Photo: Courtesy of Confucius-Aristotle Symposium

The third Confucius-Aristotle Symposium will be held in Qufu and Beijing from July 8 to 12, 2024. This event, a collaboration between esteemed institutions from China and Greece, is convened by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), led by President Jeffrey Sachs and organized by Senior Manager Philo Wang.

The symposium comprises two sections. The first, titled "Ancient Wisdom for Modern Challenges," will take place from July 8 to 10 in Qufu, hosted by the Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies and the China Confucius Foundation. The second section, "Commons in Intellectual Traditions and Future Practices," will be held from July 11 to 12 in Beijing, hosted by the Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences and The Mencius Foundation. Greek partner institutions include the Academy of Athens and the Interdisciplinary Center for Aristotle Studies (DKAM) at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The Shangri-La Beijing is sponsoring the Beijing meeting.

Approximately 150 world-famous scholars and leaders from over 10 countries will gather to discuss the contemporary relevance of Confucianism and Aristotelianism, comparative philosophy, global ethics, and the theory and practice of "the commons." Topics will span cultural dialogue, classical studies, political philosophy, ecology, religion, artificial intelligence, and public policy.

The symposium aims to facilitate conversations among leaders and scholars from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds. Participants will explore the intersections of ancient wisdom and consider how these traditions can help address modern challenges such as environmental crises, political conflicts, and the governance of new technologies. The goal is to identify common heritage and shared values to promote peace and cooperation in the 21st century.

Photo: Confucius-Aristotle Symposium

The first two meetings, held in Greece in 2022 and 2023, celebrated Aristotle and Greek philosophy. This year's meeting in China will honor Confucius and the global impact of Ancient Chinese civilization. The symposium will examine the common approaches of Aristotle, Confucius, and other traditions and explore their meaning for our time.

Jeffrey Sachs, President of UN SDSN and University Professor at Columbia University, leads the C-A global initiative. Esteemed participants include Tu Weiming, Chair Professor of Humanities and Founding Director of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University; Chen Lai, Dean of the Academy of Chinese Learning at Tsinghua University; Xue Lan, Cheung Kong Chair Distinguished Professor and Dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University; Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Co-directors and Co-founders of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology; Akeel Bilgrami, Sidney Morgenbesser Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University; and Carol Rovane, Violin Family Professor of Philosophy and Chair of Contemporary Civilization at Columbia University.