Ancient and Modern Practices of Citizenship in Asia and the West ― Care of the Self

This book is a collection of papers originally presented at a conference of the same name in the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden in 2016. The contributors come from a variety of different disciplines, including architecture, urbanism, philosophy, and history, and their essays make comparative examinations of the practices of citizenship from the ancient world to the present day in both the East and West. While the book's point of departure is philosophical, its key aim is to examine how philosophy can be applied to the betterment of the everyday lives of citizens in cities in the West and Asia. The papers' comparative approach, between East and West, and ancient and modern, lead to a greater understanding of the challenges facing cities in the twenty-first century, and, by looking to past examples, suggest ways of addressing them.