Su Guoxin

Visit: April 17 - May 13, 2025
Discipline: Philosophy
Project Title: Normative Foundations of Ethical action: A Cross-Cultural Inquiry into Moral Universals and Situational Discretion in Aquinas and Mencius
Affiliation: School of Philosophy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Host: Therese Cory
My research focuses on comparative virtue ethics, examining how different philosophical traditions reconcile universal moral principles with contextual adaptability in ethical practice. I integrate insights from both Western and Eastern thought—particularly Thomistic prudence and
Mencian Quan (權)—to explore the foundations of moral action, moral agency, and the justification of ethical norms.
A central focus of my work is normativity and moral universalism, particularly how Korsgaard’s constructivist account of obligation can shed light on debates concerning moral particularism and universality in classical traditions. I apply her insights into the sources of normativity to reinterpret how thinkers like Mencius and Aquinas grounded ethical action in ways that are both context-sensitive and principled.
Email: suguoxin@hust.edu.cn