Thank you for Participating the 1st Asia Spinoza Circle Annual International Workshop

Although our two days of intensive conversation on Spinoza have come to an end, we still feel the afterglow of the workshop lingering in our mind.

We cannot claim to know everything that is happening across Asia, but we are certain that this workshop was one of the very few occasions on which scholars from different Asian countries gathered to discuss Spinoza's philosophy together. More importantly, it made us realize how many researchers across Asia have been waiting for precisely this kind of gathering, and how valuable such a meeting can be for each of us. Under the name of the Asia Spinoza Circle, we plan to continue organizing this annual workshop, and we hope to help establish it as an important regional platform for Spinoza studies.

The ASC Working Group began as a small online reading group composed primarily of graduate students and early-career scholars. That circumstance has naturally made it difficult for us to organize meetings like this in person. At the same time, however, the years following the pandemic have shown us that creating and sustaining these kinds of scholarly communities has become much easier than it once was. Since this workshop had no external sponsor, we even had to settle for coffee breaks without coffee. Nevertheless, we are deeply grateful to everyone who participated so enthusiastically—not only by presenting their work, but also by engaging in discussions that often continued late into the evening. 

We also share a concern that international exchange in Spinoza studies has long been concentrated along the transatlantic axis. Although Asia is home to many scholars devoted to Spinoza, opportunities for international exchange within the region have remained remarkably limited. As a result, Asian scholarship has often been underrepresented in the global academic community, or regarded as worthy of attention by scholars abroad—and sometimes even by readers in our own countries—only after receiving recognition from Western academia.

For this reason, we believe it is essential to build an Asian-led, welcoming platform where we can continue to develop substantial scholarship in our own languages—Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malay, Thai and many others—while also speaking to one another in our shared language, English, even if that English is imperfect or “broken.” What matters is not flawless English, but the freedom to think together.

Next year, we hope to host this workshop in Seoul. Hopefully, every summer we will travel to wherever our colleagues are across Asia, gathering in a different city each year. We sincerely hope to see you all again there.

Asia Spinoza Working Group

Program: The 1st Asia Spinoza Circle Annual International Workshop

Date: July 30-31, 2026
Venue: Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Tsurukabuto 1 Area, Rokkodai Campus, Kobe University
Organizer: Asia Spinoza Circle

Keynote Speaker: Kokubun Koichiro, University of Tokyo

The Asia Spinoza Circle (ASC) is pleased to announce its inaugural Annual International Workshop, establishing a new platform for sustained scholarly exchange among Spinoza researchers connected to Asia. This intensive two-day workshop will bring together a select group of scholars for in-depth discussion of current research in Spinoza studies.

Day 1

9:45 Registration open

10:00–10:15 Opening remarks

Session 1: Political Imagination and Law

10:15–11:00 Aurora Yu — Invented Laws and the Imagination

11:00–11:45 Soulhee Park — The Hebrew Republic as a Laboratory for ‘Sui Juris Esse’

Lunch break (11:45–13:15)

Keynote

13:15–14:30 Koichiro Kokubun — Individual, Consciousness and Multitude: On the Dilemma of the Modern Political Thought

Session 2: Politics and Community

14:45–15:30 Shanshan Rao — Violence without Exception

15:30–16:15 Xun Shu — Hegel’s Rejection of Universality

Session 3: Spinoza in Japan

16:30–17:15 Dennis Prooi — Freedom in Nishida’s Overcoming of Spinoza

17:15–18:00 Shozo Kamiya — Spinoza and the Limits of Modern Political Agency

Dinner Day 1 

Day 2

Session 4: Ethics and Human Freedom

10:00–10:45 Van Tu — Assimilation Without Transcendence

10:45–11:30 Junshuo Bian — The Platonic Aspect of Human Freedom

Session 5: Mind and Faculties

11:45–12:30 Christopher Kluz — Are All Ideas Affects for Spinoza?

12:30–13:15 Maho Eifuku — Spinoza on Devaluation of Mental Faculties

Lunch break (13:15–14:30)

Session 6: Metaphysics I

14:30–15:15 Henry Kwok — Spinoza's Bundle Theory of the Mind

15:15–16:00 Ki-myoung Kim — Anti-Substantialist Theory of Causation

Session 7: Metaphysics II

16:15–17:00 Tomoyuki Hayashi — OSR-like Solution to the Strict Necessitarianism Dispute

17:00–17:45 Dayang Nurhazieqa Hamzani — Nondualist metaphysical account of

morality, freedom and Divine Knowledge, a Comparison between Spinoza and Hamzah

Fansuri

17:45–18:30 Lee Len — The Apeirist Spinoza : Improper Plurality, Modal

Mereology, and the Status of Individual Things

18:30 Closing remarks

Dinner Day 2

About the Asia Spinoza Circle

The ASC is a collaborative network connecting Spinoza scholars across Asia. We welcome researchers with connections to Asia—whether through origins in Asian countries, cultural and intellectual backgrounds, current institutional affiliations with Asian institutions, or sustained engagement with Asian philosophical traditions. Our inclusive network fosters intellectual exchange and builds a vibrant community exploring Spinoza’s philosophy through diverse Asian perspectives and contexts.

For inquiries, please contact: osr1998@gmail.com (Kim, Ki-Myoung), thiguchi@people.kobe-u.ac.jp (Higuchi, Tomoko)

Homepage: https://sites.google.com/view/asiaspinozacircle

CFP: The 1st Asia Spinoza Circle Annual International Workshop

Date: July 30-31, 2026
Venue: Kobe University, Japan (in-person)
Theme: Any topic related to Benedictus de Spinoza
Organizer: Asia Spinoza Circle

Keynote Speaker: Kokubun Koichiro, University of Tokyo

The Asia Spinoza Circle (ASC) is pleased to announce its inaugural Annual International Workshop, establishing a new platform for sustained scholarly exchange among Spinoza researchers connected to Asia. This intensive two-day workshop will bring together a select group of scholars for in-depth discussion of current research in Spinoza studies.

About the Asia Spinoza Circle

The ASC is a collaborative network connecting Spinoza scholars across Asia. We welcome researchers with connections to Asia—whether through origins in Asian countries, cultural and intellectual backgrounds, current institutional affiliations with Asian institutions, or sustained engagement with Asian philosophical traditions. Our inclusive network fosters intellectual exchange and builds a vibrant community exploring Spinoza’s philosophy through diverse Asian perspectives and contexts.

Workshop Format

• 30-minute presentation followed by 15-minute discussion

• Maximum 12 speakers will be selected for intensive scholarly exchange

• English-language presentations

Submission Guidelines

We invite abstracts on any aspect of Spinoza’s philosophy, including but not limited to:

• Historical and textual studies

• Contemporary philosophical engagements

• Comparative philosophical approaches

Abstract Requirements

• 500 words maximum

• Author bio (50-100 words) including current affiliation and research interests

• Submit to: thiguchi@people.kobe-u.ac.jp (Higuchi, Tomoko)

• Postgraduate students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to apply.

Important Dates

• Abstract Deadline: March 30, 2026

• Notification of Acceptance: End of April 2026

• Full Paper Submission Deadline: June 30, 2026

• Workshop: July 30-31, 2026

Note on Inclusivity

In the context of the ASC, “Asian” is understood broadly and inclusively, encompassing:

• Scholars based at institutions in Asia (including the Middle East, Central Asia, and Oceania)

• Scholars of Asian nationality or heritage, regardless of current institutional affiliation

• Scholars whose intellectual background, research trajectory, or community engagement connects closely with Asian philosophical or cultural contexts

For inquiries, please contact: osr1998@gmail.com (Kim, Ki-Myoung), thiguchi@people.kobe-u.ac.jp (Higuchi, Tomoko)

Homepage: https://sites.google.com/view/asiaspinozacircle

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to inaugurating this new forum for Spinoza scholarship in Asia.