Description:

"Knowing Yourself, Knowing Your Vibe"

A person's vibe refers to the way that person affects others through their presence--the overall mood or feelings they evoke amongst those in their midst. A vibe is something that can be purposefully cultivated, but it need not be; one can have a vibe without realizing it. Either way, one’s vibes impact others, raising a number of interesting issues. To what extent is one responsible for one’s vibe? How does one know one’s vibe? Is a person's vibe a proper target of ethical evaluation? Contemporary philosophers are largely silent on the topic, but this hasn’t always been the case. In this presentation, I will draw on texts in the classical Confucian tradition to show not only their observations on these matters, but also how they cohere with other aspects of Confucian ethics. I end by raising some potential concerns and avenues for further research.