sookmyung) — Hauntology and Techno-shamanism in Korean Specter Narratives | Modern Korean Thought & Intercultural Chair: Bongrae SeokSong Chong Lee (SNU) — Ham Sok Hon’s Reception of Henri Bergson Sunuk Kim (Hildesheim) — Seiendes, 存在者, and the Limits of Ontological Difference Yookyung Nho-von Blumröder (Cologne) — Music as Comparative Philosophy: Korean Thought Becoming Audible Form | Confucian Ethics and the Korean Worldview Chair: Hwa Yeong Wang · this room runs until 17:45 Isabelle Sancho (CNRS / EHESS, Paris) — Reading Hwadam as a Korean Philosopher Dobin Choi (Leiden) — Free Will or the Faculty of Choice: Reconsidering Dasan’s Jajujigwon in Comparative Perspective Gyuseog Han / Seo-hong Kim (Chonnam National University) / Bongyoung Choi (independent researcher) — The Chok Worldview Underlying the Korean Philosophical Thoughts |
| 17:30–17:45 | Break | ||
| 17:45–18:15 | Closing Remarks & NAKPA Business Meeting (Musiksaal) | ||
| 18:30 | Farewell Dinner (Südklause) | ||
Book of Abstracts
Registration
Please send an abstract (200 words) together with the title and affiliation formation as well as email address and/or panel proposal to Prof. Halla Kim (kim.halla[at]hotmail.com). The Deadline is March 31, 2026.
All abstracts are anonymously reviewed and rated by members of the Selection Committee.
Authors are notified of their acceptance/rejection or wait list status by April 15.
Additional Information
During the conference, all meals, refreshments and drinks as well as accommodation (partially) will be covered for the substantial number of speakers. Graduate students are also encouraged to apply for the student sessions. All speakers will be partially (but only partially) supported, and hotels in Hildesheim are relatively affordable, since they are away from big cities such as Frankfurt or Berlin.
Registration information, including membership fee and registration fee will be available in late spring. Registration fees are waived for students. Due to escalating financial challenges and burdens, we will collect membership dues and conference registration fees for all full-time employed speakers. NAKPA has been growing and will need more financial resources. Fees are waived for student members.
Finally, through consultation between the Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture (JCPC; Scopus, ESCI) and NAKPA, selected papers may be invited for publication in JCPC as a special issue (or as individual articles if necessary), subject to double-blind peer review and revision.