Curriculum Vitae

Updated March 2024

e-mail: eirik.harris [at] colostate.edu

ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3548-1783

Employment
  • Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University (2021-present)
  • Department of Religion & Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University (2018-2021)
    • Research Fellow, Centre for Applied Ethics
  • Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong (2012-2018)
    • Core Member, Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy
  • Visiting Fellow, Philosophy Programme, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (8/2016-1/2017)
  • Underwood International College, Yonsei University (2010-2012)
  • Department of Philosophy, Santa Clara University (2009-2010)
Education
  • 2009 PhD in Philosophy, University of Utah
  • 2004-2005 International Chinese Language Program, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 2003-2004 Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Study, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
  • 2003 MA in Asian Languages & Cultures, University of Michigan
  • 2001 MA in Philosophy, University of California, San Diego
  • 1999 BA in PPE (Philosophy, Politics, & Economics), Pomona College
  • 1995 International Baccalaureate, Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong
Books
Articles & Book-Chapters (peer-reviewed)
Translations
  • “Han Feizi” (selections). In Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. Van Norden, eds. Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy. 3rd Ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2023, 323-381.
  • Mou Zongsan, Xu Fuguan, Zhang Junmai, & Tang Junyi’s “Manifesto on Behalf of Chinese Culture Respectfully Announced to the People of the World” (selections). In Justin Tiwald and Bryan Van Norden, eds. Readings in Later Chinese Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett. (Due to inability to locate copyright holder, currently available only on Hackett website here. Planned for inclusion in print version of 2nd edition).
  • “Analects,” “Mencius,” and “Book of Filial Piety” (selections), in Margaret Pabst Battin, ed. The Ethics of Suicide: Historical Sources. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. 55-57, 86.
  • “Mozi” and “Zhuangzi” (selections). In Robin Wang, ed. Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty, Indianapolis: Hackett, 2003, 100-101, 109-112.
Special Journal Issues
In Progress
  • Political Meritocracy in Early China. Cambridge University Press, under contract.
  • Explaining and Illustrating the Laozi: The Earliest Commentaries on the Daodejing. With Eric L. Hutton. Oxford University Press, under contract.
  • Moral and Public Agency in Early Chinese Philosophy, co-edited with Henrique Schneider. Brill, under contract.
  • “Early Chinese Political Realists: From Shen Buhai to Han Fei.” In Selusi Ambrogio and David Rogacz, eds. Chinese Philosophy and Its Thinkers: From Ancient Times to the Present Day. London: Bloomsbury Academic, vol. under contract.
  • “The Dao of Han Fei.” In Justin Tiwald, ed., Oxford Handbook of Chinese Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, under contract.
  • “Mozi and Han Feizi.” In Victor Mair and Zhenjun Zhang, eds., Routledge Handbook of Traditional Chinese Literature. London: Routledge, vol. under contract.
  • “The Laozi and Han Feizi through the Lens of the ‘Jie Lao’.” In Liu Xiaogan and Yuan Ai, eds., Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Daodejing.  New York: Springer, vol.under contract.
  • “The Development of Law in Early Chinese Political Philosophy.” In Brook Ziporyn and Stephen C. Walker, eds. Routledge Companion to Chinese Philosophy. New York: Routledge, vol. under contract.
Other Publications (* indicates peer-review)
Presentations (* indicates invited talks)
  • * “Virtue and Law: A Xunzian Approach,” Philosophy Department, Colorado College (11 April 2024)
  • *”Confucian Vice,” Invited Symposium: Theorizing Vice: Global Perspectives, American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting (21 March 2024)
  • “Human Motivations in the Wei Liaozi,” Department of Religious Studies, University of Richmond (9 November 2023)
  • * “The Development of Law in Early Chinese Political Philosophy,” University of Richmond (8 November 2023)
  • “Public Agency in Mozi and Han Fei,” Manchester Center for Political Theory Workshop. (13 September 2023)
  • “A Realist Critique of Confucian Meritocracy: Wherein Lies the Merit?” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting (6 April 2023)
  • * “The Han Feizi on Politically Relevant Merit,” Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado Boulder. (4 November 2022)
  • “The Huainanzi and its ‘Ruler’s Techniques’,”  Pacific APA. (14 April 2022)
  • * “A Discussion of Fa (法) in the Shenzi,” Columbia Society for Comparative Philosophy. (22 October 2021)
  • * “Talking from Traditions: Problems and Prospects,” Invited Symposium, Pacific APA (10 April 2021)
  • * “Han Fei on Ethics in the Corporate Realm,” Ethics, Law, & Society Annual Lecture, Philosophy Program, University of South Dakota. (18 March 2021)
  • * “Developing Political Realism – Some Ideas from Early China,” Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University. (14 February 2020)
  • * “Normativity of War and Peace – Thoughts from the Han Feizi,Workshop on Western-Chinese Ethics of War and Peace II, University of Virginia. (7 December 2019)
  • *”Harmony and Nature – Thoughts from Laozi and Shen Dao,” Research Center for Overseas Chinese Studies, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou. (19 October 2019)
  • *”Critiquing Heavily Normative Conceptions of Harmony – Thoughts from the Han Feizi,” Research Center for Overseas Chinese Studies, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou. (18 October 2019)
  • * “A Han Feizian Worry with Confucian Meritocracy – and a Non-Moral Alternative,” Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy, City University of Hong Kong. (September 2019)
  • “On Some Similarities between Mozi and Han Fei,” Pacific APA. (18 April 2019)
  • *”Harmony in the Han Feizi,” Workshop on Conceptions of Harmony in Chinese Thoughts, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. (December 2018)
  • *”Interpreting Chinese Philosophical Texts,” School of Foreign Studies, School of Chinese Language and Literature, and School of History, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. (24 November 2018)
  • *”Han Fei on What We Can Learn from History,” Conference on China and Globalization, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou. (25 November 2018)
  • “Han Fei on Organizing and Justifying the State and Political Authority,” APSA Annual Meeting. (2 September 2018)
  • * “Fajia and Bingjia,” SCCF Summer Program, Chinese University of Hong Kong. (28 July 2018)
  • *”Shen Dao Among the Early Moderns?”, Workshop on Expanding the Canon: Transitions and Transformations in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy, Schloss Neuhaus (Gais, Italy). (July 2018)
  • “Amoral Desert? Han Fei’s Theory of Punishment,” APA Pacific. (31 March 2018)
  • *”On The Source and Grounds of Han Fei’s Political Philosophy,” Department of Philosophy, Hong Kong University. (25 January 2018)
  • *”Political Thought in the Shenzi Fragments,” Department of Philosophy & Religion, University of Macau. (December 2017)
  • *”Law and Virtue in Early Chinese Philosophy,” Philosophy Department, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. (October 2017)
  • *”Unravelling the Han Feizi’s Dissection of the Laozi,” Department of Philosophy & Religion, University of Macau. (October 2017)
  • “Han Fei and Ethics in the Corporate Realm,” ISCP Conference, Nanyang University, Singapore. (7 July 2017)
  • *”The Shenzi Fragments: A Philosophical Analysis and Translation Author Meets Critics,” ISCP Conference, Nanyang University, Singapore. (6 July 2017)
  • “Unknotting the Han Feizi’s Dissection of the Laozi,” Workshop on Legalism, Sunkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea. (19 May 2017)
  • * “The Political Philosophy of Shen Dao,” Department of Philosophy, Sunkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea. (18 May 2017)
  • * “Relating the Political to the Ethical – or Not: Loubna El Amine’s Classical Confucian Political Thought: A New Interpretation,” Author Meets Critics Session, APA Pacific. (16 April 2017)
  • “Han Fei and Corporate Ethics,” APA Pacific. (16 April 2017)
  • * “Which Teacher Should I Choose? A Xunzian Approach to Distinguishing Moral Experts from Fanatics,” Department of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego. (27 January 2017)
  • * “Han Fei’s Political Philosophy – Finding its Source in the Dao,” Division of Humanities, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. (9 November 2016)
  • * “Shen Dao and the Development of Chinese Political Philosophy,” Philosophy Department, University of Otago. (5 October 2016)
  • * “The Sources and Justifications of Han Fei’s Political Philosophy,” Philosophy Programme, University of Auckland. (30 September 2016)
  • * “Xunzi, Moral Cultivation, Fanaticism, and the Student’s Dilemma,” Philosophy Programme, University of Waikato. (29 September 2016).
  • “The Dao of Han Fei,” Workshop on Chinese Legalism, Jagiellonian University. (15 September 2016).
  • * “Why Do Philosophy Comparatively?” Department of the Sociology of Law, Jagiellonian University. (14 September 2016).
  • * “The Shenzi Fragments and Early Chinese Political Philosophy,” Philosophy Programme, Victoria University of Wellington. (18 August 2016)
  • * “Fajia and Bingjia,” SCCF Summer Program, Chinese University of Hong Kong. (12 July 2016)
  • * “Virtue and the Law in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” Philosophy Lecture Series, Brigham Young University Philosophy Department. (07 April 2016)
  • * “Shen Dao’s Political Philosophy,” Asian Studies Faculty Colloquium, Brigham Young University. (06 April 2016)
  • * “Choosing to Be Confucian: A Student’s Worry,” David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies, Brigham Young University. (05 April 2016)
  • “Han Fei on Organizing and Justifying the State,” APA Pacific. (01 April 2016)
  • “Moral Cultivation and the Student’s Dilemma,” Northeast Conference on Chinese Thought, Southern Connecticut State University. (November 2015)
  • “Shen Dao’s Conception of the Law and the Dao,” APA Pacific. (April 2015)
  • * “The Law and the Way in the Shenzi Fragments,” Department of Philosophy, Hong Kong University. (March 2015)
  • * “Shen Dao and Early Chinese Political Philosophy,” Department of Philosophy, University of New Mexico. (January 2015)
  • “Virtue and Law in Xuzi,” APSA Annual Meeting. (Aug 2014)
  • “Xunzi on the Role of Military Tactics in Ordering the State,” APA Pacific. (April 2014)
  • “Shen Dao’s Political Thought,” Northeast Conference on Chinese Thought, Wesleyan University. (November 2013)
  • * “Han Fei on the Role of History,” 韓非子與法家思想國際學術研討會 (International Symposium on Han Feizi and Legalism), Renmin University, Beijing, China. (June 2013)
  • “Xunzi’s Virtue Jurisprudence,” APA Eastern. (December 2012)
  • “Xunzi’s Reformation Model of Moral Cultivation and the Worry of Fanaticism,” APA Eastern. (December 2012)
  • “Constraining the Ruler in Early Chinese Political Thought,” Australasian Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy conference, Sydney Australia. (July 2012)
  • “Xunzi and Han Fei on Constraining the Ruler,” APA Pacific. (April 2011)
  • * “Ideal and Non-Ideal Theory in Xunzi’s Political Thought,” Department of Philosophy, Chinese University of Hong Kong. (May 2011)
  • “Developing Virtue Politics: or, how did we ever come to like oysters on the half shell?,” Underwood International College Faculty Colloquium. (May 2011)
  • “A Xunzian Defense of the Role of Virtue in the Political Realm,” Midwest Conference on Chinese Thought. (May 2010)
  • * “Xunzi on Virtue in Politics,” Philosophy Department, Santa Clara University. (April 2010)
  • “Han Fei on the Role of Morality in Political Philosophy,” APA Pacific . (April 2010)
  • “Han Fei’s Political Philosophy,” APA Eastern. (December 2008)
  • * “On the Role of Virtue in the Political Realm,” Department of Philosophy, National University of Singapore. (February 2008)
  • “The Hegemon and the True King in Xunzi’s Political Thought,” Western Conference of the Association for Asian Studies. (September 2007)
  • “Is the Law in the Way? An Analysis of the ‘Da ti’ Chapter of the Han Feizi,” Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference. (March 2007)
  • * “What is Philosophy of Law?” invited talk to the University of Utah Undergraduate Philosophy Club. (November 2006)
  • “On Weakening the People: Shang Yang’s Political Philosophy” 弱民: 商鞅之政治哲學, Departmental Lecture for the International Chinese Language Program at National Taiwan University. (March 2005)
  • “On the ‘Jie Lao’: Some Whys and Wherefores Underlying Han Fei’s Hacking Apart of the Laozi,” Midwest Conference on Asian History and Culture. (May 2003)
  • “The Four Sprouts and the Seven Feelings: What Would Mengzi Say?” APA Pacific. (March 2003)
  • “On the Nature of Virtue: Ideas from the Early Confucian Tradition,” Harvard East Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference. (February 2002)
  • “Confucius and Aristotle on Learning to be Virtuous,” APA Pacific. (February 2001)
Commentaries
  • Respondent to: Youngsun Back, “Yi Ik on Shame, Contempt, and Anger,” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting (22 March 2024)
  • Respondent to: Na Ha, “The Meaning of ‘Public Emotions’ in Yi Ik’s Four-Seven Theory,” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting (22 March 2024)
  • Respondent to Chan Kang, “Han Fei and Political Legitimacy,” Political Leadership and Governance in East Asia Conference.
  • Respondent to Markus Fischer, “The Book of Lord Shang Compared to Machiavelli and Hobbes,” American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division meeting.
  • Respondent to Susan Blake, “Metaethics and the Value of Humanity in the Mencius,” Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference.
International Conferences & Workshops Organized
  • Engaging with Legalism – Connections across Traditions, Sunkyunkwan University. Co-sponsored by Sunkyunkwan University’s College of Confucian Studies & Eastern Philosophy and CityU’s Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy (18-19 May 2017). (With Youngsun Back)
  • Chinese Legalism, Jagiellonian University. Co-sponsored by Jagiellonian University’s Department of the Sociology of Law and CityU’s Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy (15-16 September 2016). (With Mateusz Stępień)
  • Political Theory and Theorizing East and West, City University of Hong Kong. Supported by the Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy (27 February-1 March 2015). (With Sungmoon Kim).
  • Traditional Non-Confucian Perspectives on Social and Political Organization and Order, City University of Hong Kong. Supported by the Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy, the Department of Public Policy, and the City University of Hong Kong 30th Anniversary Celebration Fund. (15-16 March 2014)
Courses Taught

Colorado State University

  • Philosophies of East Asia
  • World Philosophies
  • Human Nature & Political Community (Capstone Seminar)
  • Political Realisms: China, India, & Europe (Graduate Seminar)
  • Early Chinese Political Philosophy (Graduate Seminar)
  • What’s Wrong with Utopianism? Realist Political Philosophy (Capstone Seminar)
  • Virtue & Law (Graduate Seminar)

Hong Kong Baptist University

  • Freedom in Modern Society
  • From Responsible Citizenship to Service Leadership
  • Chinese Moral & Political Philosophy
  • Introduction to Ethics

Victoria University of Wellington

  • Political Philosophy East and West

City University of Hong Kong

  • Ethics and Political Philosophy of China (MA course)
  • Philosophy & Life: A Dialogue
  • Thinking Philosophically: Bridging the Gap between Arts and Sciences
  • Values and Choice in Public and Social Policy
  • Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy
  • Health Care Policy and Ethics
  • Environmental Issues, Policy, and Ethics
  • Ethics and Practice
  • Philosophy Goes to the Movies

Underwood International College, Yonsei University

  • Eastern Civilizations
  • Law and Philosophy (seminar)
  • Comparative Political Philosophy (seminar)
  • Critical Reasoning

Santa Clara University

  • Chinese Philosophy
  • Ethical Issues in Business
  • Ethical Issues in Society

University of Utah

  • Intro: Survey of Philosophy, Primary Instructor
  • Intro to Philosophy: God, Faith & Reason, Primary Instructor
  • Philosophy of Law, Primary Instructor
Languages
  • English – native
  • Mandarin Chinese – excellent speaking, reading, and writing
  • Classical Chinese – excellent reading
  • French – advanced reading, intermediate writing and speaking
Grants and Fellowships
  • City University of Hong Kong College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Research Grant Writing Fund, “Oneness in Environmental Ethics and Political Theory” (2014-2016) (HK$400,000, US$51,600), Co-Principal Investigator with Philip J. Ivanhoe
  • City University of Hong Kong Start-up Grant “Early Chinese Political Philosophy” (2015-2017) (HK$200,000/US$25,800)
  • Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund Grant, “Han Fei’s Political Philosophy” (2014-2017) (HK$130,000/US$16,800)
  • City University of Hong Kong 30th Anniversary Celebration Conference Grant (2014) (HK$50,000/US$6,500)
  • City University of Hong Kong Teaching Start Up Grant (2012-2013) (HK$80,000/US$10,300)
  • Yonsei University Start Up Grant (2010-2011) (10 million KRW/US$8,600)
  • University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship (2007-2008)
  • University of Utah Philosophy Department Graduate Student Book Award (2007)
  • University of Utah Graduate Humanities Fellowship (2005 – present)
  • Republic of China Ministry of Education Fellowship (2005)
  • Blakemore Freeman Fellowship for Advanced Asian Language Study(2003-2005)
  • Chinese Language Study Fellowship of the China Scholarship Council of the People’s Republic of China (2003-2004) (Declined)
  • Telluride Association Scholarship (2002-2003)
  • Foreign Languages & Areas Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship (2002)
  • University of Michigan Literature, Science & Arts Fellowship (2001-2004)
  • Institute for Humane Studies Fellowship (2001, 2003)
  • Foreign Languages & Areas Studies (FLAS) Fellowship (2001) (Declined)
  • University of California, San Diego Philosophy Department Fellowship (1999)
Professional Service
Referee For:

  • Asiatische Studien
  • American Journal of Chinese Studies
  • American Political Science Review
  • Asian Journal of Philosophy
  • British Journal for the History of Philosophy
  • China-EU Law Journal
  • Comparative Political Theory
  • Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy
  • Early China
  • Environmental Philosophy
  • The Philosophical Forum
  • Frontiers of Daoist Studies
  • History of Philosophy Quarterly
  • Journal of Asian and African Studies
  • Journal of Chinese Political Science
  • Journal of Confucian Philosophy and Culture
  • Journal of Human Values
  • Journal of Religious Ethics
  • Journal of the American Philosophical Association
  • Journal of the History of Ideas
  • Journal of Value Inquiry
  • Law and Philosophy
  • The Monist
  • Philosophy Compass
  • Philosophy East and West
  • Philosophical Forum
  • Polity
  • Review of Politics
  • Utilitas
  • Acumen Publishing
  • Bloomsbury Publishing
  • Columbia University Press
  • Fordham University Press
  • Gale Cengage Learning
  • Lexington Books
  • Oxford University Press
  • Polity Press
  • Routledge
  • Springer
  • State University of New York Press
  • University of California Press

Category Editor – PhilPapers – “Chinese Philosophy”, “Classical Chinese Philosophy”

Program Committee Member – American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting (2022-2023)

Editor (along with Sungmoon Kim) for CEACOP Series in East Asian Comparative Ethics, Politics, & Philosophy of Law, published by Rowman & Littlefield International. (2013-2020)

Service for Colorado State University

  • University Faculty Council, 2023-present
  • University Standing Committee on Scholastic Standards, 2023-present.
  • College of Liberal Arts Graduate Council, 2022-present.
  • College of Liberal Arts Democracy Initiative Coordination Committee, 2022-2024.
  • Department of Philosophy Tenure & Promotion Committee, 2023-present
  • Department of Philosophy Events Committee, 2023-present.
  • Department of Philosophy Director of Graduate Studies, 2022-present.
  • Department of Philosophy Executive Committee, 2021-present.
  • Department of Philosophy Graduate Committee, 2021-present.

Service for Hong Kong Baptist University

  • Department of Religion & Philosophy General Education Committee, 2018-2021.
  • Department of Religion & Philosophy Postgraduate Committee, 2019-2021.
    • Committee Chair, 2020-2021.

Service for City University of Hong Kong

  • Department of Public Policy Departmental Executive Committee, 2014-2015, 2017-2018.
  • Department of Public Policy Research Education Committee, 2016-2018.
  • International Student Exchange Programme Group, 2013-2018.
  • Department of Public Policy Website Coordinator, 2013-2-18.
  • College Board of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2013-2015.
  • College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Representative for School Visits, 2012-2014.

Service for Underwod International College, Yonsei University

  • Faculty Search Committee, 2011.
  • Career Development Center Committee, 2010-2012.
  • Reviewer for International Student Admissions, 2010-2011.
  • First Year Curriculum Development Committee, 2010-2011.

Service for University of Michigan

  • Department of Asian Languages and Cultures Faculty Search Committee, 2001 – 2002.