Curriculum Vitae
Basic Information
Name: Xin Liu
Email: liuxin10.03@nju.edu.cn
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7265-7568
Affiliation: Associate Professor, School of Philosophy, Nanjing University
Address: Nanjing University Xianlin Compus, Xianlin Road 163, Qixia District, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu Province, CN
Education/Academic Experience
2024.12-2025.12: Visiting Scholar, invited by Prof. Dr. Christoph Helmig, Philosophisches Seminar, Universität zu Köln
2024.11-12: Visiting Scholar, Institute of Sino-Christian Studies, Hong Kong
2023.6-Now: Associate Professor, School of Philosophy, Nanjing University
2019.10-2023.6: Research Fellow, School of Philosophy, Nanjing University
2021.10-2022.1: Teaching Assignment Without Payment (Lehrauftrag ohne Vergütung), Online Teaching, Institut für Philosophie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
2019. 4-7: Visiting Scholar, invited by Prof. Dr. Christoph Horn, Institut für Philosophie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
2016-2019: Research Fellow, School of Philosophy, Beijing Normal University
2009-2016: Doctor of Philosophy, Dissertation entitled Sein, Logos und Veränderung – Eine systematische Untersuchung zu Aristoteles’ Metaphysik (in German), Dissertation & PhD Thesis Defense noted with summa cum laude, First Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Anton Friedrich Koch, Second Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jens Halfwassen, Philosophisches Seminar, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
2007-2008: Academic Exchange, Institut für Philosophie & Institut für Klassische Philologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin & Freie Universität Berlin
2005-2009: Master of Philosophy, Thesis titled with The Analogy of Soul and City in Plato’s Republic (in Chinese), Supervisor: Prof. Jin Xiping, Department of Philosophy, Peking University
2001-2005: Bachelor of Literature, School of Journalism and Communication, Remin University of China
Research Field
Ancient Greek philosophy (Plato’s and Aristotle’s theoretical philosophy and metaphysics); the Greek-Arabic-Latin tradition of translation and reception (Neoplatonism, Avicenna, and Thomas Aquinas); Heidegger’s early philosophy (especially his interpretation of Plato and Aristotle). Currently, I am focusing on the division and methods of division in ancient Greek philosophy, with particular emphasis on Plato’s late dialogues and Aristotle’s Biology and Logics. I am also drawing attention to Avicenna’s physics and metaphysics.
Research Project
2024-2026. “A Re-examination of the Doctrines of Truth of Plato and Aristotle from the Phenomenological Perspective of Heidegger”, supported by Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education in China, Post-funding Project, Grant Number: 24JHQ041, in progress.
2021-2026. “Research on Division and Methods of Division in Ancient Greek Philosophy”, supported by National Social Science Foundation of China, General Program, Grant Number: 21BZX088, in progress.
2018-2024. “Aristotle’s Philosophy in Light of Arabic Tradition of Interpretation and Reception”, supported by Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education in China, Youth Program, Grant Number: 18YJC720012, completed.
Publications
Monograph
2020. Sein, Logos und Veränderung – Eine systematische Untersuchung zu Aristoteles’ Metaphysik. Quellen und Studien zur Philosophie 139. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter.
Review
2021. Andreas Lammer, The Elements of Avicenna’s Physics: Greek Sources and Arabic Innovation. Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 103 (4): 761-764.
2021. Dag Nikolaus Hasse/Amos Bertolacci (Eds.), The Arabic, Hebrew and Latin Reception of Avicenna’s Physics and Cosmology. Gnomon: Kritische Zeitschrift für die gesamte klassische Altertumswissenschaft 93 (4): 309-313.
Paper
2025. “Proclus: Counting the Hypotheses as Nine, Eight, or Twenty-four?” Apeiron 58 (2): 181-205.
2024. “How Do the Eight Hypotheses in Plato’s Parmenides Come to Light? Chiasmus as a Method of Division.” Journal of Ancient Philosophy 18 (1): 37-66. Available online: https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1981-9471.v18i1p37-66.
2024. “On Proofs for the Existence of God: Aristotle, Avicenna, and Thomas Aquinas.” Special Issue Medieval Theology and Philosophy from a Cross-Cultural Perspective. Religions 15 (2): 1-22. Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020235.
2021. “On Diairesis, Parallel Division, and Chiasmus: Plato’s and Aristotle’s Methods of Division.” Plato Journal 22: 27-52. Available online: https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-4105_22_3.
2021. “On Division and Definition: Aristotle’s Criticism of Dichotomy in Parts of Animals A2–3.” Eirene. Studia Graeca et Latina 57: 179-213.
2021. “The Comparative Research of Aristotle’s and Avicenna’s Theory of Time.” Philosophical Researches 6: 84-94. In Chinese.
2020. “The Difficulties of and the Solution to Plato’s Early and Mid-term Theory of Idea in the First Part of the Parmenides.” Monthly Review of Philosophy and Culture 551 (4): 163-180. In Chinese.
2016. “Aristotle’s Theory of Truth.” Philosophical Trends 10: 76-83. In Chinese.
2016. “Aristotle’s Investigation of Arche.” Xue Deng 1: 222-239. In Chinese.
2015. “Aristotle’s Doctrine of Analogy.” Tsinghua Studies in Western Philosophy 1: 400-431. In Chinese.
Language Ability
Ancient Greek (Graecum 1.0), Latin (Latinum 3.0), Hebrew (Hebraicum 2.7), Arabic (Final Examination/Abschlußprüfung 1.0), German, English, Chinese
Teaching Activity
2025SS: Homonymie, Analogie und Ähnlichkeit bei Aristoteles, in German, in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Christoph Helmig (Seminar)
2024SS: From Philosophy to Theology: A Study of the Doctrines of Analogy Proposed by Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and Cajetan (Seminar)
2022/2023WS: Plato’s Cratylus and Theaetetus (Seminar)
Every summer semester since 2022SS: Introduction to Chinese and Western Philosophical Classics (Lecture Course)
2021/2022WS: Plato’s Theaetetus, International Seminar Bonn-Nanjing in English, in cooperation with Dr Walter Denis, in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy of Bonn University and the School of Philosophy of Nanjing University
2021/2022WS: Plato’s Sophist (Seminar)
2021SS: Reason and Belief: Proofs and Criticisms of the Existence of God (Pro-Seminar)
2020/2021WS: History of Western Philosophy: Ancient Greek Philosophy (Lecture Course)
2020SS: Aristotle’s Categories (Seminar)
2019/2020WS: History of Western Philosophy: Ancient Greek Philosophy (Lecture Course)
Every semester since 2019/2020WS: Introduction to Plato’s Republic (Lecture Course)
2018/2019WS: Aristotle’s The Parts of Animals (Seminar)
2017/2018WS: Aristotle’s Physics (Seminar)
2018SS: Aristotle’s On Interpretation (Reading Group)
2016/2017WS-2017/2018WS: Aristotle’s Categories (reading group)
2016/2017WS-2017SS: Avicenna’s The Metaphysics of Healing (Reading Group)
Academic Activity (selected)
2024.12.6. I was invited to give a keynote lecture on "What is Metaphysics? Topoi of Transcendence in Ancient and Modern" at the lecture series of the School of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Lanzhou University on "Multiple Traditions of Western Philosophy".
2024.11.7-8. I was invited to the World Conference of Classics I, held in Beijing and jointly organized by the Ministry of Education of China and the Ministry of Culture of Greece. In the fourth session, hosted by Sichuan University, I gave a keynote speech entitled "How Does Plato Construct Exercises of Opposite Forms in the Parmenides and the Sophist? Chiasmus as a Universal Scheme of Exercise".
2024.10.25. I participated in the conference "Existence and Essence: Phenomenology and Classical Philosophy Forum III" organized by the Department of Philosophy of Tsinghua University, where I gave a keynote speech on "The Study of Aristotelian Metaphysics: An Image of Horizontal and Vertical Intertwining".
2024.10.18. I was invited to give a keynote lecture on "Aristotle's Classification of Disciplines in Multiple Perspectives" in the lecture series of "Lecture Hall for Mutual Understanding of Civilizations" of the Sino-Hellenic Centre for Mutual Understanding of Civilizations, at Southwest University.
2024.5.25-26. I participated in the Arab Philosophy Youth Workshop "Ibn Sina (Avicenna) in the Perspective of Multiple Civilizations" hosted by the Department of Philosophy at Peking University, where I presented "On Proofs for the Existence of God. Aristotle, Avicenna, and Thomas Aquinas".
2024.5.16. I attended the roundtable on "Commemorative Reprint of the History of Western Philosophy and the Future of the Study of the History of Western Philosophy" jointly organized by the Dengfeng Strategy of Western Advantage Disciplines of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Jiangsu People's Publishing House, and presented "A Preliminary Exploration of Concept-Centered Study of the History of Western Philosophy: A Discussion of Transcendence as a Paradigm".
2024.4.27-28. I attended the Symposium on Logic and Metaphysics hosted by the School of Philosophy at Fudan University, where I presented "Aristotle's Triple Balance of Being, Logos, and Motion".
2023.6.19-21. (online) I participated in the Seventeenth Annual Marquette Summer Seminar on Aristotle and the Aristotelian Tradition(s): Logos, Logic, and Metaphysics, organised by Richard Taylor and Owen Goldin and hosted by the Department of Philosophy at Marquette University, where I presented "A Historical Investigation on Classification of Quantity and Classification of Mathematics: Aristotle, Ammonius, and Avicenna".
2023.5.20-21. As a Special Invited Scholar of the Year 2022, I held a block seminar entitled "From Philosophy to Theology: Doctrines of Analogy Proposed by Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas" (in Chinese), organized by Prof. Thomas Qu and hosted by the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University.
2022.12.7. (online) I attended the workshop "Transcendental from the Ancient and Modern Perspectives" organized by the School of Philosophy of Nanjing University, where I presented "What is Metaphysics? Topoi of Transcendentals in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy" in Chinese.
2022.11.11-13. (online) I participated in the conference "Truth and Practice: Phenomenology and Classical Philosophy Forum II" organized by the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), where I presented "Plato's Doctrine of Truth Revisited: From the Perspective of Heidegger's Fundamental Ontology" in Chinese.
2022.7.18-22. (online) I participated in the Symposium Platonicum XIII: Plato's Sophist, hosted by George University, and presented the revised paper "Κοινωνία μεγίστων γενῶν: From the Exercise of One-Many in the Parmenides to the Exercise of Being-Not-Being in the Sophist".
2022.1.8-9. I attended the block seminar "Medieval Thought from the Perspective of Modern Philosophy: Duns Scotus", organized by the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University. I gave a talk on "Duns Scotus's Univocity".
2021.6.20. (online) I was invited to give a keynote lecture at Huaqiao University entitled "The Tradition of Cosmological Proof for the Existence of God: Aristotle, Avicenna, and Thomas Aquinas" in Chinese.
2021.5.14-16. (online) I presented the draft of "Κοινωνία μεγίστων γενῶν: From the Exercise of One-Many in the Parmenides to the Exercise of Being-Nonbeing in the Sophist" at the West Coast Plato Workshop 2021 organized by George Rudebusch and hosted by Northern Arizona University.
2020.7.1. (online) I presented the paper "On Diairesis and Chiasmus: Plato's Methods of Division in the Statesman" in the section on Plato's Late Dialogues: Methodologies, organized by Edward Halper on behalf of the International Plato Society (IPS) at the American Philosophical Association (APA) Pacific Division Meeting 2020.
2019.7.15-20. I participated in the Symposium Platonicum XII: Plato's Parmenides in Paris and presented the paper "How do the Eight Hypotheses in the Parmenides come to light? Chiasmus as a Method of Division".
2020.12.20. (online) I was invited to give a keynote lecture at Soochow University entitled "Re-examination of Aristotle's Doctrine of Truth in Light of Heidegger's Phenomenology" in Chinese.
2020.11.27-29. I participated in the conference "Time and Eternity: Phenomenology and Classical Philosophy Forum I" organized by the School of Philosophy at Nanjing University, where I presented the paper "Quid est tempus? Time and Motion vs. Time and Being: A Contest between Aristotle-Avicenna and Plato-Augustin" in Chinese.
2020.6.8. (online) I was invited to give a keynote lecture at Jilin University entitled "Two Approaches to God: Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas" in Chinese.
2019.11.13. I was invited to give a keynote lecture at the Department of Philosophy of Shanghai Jiaotong University, entitled "On Aristotle's Multiples Senses of Being", in Chinese.
