Tomasz Sleziak

To change the body? How culture shapes politics

Posted on 23rd January 202323rd January 2023 by Tomasz Sleziak

How is it that two cultural systems with apparently clear moral expectations can produce two Communist dictators who apparently hate the West? Behind President Xi Jinping (b. 1953; Pres. 2012-present) and China’s ruling cadre lie more than 2500 years of Confucian philosophical-moral formation that has left a lasting impression on the way Chinese today see […]

COP, Confucius and the rights of animals

Posted on 27th November 202127th November 2021 by Tomasz Sleziak

‘Animal rights’ activists at COP26 protested with environmentalists at inter-governmental inaction. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Viva! and OneKind hit the streets with banners that declared ‘Meat=Heat’, and ‘Fight Climate Change with Diet Change. Go Vegan.’ Glasgow’s blue buses agreed: ‘You can’t be a meat-eating environmentalist’. To support their cause, activists cited […]

Korean Confucianism: Past history, present impacts and the crisis in the peninsula

Posted on 4th May 20214th May 2021 by Tomasz Sleziak

Students of Korean culture (North and South) immerse themselves in the history, tradition and philosophy of the last, great Confucian dynasty, the Joseon, or Chosun (1392-1910). Founded in 1392 by Yi Seong-gye (later Yi Dan), for five hundred years Joseon rulers led Korea in its embrace of Confucian – especially Neo-Confucian – culture, thought and […]