簡歷
孟繁麟博士於 2021 年加入香港中文大學哲學系。他從牛津大學取得博士學位，期間於 St Antony’s College 就讀，獲太古堂獎學金 (Swire Scholarship) 全額資助。他的研究發表於多份具聲譽的同儕審查期刊，包括 Analysis、Dao、Journal of Social Philosophy 及 Social Theory and Practice。他在自由主義中立性、公共理性以及儒家致善主義等方面的研究引起了一些國際關注，並曾被《Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy》及《The Oxford Handbook of John Rawls》等重要學術文獻所引用。
研究計劃：
他的主要研究興趣在社會和政治哲學，專注於自由致善主義 (liberal perfectionism) 和國家中立性 (state neutrality) 所牽涉的議題。他認為一個擁護自由的國家可採取溫和的致善主義的措施，包括資助藝術和文化，以創造有利於市民過上豐富人生的環境。讀者可到 PhilPeople 查看他大部分的論文，亦可參看 Google Scholar.
目前，他有兩個主要研究項目。第一個項目，是透過參與有關公共理性 (public reason) 和國家中立性的辯論為致善主義提供堅實的基礎。雖然他批評排斥致善主義的公共理性理論，但他強調，公民須以互相尊重的方式向其他市民證明自己的立場。此外，他認為致善主義能加深我們對公民美德的本質及其重要性的理解，即使我們身處威權統治的社會之中。
另一個項目，是他此前的政府資助項目的延續。該項目題為《當代儒家政治哲學：限制與貢獻》，由香港研究資助委員會在 2022 年至 2023 年資助。該項目已產生了幾篇文章。他正計劃出版一部專著，更系統地討論儒家對當代世界的重要性。他特別想探索儒家觀點能否為當代的民主政治和教育政策帶來啓發。
研究之外：
他喜歡看電影、讀文學、唱歌和逛書店。此外，他是 2023 年中文大學文學院傑出教學獎得獎者，以及 2024 年中文大學通識教育模範教學獎的得獎者。
研究範圍
- 社會政治哲學
- 比較哲學
- 倫理學
出版刊物
Forthcoming. ‘Educating Citizens about Intellectual Virtue and Vice’. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy.
2024. ‘Perfectionism, Political Justification, and Confucianism’. In James Dominic Rooney and Patrick Zoll (Eds.), Freedom and the Good: Beyond Classical Liberalism, Routledge, 130-144.
2023. ‘Perfectionism, Public Reason, and Excellences’. Analysis, 83 (3): 627-639.
2023. ‘Confucianism and Public Political Discussion’. Comparative Political Theory, 3 (2): 154-168.
2022. ‘Perfectionism’. In William R. Thompson (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, Oxford University Press. (Online) (Co-authored with Joseph Chan.)
2021. ‘State Perfectionism and the Importance of Confucianism for East Asia’s Future Development’. Philosophical Forum, 52 (1): 5-16.
2020. ‘Political Meritocracy and Its Betrayal’. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 46 (9): 1113-1126.
2020. ‘Is Popular Sovereignty a Useful Myth?’ In Melissa S. Williams (Ed.), Deparochializing Political Theory, Cambridge University Press, 149-173. (Co-authored with Joseph Chan.)
2019. ‘Why Public Reason Could Not Be Too Modest: The Case of Public Reason Confucianism’. Journal of Social Philosophy, 50 (2): 163-176.
2018. ‘Confucianism, Perfectionism, and Liberal Society’. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, 17 (1): 29-49.
2017. ‘Public Reason Can Be Reasonably Rejected’. Social Theory and Practice, 43 (2): 343-367.
2013. ‘Liberal Neutrality and Moderate Perfectionism’. Res Publica: A Journal of Moral, Legal, and Social Philosophy, 19 (4): 297-315. (The winner of the 8th Res Publica Essay Prize, awarded by The Association for Social and Political Philosophy [ASPP].)
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Public talks (selections):
‘Freedom for a person’s life’ (「自由對於人的一生」) – a talk given at Hong Kong Reader Bookstore in March 2023. The event was organized by Hok Sik (學識Hok6.com).
‘Political apathy and collective memory’ (「政治冷感與集體回憶」) – a paper presented for a symposium at Lingnan University in March 2023. The symposium was co-organized by three philosophy societies of Lingnan University, Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong respectively.
‘How could studying and working make one happy?’ (「返工返學點會快樂?」) – a talk given at Hong Kong Central Library in December 2018. The event was co-organized by Hong Kong Practical Philosophy Society and Hong Kong Central Library.