Lee Yearley
Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Professor of Oriental Philosophies, Religions and Ethics
Religious Studies
Bio
Lee Yearley works in comparative religious ethics and poetics, focusing on materials from China and the West. He is the author of The Ideas of Newman: Christianity and Human Religiosity and Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Conceptions of Courage (recently translated into Chinese), as well as numerous journal articles and essays in edited volumes.
Professor Yearley holds a Ph.D. from University of Chicago.
Academic Appointments
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Professor, Religious Studies
Administrative Appointments
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Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Professor of Oriental Philosophies, Religions, and Ethics, Stanford University (1993 - Present)
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Luce Fellow, Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion, University of Chicago (1991 - 1992)
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Henry Luce Professor of Comparative Religious Ethics, Amherst and the Five Colleges (1987 - 1988)
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Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University (1968 - Present)
Honors & Awards
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Honors in Philosophy, Haverford College (1962)
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Rockefeller Fellowship, Rockefeller Foundation (1962-1963)
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Mabelle McLeod Lewis Fellowship, Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund (1972-1973)
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National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, National Endowment for the Humanities (1974)
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University Fellow, Stanford University (1974-1977)
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Fellowship, The National Humanities Institute at the University of Chicago (1978-1979)
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Fellowship for University Teachers, National Endowment for the Humanities (1984-1985)
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Peter S. Bing Teaching Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (1992)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Member, Ad Hoc Tenure Review Committee, Harvard University (2005 - 2005)
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Member, Final Selection Committee, Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowships, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (2001 - 2003)
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Member, External Review Committee, Department of Religious Studies, Brown University (2000 - 2000)
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Member, Editorial Board, The Journal of Religious Ethics (1994 - 1994)
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Member, Board of Consultants, The Journal of Religion (1993 - 1993)
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Instructor, National Endowment of Humanites Summer Institutes, Chicago (1986 - 1986)
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Instructor, National Endowment of Humanites Summer Institutes, Berkeley (1987 - 1987)
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President, Council on Graduate Studies in Religion (1983 - 1986)
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Vice President, Council on Graduate Studies in Religion (1981 - 1983)
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Member, Steering Committee, Comparative Religion Section, American Academy of Religion (1981 - 1984)
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Faculty Advisor, Confucian Life and Study Group, Stanford University (2010 - 2012)
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Member, Steering Committee, Program in Philosophy and Literature, Stanford University (2007 - 2012)
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Member, Ethical Reasoning Advisory Board, Stanford University (2005 - 2012)
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Member, Mellon Postdoctoral Selection Committee, Stanford University (2010 - 2011)
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Member, Awards Committee, Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University (2002 - 2007)
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Member, Ethics and Society Board, Stanford University (2002 - 2008)
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Member, Judicial Board, Stanford University (2001 - 2002)
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Member, Judicial Board, Stanford University (2006 - 2008)
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Member, Search Committee, Philosophy Department, Stanford University (1998 - 1999)
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Member, OSAC Committee, Stanford University (1997 - 1999)
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Member, Search Committee, Program in Ethics and Society, Stanford University (1993 - 1996)
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Member, Faculty Grants Committee, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University (1994 - 1995)
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Member, Faculty Committee, Program in Ethics and Society, Stanford University (1993 - 1996)
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Member, Committee on Undergraduate Studies, Stanford University (1988 - 1991)
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Member, Review Committee on Extradepartmental Education, Stanford University (1983 - 1984)
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Member, Admissions Committee, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University (1983 - 1984)
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Member, Selection Committee, Mellon Fellows, Stanford University (1983 - 1984)
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Member, Committee on Faculty Seminars, Stanford University (1980 - 1984)
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Member, Executive Committee and Advisory Board, Stanford Humanities Center (1980 - 1983)
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Leader, Humanities Seminar for Professional Journalism Fellows, Stanford University (1976 - 1978)
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Leader, Humanities Seminar for Professional Journalism Fellows, Stanford University (1980 - 1982)
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Member, Committee on Interdepartmental Majors, Stanford University (1982 - 1983)
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Member, Fellowship Committee, East Asian Studies, Stanford University (1980 - 1981)
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Chair, Subcommittee on the Distribution Requirements, Stanford University (1980 - 1981)
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Chair, Committee on a Possible Humanities Center at Staford, Stanford University (1979 - 1980)
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Chair, Faculty Committee to Select Courses for Distribution Area IV, Stanford University (1979 - 1980)
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Member, Committee on International Relations, Stanford University (1974 - 1978)
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Member, Graduate Program in Humanities Committee, Stanford University (1968 - 1970)
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Member, Graduate Program in Humanities Committee, Stanford University (1971 - 1972)
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Member, Graduate Program in Humanities Committee, Stanford University (1976 - 1977)
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Member, Awards Committee, Committee on Research in International Studies, Stanford University (1977 - 1978)
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Director, Danforth Summer Workshop on the Teaching of Religion, Stanford University (1976 - 1976)
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Chair, Committee on the Reform and Renewal of Liberal Education at Stanford, Stanford University (1974 - 1976)
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Member, Steering Committee, Medieval Studies Program, Stanford University (1973 - 1976)
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Member, Campus Judicial Panel, Stanford University (1973 - 1975)
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Member, Steering Committee, Values, Technology, and Society Program, Stanford University (1971 - 1972)
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Member, Committee of Fifteen, Stanford University (1970 - 1972)
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Chair, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1990 - 1996)
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Acting Chair, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1988 - 1989)
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Graduate Director, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1977 - 1978)
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Graduate Director, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1979 - 1982)
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Graduate Director, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1983 - 1984)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1972 - 1973)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1974 - 1974)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1975 - 1975)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1979 - 1980)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1981 - 1982)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1986 - 1986)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1987 - 1987)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1997 - 1998)
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Chair, Faculty Search Committee in Religious Studies, Stanford University (1998 - 1999)
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Undergraduate Director, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1973 - 1977)
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Undergraduate Director, Religious Studies, Stanford University (1985 - 1987)
Program Affiliations
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Center for East Asian Studies
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Philosophy and Literature
Professional Education
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Ph.D., Divinity School, University of Chicago (1969)
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M.A., Divinity School, University of Chicago (1966)
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B.A., Haverford College (1962)
2024-25 Courses
- Perspectives on the Good Life
RELIGST 12N (Aut) - Zhuangzi
RELIGST 212 (Spr) -
Independent Studies (7)
- Individual Work
RELIGST 199 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Individual Work for Graduate Students
RELIGST 389 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Paper in the Field
RELIGST 392 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Research in Christian Studies
RELIGST 384 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Research in Religious Thought, Ethics, and Philosophy
RELIGST 388 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Essay/Honors Thesis Research
RELIGST 297 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Teaching Internship
RELIGST 390 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Individual Work
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- Perspectives on the Good Life
RELIGST 12N (Win) - Religion and Literature
RELIGST 283 (Spr) - William James on Religion
RELIGST 237, RELIGST 337 (Win) - Zhuangzi
RELIGST 212 (Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Perspectives on the Good Life
RELIGST 12N (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- Perspectives on the Good Life
RELIGST 12N (Spr) - Religion and Literature
RELIGST 283 (Spr) - Theories and Methods
RELIGST 304B (Win) - Zhuangzi
RELIGST 212 (Win)
- Perspectives on the Good Life
All Publications
- Freud and China: The Pursuit of the Self and Other Fugitive Notions China and Freud edited by Jiang, T., Ivanhoe, P. J. New York: Routledge. 2012: 310–363
- Freud and Zhuangzi: Resonances and Contrasts in Their Pursuit of the Self and Other Fugitive Notions China and Freud edited by Jiang, T., Ivanhoe, P. J. New York: Routledge. 2012: 404–474
- Poetic Language: Zhuangzi and Du Fu's Poetic Ideals Ethics in Early China edited by Frasier, C., O'Leary, T., Robins, D. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong Press. 2011: 209–228
- Mengzi yu Akuina: meide lilun yu yonggan gainian Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe. 2011
- Virtue Ethics in Ancient China: Light Shed and Shadows Cast How Should One Live? Comparing Ethics in Ancient China and Greco-Roman Antiquity edited by King, R., Schilling, D. Berlin: De Gruyter Verlag. 2011: 121–151
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ETHICS OF BEWILDERMENT
JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS
2010; 38 (3): 436-460
View details for Web of Science ID 000281069100005
- The Perfected Person in the Radical Zhuangzi Experimental Essays on Zhuangzi edited by Mair, V. Dunedin, FL: Three Pines Press. 2010: 126–136
- Two Strands of Confucianism Confucian Political Ethics edited by Bell, D. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2007: 84–89
- Chinese Philosophy: Religion The Encyclopedia of Philosophy edited by Borchard, D. New York: Macmillan. 2006; Second Edition
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Daoist presentation and persuasion - Wandering among Zhuangzi's kinds of language
JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS
2005; 33 (3): 503-535
View details for Web of Science ID 000231627200005
- Ideas of Ethical Excellence The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics edited by Schweiker, W. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005: 45–52
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Genre and the attempt to render pride: Dante and Aquinas
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION
2004; 72 (2): 313-339
View details for Web of Science ID 000221279400001
- Pride's Place in Picturing Persons Ching Feng, A Journal of Christianity and Chinese Religion and Culture 2004; 5 (2): 191-202
- Presentation and Persuasion in the Classical Confucian Tradition Confucianism in Dialogue Today: The Modern West, Christianity, and Judaism edited by Shu-Hsien, L., Berthrong, J., Swidler, L. Philadelphia: The Ecumenical Press. 2004: 137–152
- Virtues and Religious Virtues in the Confucian Tradition Confucian Spirituality edited by Weiming, T., Tucker, E. New York: The Crossroads Publishing Co.. 2003: 134–162
- Two Strands of Confucianism The Many and the One: Religious and Secular Perspectives on Ethical Pluralism in the Modern World edited by Madsen, R., Strong, T. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2003: 154–158
- An Existentialist Reading of Book Four of the Analects Confucius and the Analects, New Essays edited by Norden, B. V. New York: Oxford University Press. 2002: 237–274
- New Religious Virtues and the Study of Religion Eastern Ways of Being Religious edited by Kessler, G. E. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Press. 2000: 1–18
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The ascetic grounds of goodness - William James's case for the virtue of voluntary poverty
JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS
1998; 26 (1): 105-135
View details for Web of Science ID 000074227000005
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Selves, virtues, odd genres, and alien guides - An approach to religious ethics
JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS
1998; 25 (3): 127-155
View details for Web of Science ID 000076799100006
- Three Western Views on Ethics In the United States Healing Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotion, and Health edited by Goleman, D. Boston: Shambhala. 1997
- Death, Knowledge, and the Sacred Space of the American University: the Case of Stanford University Vivens Homo, Rivista Teologica Fiorentina 1997; 8 (2): 275-290
- Heroic Virtue in America: Aristotle, Aquinas, and Melville's Billy Budd The Greeks and Us: Essays in Honor of Arthur W.H. Adkins edited by Louden, R., Schollmeier, P. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1996: 66–92
- Zhuangzi’s Understanding of Skillfulness and the Ultimate Spiritual State Essays on Skepticism, Relativism, and Ethics in the Zhunangzi edited by Kjellberg, P., Ivanhoe, P. Albany: State University of New York Press. 1996: 152–182
- Facing Our Frailty: Comparative Religious Ethics and the Confucian Death Rituals The Gross Memorial Lecture Valparaiso, IN: Valparaiso University Press. 1995: 1–22
- Taoist Wandering and the Adventure of Religious Ethics Harvard Divinity Bulletin 1995; 24 (2): 11-15
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THEORIES, VIRTUES, AND THE COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN FLOURISHINGS - A RESPONSE TO ALLAN,GEORGE
PHILOSOPHY EAST & WEST
1994; 44 (4): 711-720
View details for Web of Science ID A1994QA76800005
- New Religious Virtues and the Study of Religion Fifteenth Annual University Lecture in Religion at Arizona State University 1994: 1–26
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MENCIUS AND AQUINAS - THEORIES OF VIRTUE AND CONCEPTIONS OF COURAGE - REPLIES
JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS
1993; 21 (2): 385-395
View details for Web of Science ID A1993MF53100014
- Virtue A New Handbook of Christian Theology edited by Musser, D., Price, J. Nashville: Abingdon. 1992: 508–510
- Conflicts Among Ideals of Human Excellence Prospects for a Common Morality edited by Reeder, J., Outka, G. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1992: 233–253
- Bourgeois Relativism and the Comparative Study of the Self Tracing Common Themes, Comparative Courses in the Study of Religion edited by Carman, J., Hopkins, S. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press. 1991: 165–178
- Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Conceptions of Courage Albany: State University of New York Press. 1990
- Recent Work on Virtue Religious Studies Review 1990; 16 (1): 1-9
- Education and the Intellectual Virtues Beyond the Classics? Essays on Religious Studies and Liberal Education edited by Reynolds, F., Burkhalter, S. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press. 1990: 89–105
- Classical Confucians and Thomistic Christians: Contrasts That Arise From The Presence and Absence of Deity Dialogue and Alliance 1987; 1 (3): 23-26
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TEACHERS AND SAVIORS + MODELS FOR UNDERSTANDING RELIGIOUS-EXPERIENCE
JOURNAL OF RELIGION
1985; 65 (2): 225-243
View details for Web of Science ID A1985AFE5400005
- A Confucian Crisis: Mencius’ Two Cosmogonies and Their Ethics Cosmogony and Ethical Order: New Studies in Comparative Ethics edited by Lovin, R., Reynolds, F. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1985: 310–327
- Freud as Critic and Creator of Cosmogonies and Their Ethics Cosmogonoy and Ethical Order: New Studies in Comparative Ethics edited by Lovin, R., Reynolds, F. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1985: 381–413
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A COMPARISON BETWEEN CLASSICAL CHINESE THOUGHT AND THOMISTIC CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION
1983; 51 (3): 427-458
View details for Web of Science ID A1983RQ03900004
- The Perfected Person in the Radical Chuangt-tzu Experimental Essays in Chuang-tzu edited by Mair, V. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. 1983: 125–139
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3 WAYS OF BEING RELIGIOUS
PHILOSOPHY EAST & WEST
1982; 32 (4): 439-451
View details for Web of Science ID A1982PN90000005
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HSUNTZU ON THE MIND - HIS ATTEMPTED SYNTHESIS OF CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM
JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES
1980; 39 (3): 465-480
View details for Web of Science ID A1980JT87200001
- The Ideas of Newman: Christianity and Human Religiosity University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. 1978
- The Liberal Arts: A Critical Survival Discipline in Modern Society The Stanford Observer 1976: 3
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MENCIUS ON HUMAN NATURE - FORMS OF HIS RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION
1975; 43 (2): 185-198
View details for Web of Science ID A1975AK04500004
- Toward a Typology of Religious Thought: A Chinese Example The Journal of Religion 1975; 55 (4): 426-443
- Newman’s Concrete Specification of the Distinction Between Christianity and Liberalism The Downside Review 1975; 93 (310): 43-57
- The Nature-Grace Question in the Context of Fortitude The Thomist 1971; XXXV (4): 557-580
- Karl Rahner on the Relation of Nature and Grace Canadian Journal of Theology 1970; XVI (3-4): 219-231
- St. Thomas Aquinas on Providence and Predestination Anglican Theological Review 1967; XLIX: 409-423