George Tsai

Chair and Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawaii at Mānoa

Faculty Affiliate, Center for Chinese Studies.

Much of moral philosophy focuses on hard cases and abstract principles. My work starts elsewhere — in the texture of ordinary relationships and practices, where moral complexity runs no less deep for being familiar.  I examine how our relationships, practices, and institutions scaffold human agency, shaping how we make sense of ourselves and the ethical significance of our world — and what is at stake as artificial intelligence transforms those conditions.

My work is in moral and political philosophy, and draws on both Western and early Chinese traditions.

I received my B.A. in Economics and Moral & Political Thought from Amherst College and my Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to Berkeley, I was an M.A. student in Philosophy at Stanford University.

My previous appointments include Dissertation Fellow at the University of Richmond (2010-11), Visiting Assistant Professor at Scripps College (2011-12), Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Philosophy at the Australian National University (2013-14), and Visiting Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (2021).

Outside the university, I am a Senior Associate at Principia Advisory, applying philosophical analysis to questions of organizational ethics and leadership.

Before entering academic philosophy, I worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York, focusing on mergers and acquisitions in the industrials sector.