Anglophone interpretations of Ruism most often take inspiration from Aristotle or Dewey. Yet the 20th century New Ruists in Hong Kong and Taiwan said little about either and focused much more on Kant. This talk examines what they saw in Kantian philosophy, and how it influenced their interpretation of Ruist thought.

David Elstein is Professor of Philosophy and Asian Studies at SUNY New Paltz. His research focuses on contemporary Confucian philosophy. He is author of "Democracy in Contemporary Confucian Philosophy" (Routledge 2014), editor of "Dao Companion to Contemporary Confucian Philosophy" (Springer 2020), and translator of "The Chinese Liberal Spirit: Selected Writings of Xu Fuguan" (SUNY Press 2022). In addition, he has published articles in "Philosophy East and West," "Dao," "Contemporary Political Theory," and "European Journal of Political Theory."