I’m Yixuan Liu, currently a joint PhD student at Leiden University and the University of Fribourg, under the supervision of Frank Chouraqui and Emmanuel Alloa. After earning my Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Xi'an Jiaotong University in China (2020), I continued my studies at KU Leuven in Belgium, where I obtained a Master's in Philosophy (2020-2022) and a Research Master's in Philosophy (2022-2024). During my time as a Master's student, I also studied French at the University of Strasbourg (2023-2024). My PhD research is titled The Temporality of Images: Merleau-Ponty’s Visual Ontology and its Resonances with Chinese Landscape Painting. In the most concise terms, my work explores ontological questions through the lens of images, drawing on phenomenology, iconology, art history, and comparative philosophy.

More information about Yixuan Liu

Fields of interest

• phenomenology;
• iconology;
• art history;
• comparative philosophy;
• Daoism

Research

Liu's research project investigates the ontology of images through the phenomenological framework of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, emphasizing his later ontology. Traditional views often perceive images as secondary, spatial entities, mere representations or imitations. However, the study challenges such perspectives by exploring the dynamic, temporal nature of images, particularly through Merleau-Ponty’s concepts of the 'flesh' and 'reversibility', which suggest that images share the same structure with all beings, including human beings, but only lack self-sensing capacity, bestowing them with unique temporality.

Grants and awards

CSC (Chinese Scholarship Council) 2024-2028

2024-2028: Leiden University and University of Fribourg, joint PhD program
2023-2024: University of Strasbourg, studied French
2022-2024: KU Leuven, Research Master (Abridged)'s in Philosophy
2020-2022: KU Leuven, Master's in Philosophy
2018-2019: National Taiwan University, exchange student
2016-2020: Xi'an Jiaotong University, Bachelor's in Philosophy