Gerald Cipriani is a Franco-British scholar of Irish and Corsican descent who currently lives in Taiwan. He specialises in the philosophy of art and culture, as well as cross-cultural philosophy, having dedicated over three decades to studying, teaching, and researching these areas. His first encounter with philosophy dates back to his school days in French literature classes, where he discovered the writings of Montaigne, Descartes, and the philosophes of the Enlightenment. But it was Pascal's Pensées that retrospectively proved most awakening, for he learned about the limitations of reason in our quest to understand that slippery fish called truth. Later, through his philosophy teacher Jean-Michel Galano, he was introduced to Marxian thought, which brought a timely and conclusive end to his earlier, juvenile embryonic leanings towards Berkeleyan idealism. Following a baccalauréat in mathematics and physics in the early 1980s, a period of ventures into the visual arts and humanities – through both practical experiences and theoretical studies including sculptural ceramics and philosophical aesthetics – eventually led to a refined focus on philosophy. A lasting outcome was a concern with understanding, reconciling, and living with the perceived dichotomy between the material world and the realm of ideas, practice and theory, or between concreteness and representation in various forms and traditions. This motivated him to pursue further study and exploration of contemporary philosophies of experience and interpretation, eventually guiding him towards his cultural engagement with relational contra totalitarian thought, ideology, and praxis in all modes of expression and political colours. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Western aesthetics in 1998 with a full scholarship at Leeds Metropolitan University under the supervision of art theorist Ian Heywood and hermeneutician Nicholas Davey. His research focused on the intersection of painting and phenomenology. He also studied East Asian philosophy and the Kyoto School at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies and Kyoto University, the latter under the mentorship of aesthetician and Nishida scholar Ken'ichi Iwaki.

Teaching liberated from the totality of instrumental and economic drive of nowadays academia prevalent in many parts of the world has remained his primary motivation. While some may consider this a lost cause, he has always believed that contributing to the shaping of thought through small group seminars or person-to-person tutoring is a deeply valuable, lifetime endeavour. Witnessing the unique taking-place of this formation has always been both a precious achievement and a true privilege. He has taught philosophy for many years in Europe and East Asia, until recently at the School of History and Philosophy of National University of Ireland, Galway. He is currently affiliated as a Guest Professor with the Fine Arts Academy of Hunan Normal University, PR China. Other positions include Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute of Philosophy of National Central University, Taiwan, Professor at Kyushu University, Japan, Visiting Scholar at the University of Helsinki, Visiting Professor at National Taiwan University of Arts, British Academy Research Fellow at Kyoto University, and Senior Lecturer at Birmingham Institute of Art & Design. He was accredited as Principal Supervisor for doctoral research in 2004. He is also Honorary Professor to the UNESCO Chair in Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue, based at the Likhachev Russian Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage, Moscow. [ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED]. Invited lectures at a number of institutions including The University of Tokyo, Peking University, Sungkyunkwan University Seoul, and Goldsmiths University of London. 

He is the recipient of several study and research awards, including from the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan, the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, the British Academy, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust. He has been for several years consultant, editor, and reviewer for various academic publishers as well as research institutions and funding agencies such as the French National Research Agency (Paris), the National Fund for Scientific Research (Brussels), and the National Science Centre (Krakow). He is the chair of the International Research Group for Culture and Dialogue and Founding Editor of peer reviewed journals Culture and Dialogue (Brill) and Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology (Routledge). He has edited around thirty titles in philosophy and the arts and published numerous texts in the fields. His current research focuses on contemporary interpretive aesthetics, relational phenomenology of culture, and dialogical philosophy East-West. Latest book publication: Depois de Nishida: O Vazio Dialógico e a Cosmovisão Histórica (After Nishida: Dialogical Emptiness and the Historical Worldview, translated by André Bueno, 2023). 

He also has an ongoing  interest in the practice of poetry, ink drawing and painting, photography, and, at times, lyrical singing...