Beijing to host 24 world congress of Philosophy

China’s capital Beijing will host the 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) in 2018, it was announced here on Saturday at the closing ceremony of the 23rd WCP. The announcement was made by Dermot Moran, president of the Programme Committee, the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP) to the cheers and applause of the audience, including about 300 philosophers from China. It will be the first time for China to host the international meeting, organized by the FISP every five years. FISP President William Mcbride said he was happy to see that the philosophers would meet again in another ancient capital in five years. According to FISP, the 24th WCP will be organized by the Department of Philosophy, Peking University. Wang Bo, chairman of the Department of Philosophy, Peking University said he was very happy that China won over Brazil to host the 2018 WCP. He said the 24th WCP would be a good opportunity to promote Chinese philosophy to the world. The 23rd WCP opened in Athens on Aug. 4 with some 3,000 participants from more than 100 countries and regions, including Chinese scholars. During the seven-day meeting, they exchanged views under the main theme of “Philosophy as inquiry and way of life.” The theme recalls Socrates’ declaration that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” The first WCP was held in 1900 in Paris. The congress aims at inquiring into the world’s philosophical traditions, reflecting on the tasks and functions of philosophy in the contemporary world, among others.