Christine Abigail L. Tan
I am a Filipino-born philosopher whose main areas of expertise are Chinese, Comparative, and Decolonial Philosophy in general, and Daoist philosophy in particular.
About
Dr Tan has published extensively in Chinese philosophy (with a specific focus on Guo Xiang). Her work has spanned a variety of social and epistemological themes from classical and medieval Chinese textual analysis to problem-driven treatments of traditionally Euro-centric issues such as freedom and autonomy. This includes published journal articles on Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Ultimately, her goal is to push the boundaries for how we understand selfhood, agency, and community from inter-cultural and truly global lenses.
She did her PhD at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where she wrote her dissertation titled Freedom as Self-realisation: Zide in the Neo-Daoist Philosophy of Guo Xiang. Before that, she did her MA and BA at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, where her areas of focus were psychoanalysis and post-structuralist philosophy.
Lecturer in Philosophy, School of Philosophical, Historical and Indigenous Studies, Monash University, from November 2026.
Research STREAMS
Agency, responsibility, and domination
Individualist models of agency tend to hold people responsible for their actions. Although this might initially feel empowering, it also tends to obfuscate from structural oppression as well as the networks of dependence that actually have the potential to materially empower people. My book, Freedom’s Frailty (SUNY Press, 2024), develops a relational account of freedom through the Neo-Daoist philosopher Guo Xiang. Some of my recent articles are extensions of these arguments, exploring questions of who is held responsible, under what assumptions, as well as the social and political implications.
Epistemic and normative closures
Some norms present themselves as necessary and natural. I draw on the Zhuangzi, Daoist philosophy in general, as well as contemporary social theory to ask how that happens and how to resist it while being more open to other, more inclusive, ways of knowing. I also have a meta-philosophical interest on how the structures of academic philosophy tend to exclude non-mainstream practices and perspectives.
Areas of Specialisation
Chinese Philosophy
(Ancient Classical Texts, Daoism, Neo-Daoism, Chan Buddhism)
Areas of Competence
Decolonial Theory, Social Epistemology, Psychoanalysis
Community and service
I co-founded Women Doing Philosophy (Philippines), a regional network for horizontal mentoring and peer support among women and gender-marginalised philosophers. I sit on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Global Value Inquiry (Berlin), an organisation that promotes work in and on the Global South. I welcome the chance to join or help start initiatives that support marginalised philosophies, groups, and communities in the discipline.
Collaborate
I welcome conversations about collaboration, including speaking engagements, on Daoist and Buddhist social and political philosophy, social epistemology through decolonial and non-Western lenses, non-Western value theory, and Filipino philosophy.