Zehou Li and the Aesthetics of Educational Maturity

Mainly inspired by the arguments of the Chinese philosopher Zehou Li, this book endeavors to develop an ‘aesthetic’ approach to promote educational maturity, both on the individual and systematic level of education. It makes a substantial contribution to developing powerful philosophic educational theories. I believe it could help us to reconsider the direction of future education reform, locally and globally. Zhongying Shi, Professor of Education, Tsinghua University; President of The Philosophy of Education Society in China(PESC) The question of maturity is one of the key concerns of modern education. As educators we want our students to grow up, not just physically but particularly with regard to their ways of being in the world. Whereas questions of maturity have been central in Western educational thought at least since the Enlightenment, Flora Liuying Wei gives the scholarship about educational maturity a completely new impetus through a nuanced and detailed discussion of the ideas of Zehou Li. What is particularly striking, and of great importance for contemporary discussions, is the aesthetic ‘turn’ in thinking through educational maturity. This book opens up contemporary Chinese philosophy to the English speaking world and contributes original insights to contemporary philosophy of Education. Gert Biesta, University of Edinburgh, UK & Maynooth University, Ireland Zehou Li, the best well-recognized Chinese contemporary philosopher, holds that education is to be the foundational discipline in the future society. This is because he conceives education as science for the rounded development of human beings. This insight is based on his ultimate theory of ‘anthropo-historical ontology’, characterized by the renaissance of Qing civilization in the 21st century. Arguably, Li’s thought is illuminating even in the coming AI age. Flora Liuying Wei productively applies Li’s philosophy to examine the key topic of educational maturity, demonstrating effectively how the aesthetics-education approach is globally viable. In particular, her transcultural/post-comparative reading of Li fruitfully reflects how Li works for the whole humanity with potential Chinese wisdom. Yuedi Liu, Professor at the Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences