People

Dr. Larry LAI 賴卓彬

Teaching Assistant: Larry holds a PhD in Political Philosophy from HKU. His dissertation focuses on how the concept of democracy is understood in the political theories of Xu Fuguan (徐復觀), Tang Junyi (唐君毅) and Mou Zongsan (牟宗三). He also holds an MPhil from HKU, a M.A. in Legal & Political Theory from University College London, and a B.A. (Hons) in Public & Social Administration from CityU Hong Kong. His major research interests include Confucianism, political philosophy and social ethics in general, whilst he has been teaching courses in varies subjects ranging from politics, public administration, international relations and political analysis, to social studies, social ethics, political philosophy and critical thinking.

Selected Publications

  • "Mencius and the New Confucian Pursuit of Democracy" Book chapter in [(Dao Companion to Mencius)], Ed. YANG Xiao. Dordrecht: Springer, forthcoming in 2016.
  • “Premarital Sex”, “Transexuality”,     “Drug Abuse”, “Smoking,” “Public Broadcasting”, “Media Ethics” in Francis Mok, Yu Kam Por, Chan Ho Mun (eds.), Social Ethics: An Introduction (in Chinese), (Oxford University Press, 2012)
  • “A Comparative Study of Locke’s and Confucius’ Views on Parent-children Relationship” (in Chinese) in Tao and Qiu eds. Values and Society, 3 (2001) pp.263-281.

Conferences / Workshops

  • "Mencius and Xu Fuguan's Pursuit of Democracy", paper presented in the MANCEPT Workshops 2017, held in September 11-13, 2017, at the Manchester Centre for Political Theory, University of Manchester.
  • "Workshop on Comparative Political Philosophy and Public Policy: Oxford and Hong Kong Collaboration", held in September 10-11, 2017, at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
  • "Tang Junyi’s Democratization Scheme: The Interplay of Democratic Institutions and “Confucian Democratic Spirit”", paper presented in the Inaugural Biennial Conference of European Association for Chinese Philosophy (EACP) “Thinking Across the Borders: Philosophy and China”, held in June 9-11, 2016 at Vilnius University, Lithuania. Abstract of my paper in p.44 of the Book of Abstract: http://www.oc.vu.lt/dokumentai/book_of_abstracts_EACP_2016_Vilnius.pdf
  • "Xu Fuguan's Confucian Theory of Democracy: Democratic Means to Confucian Ends", paper presented in the 19th International Conference of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy, held in CUHK, Hong Kong, 21-24 July 2015.
  • “The Conceptual Relationship between Confucianism and Democracy in the Political Thoughts of Xu Fuguan, Tang Junyi and Mou Zongsan”, oral presentation in 13th Annual Research Postgraduate Conference by the Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong, held in HKU, Hong Kong, 1 June 2013.
  • Is Masturbation a Betrayal to Your Lover?”, paper presented in the 1st Global Conference on Good Sex, Bad Sex: Sex Law, Crime and Ethics, organized by Interdisciplinary Net, held in Budapest, Hungary, 4-7 May 2009.
  • “Working Out Human Rights: Deriving Confucian Rights from Confucian Texts”, paper presented in the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Justice Research, held in Adelaide, Australia, 14-17 August 2008.
  • A Step Towards Human Rights in Confucianism: A Confucian Interest-based Moral Position to Claim”, paper presented in XXII World Congress of Philosophy, held in Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, 30 July-5 August 2008.

Media Interviews

Newspaper Articles