Research Highlight: Botian Liu

Learn more about Botian and his work on his website.

How would you describe your research program?

It is centered around one issue: How do we become better people. [Actually, the issue is: How do I become a better person.] Answering the question requires me to pay attention to both what make people “good,” as well as how to become one. Since I understand “good people” in both very broadly and pluralistically. It includes not only the familiar notion of “moral people,” but also “people who take joy in living a flourishing, purposeful and meaningful life.” Since different culture and traditions offer different visions of good people and paths of becoming one, I consider my research program as an open-ended and life-long endeavor.

My current research focuses on the epistemological importance of virtue cultivation. I try to defend the idea that virtue cultivation is crucial for understanding and appreciating virtue. I invite my readers to think about virtue as a practical skill, such as playing the piano. It would be strange to think that gaining theoretically knowledge is more important than gaining first-person experiences. This is strange because of the epistemological importance of first-person experiences for understanding and appreciating a practical skill. Therefore, if we take virtue as a practical skill, then we need to reconsider some current approaches to virtue ethics.

What issues or questions in philosophy are you most excited by?

I will say my current research program lines up with my interest well. But I do enjoy “meta-philosophy” to some extent. I enjoy thinking about the (potential) purposes of doing philosophy and whether the methods (i.e., hermeneutics, conceptual analysis, deductive logic, argument, intuitionism, thought experiment, etc.) it relies on can accomplish what it wants to accomplish.

What got you first interested in philosophy? How did you get from that initial spark to the subject of your recent/current work?

American politics. One of the very first humanities course I took at Georgia Tech used Debating Democracy: A Reader in American Politics as the textbook. I was fascinated by engaging with various controversial issues with competing perspectives. I approached the professor of that course with some questions, she told me that those questions are philosophical, and recommended me to talk with a faculty in philosophy. I forgot whether I talked to the person or not, but I started to take classes in philosophy, which got the wheel spanning.

Who is/are your favorite philosopher(s)? Why?

Edmund Gettier. His career represents the long-dead ideal that one can be an active and lovable professional philosopher without prioritizing publications.

What are you currently working on?

My dissertation, which is a comparative study of Aristotle's and early Confucians’ discussions on virtue and virtue cultivation.

What's next? Any ideas for projects in the pipeline?

I take my dissertation not as a matured work, but a very earlier beginning for my research program. I would love to clarify and polish some ideas scattered around in my dissertation. I believe those ideas serve as a basis for many related but different projects in the future. I think I will just follow the natural development of those projects.

What project/paper/collaboration/etc. are you proudest of so far?

I don’t think there is anything that I am proud of. Honesty speaking, I just don’t use the concept of “proud” much in my everyday thinking. I will say I am very excited and happy about teaching the “Moral Disagreement and Dialogue” course with Tayfun next semester.

What's the holy grail, pipe dream project? (This doesn't have to be in your AOS, of course, and may even be more fun if it's not.)

My dream is to produce “popular philosophy” that can reach a broader population. Book can be one of the medias for popularizing philosophy, but I am also thinking about video, podcast, comic, reading groups and other interactive programs. I am not particularly concerned about producing “my” ideas. I am content with popularizing existing ideas. I consider teaching as a small step towards that dream. Teaching pushes me to find interesting philosophical ideas and communicate them in an interesting way.

Do you have any particular work habits, like working at a specific coffee shop, or listening to a particular type of music, or rewarding yourself with a specific snack or workout? (In other words, how do you specifically work best?)

I work best at home. The ideal workflow for me is waking up around 8:00am. Eat a very light breakfast, prepare myself a pot of tea, and then start working. I like to escape lunch so I can work until dinner time. Depending on how I feel, I may work after dinner until tired. I occasionally work in a coffee shop. I normally do not have background music while working at home, but I play music from Hayao Miyazaki’s animations when working at a coffee shop.