Lee Yearley

Lee Yearley is the Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Professor of Oriental Philosophies, Religions, and Ethics, and holds the rank of Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University. He has been affiliated with Stanford since 1968, serving in roles such as Department Chair (1990–1996) and Chair of numerous academic committees. Yearley specializes in comparative religious ethics and poetics, focusing on Chinese and Western traditions. His work bridges early Chinese thought (e.g., Mencius, Zhuangzi) with Western philosophers like Aquinas and Dante.

Education: Ph.D. (1969), M.A. (1966), and B.A. (1962) from the University of Chicago, Haverford College, respectively. Research interests include comparative virtue ethics, Daoist philosophy, and the intersection of religion and literature.

His publications emphasize cross-cultural ethical frameworks, such as Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Conceptions of Courage and studies on Zhuangzi’s philosophical contributions. Recent articles explore Freudian theory in Chinese context and Daoist rhetoric. Yearley has received awards like the Peter S. Bing Teaching Award (1992) and Rockefeller Fellowship (1962–1963).

He advises the Confucian Life and Study Group and contributes to Stanford’s Center for East Asian Studies and Philosophy and Literature programs. His teaching includes courses on religious ethics, comparative poetics, and East Asian thought.