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Beijing Forum 2007: Academic Briefing
of the First Panel Session on Tao and
Sophia: The Olympic Spirit from
Athens to Beijing—Humanist
Foundations of the Olympic Games
By Liu Xiaohua
PKU NEWS 2007--11--09
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=194586910
Peking University, Beijing, Nov. 2nd, 2007: The first Panel Session of ―Tao and
Sophia: The Olympic Spirit from Athens to Beijing‖, most concentrated on ―Humanist
Foundations of the Olympic Games‖, was held in the Yunnan Hall of the Great Hall of
the People at 14:00 on November 2nd,2007.
This session included six reports, the speakers of which were from China and the
United States. They talked about the humanist foundations of the Olympic Games
though different aspects. Prof. Zhao Dunhua, chairman of the Philosophy
Department of Peking University presided this session.
Prof. Chen Chung Ying, from University of Hawaii, delivered his speech first with the
topic ―On Greek and Chinese Metaphysics and Ethics: in Reference to the Olympic
Spirit‖. He considered the Olympic spirit represented the development of the world
and human mental health. The problem we encountered today is how to connect the
Greek Metaphysics with Chinese Ethics so as to found new Olympic Spirit.
Prof. Chen Cunfu, from the Institute of Christianity and Cross-Culture Studies of
Zhejiang University, recalled the formation process of the Olympic Sports and the
Greek Spirit expressed form it in the topic ―The Olympic Spirit of the Ancient Greek‖
Prof. Robert Neville from Boston University talked about ―Olympic Games and the
Power of Ritual‖. He pointed out that ―To hold the next Olympic Games in Beijing is
particularly interesting in light of the long tradition of ritual analysis and practice in
China.‖
Roger T. Ames from University of Hawaii gave a speech ―Family Matters: Confucian
Pluralism and the Olympic Spirit‖ in which he considered that although the
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