Abstract

This study applies Zehou Li philosophy to examine significant educational questions and challenges, following the disciplinary tradition located in the Anglophone Foundational Paradigm of Educational Studies. Li’s aestheticised philosophy comes to fruition at the influence of East and West, in particular the critical and comparative encounter between Confucianism, Marxism, and Kantian philosophy. I argue that the combination of Li’s aesthetics and educational theories, with the exchanges and overlaps between Western and Chinese aesthetics, between ancient and modern Chinese culture, Western and Chinese Philosophy of Education, offers an important heuristic which enhances our understanding of some of the most pressing cultural and educational challenges for educational philosophy, and indeed contemporary educational practice both locally and globally. Amongst the areas reconsidered and woven together through the adoption of this refreshed lens are the ideologies of measurement, liberal ideal of educated persons, aesthetic education, parental education, practice and policy in teacher education.