Short Bio
Employment
(2020-present) Head of the Department of Philosophy, USJ.
(2017-present) Assistant Professor, USJ.
(2013-2017) Adjunct Professor, University of Saint Joseph (USJ), Macau.
(2004-2005) Associate Tutor, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore.
Education
(2017) Doctorate in Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Macau, Macau.
(2002) Master of Arts (by research), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
(2000) Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Publications
(2020) “Aristotle, Lubich and Ratzinger on a New Economic Paradigm.” The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute. No.7: 81-86.
Available at: https://mrijournal.riccimac.org/index.php/en/issues/issue-7/160-aristotle-lubich-and-ratzinger-on-a-new-economic-paradigm
(2020) “A Confucian Account of Contemplation-in-Action.” The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute. No.6: 112-121.
Available at: https://mrijournal.riccimac.org/index.php/en/issues/issue-6/133-a-confucian-account-of-contemplation-in-action
(2018) “A Confucian Perspective on Tertiary Education for the Common Good.” The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute. No.3: 26-34.
Available at: https://mrijournal.riccimac.org/index.php/en/issues/issue-3/35-a-confucian-perspective-on-tertiary-education-for-the-common-good
(2018) “The Limits of Generalism in Comparisons: Response to Sivin.” Journal of World Philosophies. Volume 3 No.2: 89-92.
Available at: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/2156/192
(2017) “Chinese Religious Syncretism in Macau.” Orientis Aura: Macau Perspectives in Religious Studies. No.2: 61-78.
Available at: https://journals.usj.edu.mo/index.php/orientisaura/article/view/20/16
(2017) “Wisdom in Aristotle and Aquinas: From Metaphysics to Mysticism.” Existenz: An International Journal in Philosophy, Religion, Politics, and the Arts. Vol.12 No.2: 19-24.
Available at: https://existenz.us/volumes/Vol.12-2Eh.pdf
Modules
Year 1 Master
What is comparative philosophy? How to compare? These are some of the questions we will try to answer. The course aims at exploring important issues and concepts in the context of different cultures. Intellectual, historical and cultural background of philosophers will be studied. Thinkers of very different cultural traditions will be compared and discussed.
This course is introducing students to Compared Philosophies with special emphasis on East-Asian philosophy through texts of Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism. Those schools of thoughts will be explored by students who will study topics such as ethics, reality, knowledge, self, among others.
Year 1 Bachelor
Students will discuss the foundations of philosophical anthropology as it relates to the phenomenology of the human person; the cognitive dimension of existence: being-in-the world, spiritual knowledge, theory and praxis; he active and affective dimension of existence: will, love and freedom; ontology of the human person: body and soul, the spirit as person; the metaphysics of the human person: temporality and historicity, death and immortality; the issue of meaning.
Is there any place for God to appear within the phenomenological horizon? And if yes, what kind of "phenomenon" God might be? These questions will lead us to a journey that will take us from a reading of certain scriptural passages to a number of contemporary philosophies of God: phenomenology (Levinas, Marion); hermeneutics (Heidegger, Ricoeur) and deconstruction (Derrida and Caputo).
This course introduces students to the general panorama of philosophical thought after Hegel. Students will study the philosophical thought and the most prominent philosophers of the 19th century, and of the 20th century, with particular emphasis on Phenomenology, the philosophy of Values, Hermeneutics; the philosophies of existence and the philosophy of sciences. Other topics include current versions of Personalism and Thomism.
This course discusses the object and importance of the philosophy of knowledge, namely: faculties and levels of knowledge: sensibility and reason, singular and universal; problematic of knowledge: being and knowing, truth and certainty, common sense and science; classical theories of philosophy of knowledge: dogmatism and skepticism, idealism and realism.
The course introduces the students to formal logic and its use in evaluating the correctness of reasoning. Topics to be discussed include Simple Apprehension, Judgment and Reasoning. Emphasis is placed on deductive and inductive forms of reasoning. Attention will be given to its application in real life argumentation and persuasive discourse.
Year 2 Bachelor
This course will discuss the relationship between liturgical theology and the various art forms which shape the larger context of the liturgical act (specifically music, dramatic elements, poetry, visual arts), and the ways in which various aesthetic theories and artistic making have affected (and have potential to affect) our understanding of Christian worship and theology. Special emphasis will be placed on experiences in China.
Year 3 Bachelor
As an integral part of the Licenciate studies, all undergraduate students at IIUM are required to prepare and present a portfolio of their work. The portfolio is assembled over the entire duration of their undergraduate studies, and is to consist of selected pieces of work that they have produced during their studies. A student’s portfolio may contain examples of assignment work, tests and examination answer scripts, presentations and project reports, and other work done by the student during his or her studies.
