Thomas D. Carroll

@thomasdcarroll.bsky.social

360 followers 250 following 270 posts

Teaching Associate Professor in Philosophy & Religious Studies at CUHK-Shenzhen

I write on Wittgenstein, philosophy of religion, and comparative ethics. Sometimes, I post here about these things and music I like.

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Philosophy 34%

History 17%

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Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Jul 30

My book, Rethinking Philosophy of Religion with Wittgenstein, arrived today.
I'm grateful to Bloomsbury (‪@bloomsburyacad.bsky.social‬) for publishing it & to J. Aaron Simmons and Kevin Schilbrack for including it in the Expanding Philosophy of Religion series.

www.bloomsbury.com/us/rethinkin...

Reposted by Thomas D. Carroll

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · 11d

I'd be interested in hearing more about that. Have you written (or do you have plans to write) on Phillips?

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · 11d

I mention Phillips just a few times in the new book, but I engage with his work substantially in my other book, Wittgenstein within the Philosophy of Religion (Palgrave 2014).

BTW, I'm particularly impressed by what P. F. Bloemendaal and Mikel Burley have written on Phillips.

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · 19d

There is much else to see at the Biennale. One could easily spend the whole day at the PSA just taking in the different installations.

The text in the corner of this painting reads: "There is a cake-cafe in Yong-Fu Road in the "French Concession of old Shanghai" renovated in minimalistic nordic interior design sells nerdy-hipster-coffee and cake. Their plates look like old Dutch ware in a touch of the Ming Dynasty."

Allora & Calzadilla, Penumbra and Phantom Forest

Still from a video installation. Here is the text from the didactic: Cheng Xinhao
Born in 1985 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, where he lives and works.
Musica Proibita, 2024
Single-channel video, color, sound
4:35 min.
Re-steal, 2024
Mixed media
Courtesy of the artist and Tabula Rasa Gallery
There are lines of history, along which human and non-human agents travel. Around a century ago, European and US plant hunters came to Yunnan, and with the help of different intermediaries they brought back plants and photographs of local people.
I try to bring these "specimens" back again, for example in Re-Steal, I did so by cutting a branch of a rhododendron tree in a botanical garden in Scotland. The very plant was brought there from Yunnan in 1913 by the famous plant hunter George Forrest.
I also reenact past scenes, but with different objects and at a different time. For Musica Proibita I placed a gramophone before a rhododendron tree in southwestern China. It played a recording of the early 20th-century tenor Enrico Caruso singing a romantic salon melody. With this work, I make reference to the Austrian-American botanist and explorer Joseph Rock, who spent a quarter century in Yunnan from the 1920s to the 40s studying its Naxi people as well as botanical diversity in the Hengduan Mountains.
Rock found the Naxi to be particularly reluctant to be photographed, but fascinated by the music of his gramophone; he would play them Caruso and document them as they gathered to listen.

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · 19d

I went to Shanghai this weekend & saw the Biennale at the Power Station of Art. Here are a few images of a painting by Shao Fan of Kun from the opening chapter of the Zhuangzi.

Image of Shao Fan's monumental painting of Kun

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · 21d

Sure, there are many angles one could take in linking the two. Here’s one way that I took in an article from several years ago

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Wittgenstein and the Xunzi on the Clarification of Language - Dao

Broadly speaking, language is part of a social activity in both Wittgenstein and Xunzi 荀子, and for both clarification of language is central to their philosophical projects; the goal of this article i...

link.springer.com

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · 23d

I’m fascinated by the link between Wittgenstein and Xunzi. Would be very interested in reading when it comes out

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Nov 23

Today I made it to the Cao'an Temple, a old Manichean site just outside of Quanzhou. It's a really fascinating example of the depths and complexities of Chinese history and the capaciousness of categories like "Buddhism" or "Manichaeism"

Entrance to the Cao'an temple. If you zoom in, the altar cloth has the characters "佛光尼摩", which represents Mani as the Buddha of Light

Photo taken of the Mani statue from outside the temple

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Nov 22

Also paid my respects to Confucius and Laozi...

Shrine of Confucius at the Quanzhou Confucian Temple

Courtyard with pond at the Confucian Temple

Confucius and Laozi having a chat, Qingyuan Mountain in Quanzhou

Monumental rock sculpture of a deified Laozi (Laojun), at Qingyuan Mountain

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Nov 22

I'm visiting Quanzhou this weekend, and I've gotten to see quite a few temples. Highlights were the Tian Hou Temple, the Tonghuai Guanyue Temple (impressive how popular Guanyu and Yue Fei are), and the Qingjing Mosque.

Eastern Pagoda of the Kaiyuan Buddhist Temple in Quanzhou, China

Much activity at the Tonghuai Guanyue Temple in Quanzhou

Detail from the Qingjing Mosque, just down the street in Quanzhou

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Nov 15

I wrote a short blog post about two articles I wrote that were published earlier this year. While the topics are quite different--atheism and communicative reticence & religious diversity--my interest in Wittgenstein and hermeneutics links the two pieces.

thomasdcarroll.blogspot.com/2025/11/two-...

Two New-ish Articles

Cross-Cultural Ethics, History of Analytic Philosophy, and Philosophy of Religion

thomasdcarroll.blogspot.com

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Nov 8

I'm at the Chinese Wittgenstein Society's conference in Hangzhou.

Heard many great papers today & got to meet scholars whose work I know. Was great to meet up with my former dissertation director, Juliet Floyd. Even got to road-test a new project I'm working on. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Sign at Zhejiang University for the School of Philosophy (and History and Literature)

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Nov 5

Looking forward to the Seventh International Wittgenstein Symposium at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou this weekend.

I'll be giving a short paper: "AI, Ethics, and Forms of Life."

Cover for conference program for the Wittgenstein symposium in Hangzhou.

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 26

And here's a short clip of Ken Vandermark Edition Redux --

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 26

Here's a short clip of Satoko Fujii and Joe Fonda

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 26

I went to the Jazz Festival at OCT-Loft in Shenzhen yesterday. Got to see two amazing groups: Joe Fonda and Satoko Fujii & Ken Vandermark Edition Redux

After a showing of the Ken Vandermark documentary "Musician" (2007 -- by Daniel Kraus), Vandermark came forward for some Q&A.

Joe Fonda and Satoko Fugii performing at the OCT-Loft Jazz fest

The Ken Vandermark Edition Redux performing at the OCT-Loft Jazz fest

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff, Thomas D. Carroll

Nigel Warburton @nigelwarburton.bsky.social · Oct 24

Lewis Gordon on Frantz Fanon - our latest Philosophy Bites interview philosophybites.com/podcast/lewi...

Lewis Gordon on Frantz Fanon - Philosophy Bites

Frantz Fanon, who was born in Martinique, died aged 36. He nevertheless made very significant contributions to the discussion of racism and colonialism, influenced strongly by the existentialist tradi...

philosophybites.com

Reposted by Thomas D. Carroll

Sean Walters @seanwrite.bsky.social · Oct 22

Late jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal enjoyed playing ballads believing it took years of lived experience to truly master them. Jamal’s popular 1958 version of the Gershwin tune “But Not for Me” from the Live at the Pershing Lounge album. #Jazz #JazzMusic m.youtube.com/watch?v=jsC2...

But Not For Me (Live At The Pershing Lounge/1958)

YouTube video by Ahmad Jamal - Topic

m.youtube.com

Reposted by Thomas D. Carroll

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Oct 22

You know what rules? Wayne Shorter’s solo on “The Chess Players” youtu.be/fI0S6ioserI?...

The Chess Players (Remastered 2005)

YouTube video by Art Blakey - Topic

youtu.be

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 22

Oh yeah, same in Shenzhen. I’m from the SF Bay Area, so this temperature is great

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 15

youtu.be/T3CunfPYkME?...

D'Angelo and The Vanguard - The Charade (Audio)

YouTube video by DAngeloVEVO

youtu.be

Reposted by Thomas D. Carroll

Heather Knight @heatherknightsf.bsky.social · Oct 13

“This city is a complicated place, but I’ve found two truths: The Golden Age is a myth and San Francisco is never “over.””

Great read from @peterhartlaub.bsky.social, San Francisco’s historian/hype-man extraordinaire.

www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/m...

Marc Benioff wants troops in S.F.? There’s a path back to sanity, and it’s close to home

Marc Benioff called for the National Guard in S.F. The city doesn’t need the military on its streets. It needs the Salesforce founder to follow his grandfather’s example, Peter Hartlaub...

www.sfchronicle.com

Reposted by Thomas D. Carroll

The Little Red Podcast @littleredpodcast.bsky.social · Oct 8

In the latest episode in our series on belief, we’re exploring the surprising revival of shamanism in China, which has made a comeback despite Mao's best efforts at eradication. Ritual healers and spirit mediums are tapping into online believers and a public thirst for authentic spirituality. (1/3)

Reposted by Robert W. Wallace, Steven French, Daniel S. Goldberg , and 2 more Robert W. Wallace, Steven French, Daniel S. Goldberg, Thomas D. Carroll, Elisa Freschi

Digressionsimpressions @nescio13.bsky.social · Sep 30

"Helen de Cruz (1978–2025): an academic and personal tribute" *Religious Studies* Published online 2025:1-4.
doi.org/10.1017/S003...
@helendecruz.net

Helen de Cruz (1978–2025): an academic and personal tribute | Religious Studies | Cambridge Core

Helen de Cruz (1978–2025): an academic and personal tribute

doi.org

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Sep 24

Typhoon Ragasa is bringing some intense rain and wind to Shenzhen. Not clear when the rain will end, if ever...

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Sep 12

I have a new open access article out today in AGATHEOS: European Journal for Philosophy of Religion -- "Wittgenstein, Religious Diversity, and Communicative Reticence"

publicera.kb.se/aejpr/articl...

Wittgenstein, Religious Diversity, and Communicative Reticence | AGATHEOS – European Journal for Philosophy of Religion

publicera.kb.se

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Sep 11

Here's a view of the CUHK-Shenzhen campus right after sunset (and after several days of intense rain brought by a tropical storm)

View of the lower campus of CUHK-Shenzhen just after sunset

another view of the campus of CUHK-Shenzhen just after sunset

Thomas D. Carroll @thomasdcarroll.bsky.social · Sep 4

Makes me miss Boston!

Reposted by Robert W. Wallace, Thomas D. Carroll

Justin Weinberg @dailynous.com · Sep 2

Officials deport a student from China who had a full scholarship to study philosophy at the University of Houston, 36 hours after he lands in Texas.

Philosophy Grad Student from China Deported upon Arrival in US - Daily Nous

A 22-year-old student from China who had traveled from China to Texas to study philosophy at the University of Houston was detained upon arrival in the state, questioned, and deported back to China 36...

dailynous.com

Reposted by Lesley Bartlett, Thomas D. Carroll

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Aug 31

“Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time.” So opens “A Talk to Teachers,” which James Baldwin delivered to a group of educators in October, 1963.

James Baldwin’s Lesson for Teachers in a Time of Turmoil

Rigorous lessons are not mutually exclusive from culturally and politically relevant ones.

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