The Philosophical Challenge from China

The Philosophical Challenge from China PDF Author: Brian Bruya
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262028433
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 427

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Book Description
Rigorously argued and meticulously researched, an investigation of current topics in philosophy that is informed by the Chinese philosophical tradition. For too long, analytic philosophy discounted insights from the Chinese philosophical tradition. In the last decade or so, however, philosophers have begun to bring the insights of Chinese thought to bear on current philosophical issues. This volume brings together leading scholars from East and West who are working at the intersection of traditional Chinese philosophy and mainstream analytic philosophy. They draw on the work of Chinese philosophers ranging from early Daoists and Confucians to twentieth-century Chinese thinkers, offering new perspectives on issues in moral psychology, political philosophy and ethics, and metaphysics and epistemology. Taken together, these essays show that serious engagement with Chinese philosophy can not only enrich modern philosophical discussion but also shift the debate in a meaningful way. Each essay challenges a current position in the philosophical literature—including views expressed by John Rawls, Peter Singer, Nel Noddings, W. V. Quine, and Harry Frankfurt. The contributors discuss topics that include compassion as a developmental virtue, empathy, human worth and democracy, ethical self-restriction, epistemological naturalism, ideas of oneness, know-how, and action without agency. Contributors Stephen C. Angle, Tongdong Bai, Brian Bruya, Owen Flanagan, Steven Geisz, Stephen Hetherington, Philip J. Ivanhoe, Bo Mou, Donald J. Munro, Karyn L. Lai, Hagop Sarkissian, Bongrae Seok, Kwong-loi Shun, David B. Wong, Brook A. Ziporyn

Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early China

Origins of Moral-Political Philosophy in Early China PDF Author: Tao Jiang
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197603491
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 537

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Book Description
This book rewrites the story of classical Chinese philosophy, which has always been considered the single most creative and vibrant chapter in the history of Chinese philosophy. Works attributed to Confucius, Mozi, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi and many others represent the very origins of moral and political thinking in China. As testimony to their enduring stature, in recent decades many Chinese intellectuals, and even leading politicians, have turned to those classics, especially Confucian texts, for alternative or complementary sources of moral authority and political legitimacy. Therefore, philosophical inquiries into core normative values embedded in those classical texts are crucial to the ongoing scholarly discussion about China as China turns more culturally inward. It can also contribute to the spirited contemporary debate about the nature of philosophical reasoning, especially in the non-Western traditions. This book offers a new narrative and interpretative framework about the origins of moral-political philosophy that tracks how the three normative values, humaneness, justice, and personal freedom, were formulated, reformulated, and contested by early Chinese philosophers in their effort to negotiate the relationship among three distinct domains, the personal, the familial, and the political. Such efforts took place as those thinkers were reimagining a new moral-political order, debating its guiding norms, and exploring possible sources within the context of an evolving understanding of Heaven and its relationship with the humans. Tao Jiang argues that the competing visions in that debate can be characterized as a contestation between partialist humaneness and impartialist justice as the guiding norm for the newly imagined moral-political order, with the Confucians, the Mohists, the Laoists, and the so-called fajia thinkers being the major participants, constituting the mainstream philosophical project during this period. Thinkers lined up differently along the justice-humaneness spectrum with earlier ones maintaining some continuity between the two normative values (or at least trying to accommodate both to some extent) while later ones leaning more toward their exclusivity in the political/public domain. Zhuangzi and the Zhuangists were the outliers of the mainstream moral-political debate who rejected the very parameter of humaneness versus justice in that discourse. They were a lone voice advocating personal freedom, but the Zhuangist expressions of freedom were self-restricted to the margins of the political world and the interiority of one's heartmind. Such a take can shed new light on how the Zhuangist approach to personal freedom would profoundly impact the development of this idea in pre-modern Chinese political and intellectual history.

Critique, Subversion, and Chinese Philosophy

Critique, Subversion, and Chinese Philosophy PDF Author: Hans-Georg Moeller
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350115851
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Bringing together a number of case studies, this book shows how from early on Chinese philosophical discourses unfolded through innovation and the subversion of dominant forms of thinking. Narrowing in on the commonplace Chinese motto that “the three teachings” of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism “are joined into one”, as if there had never been any substantial differences between or within these schools of thought, a team of esteemed contributors challenge established views. They explain how the Daoist tradition provided a variety of alternatives to prevailing Confucian master narratives, reveal why the long history of Confucianism is itself full of ambiguities, disputes, and competing ideas and discuss how in Buddhist theory and practice, the subversion of unquestioned beliefs and attitudes has been a prime methodological and therapeutic device. By drawing attention to unorthodox voices and subversion as a method, this exciting collection reveals that for too long the traditional division into “three teachings” has failed to do justice to the diversity and subtlety found in the numerous discourses constituting the history of Chinese philosophy. Critique, Subversion and Chinese Philosophy finally makes such innovative disruptions visible.

Appreciating the Chinese Difference

Appreciating the Chinese Difference PDF Author: Jim Behuniak Jr.
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438470991
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
A wide-ranging exploration and critical assessment of the work of a major figure in Chinese and comparative philosophy. In this volume, prominent philosophers working in Chinese thought and related areas critically reflect upon the work of Roger T. Ames, one of the most significant contemporary figures working in the field of Chinese philosophy. Through his decades of collaborative work in comparative methodology and cross-cultural interpretation, along with a number of pathbreaking translations of Chinese philosophical texts, Ames has managed to challenge standing paradigms and open fresh avenues of research into the Chinese tradition. His work will be read and studied for years to come. The original essays presented here, which are substantive philosophical contributions in their own right, cover the full range of Ames’s scholarly output. They address methodological questions as well as specific issues in textual interpretation, including ample discussion of Ames’s most recent and provocative contribution: Confucian “role ethics.” In the final section of the book, Ames responds to each essay. The result is a conversation and engagement that both underscores the vitality of his thinking and indicates the directions it may take in the future. Altogether, this work provides a snapshot of a remarkable career—and an invitation to continue reflecting upon its meaning and importance. “This is an outstanding collection, critically and constructively engaging a scholar whose work has shaped the entire field of Chinese philosophy.” — Franklin Perkins, author of Heaven and Earth Are Not Humane: The Problem of Evil in Classical Chinese Philosophy

The Chinese Mind

The Chinese Mind PDF Author: Charles A. Moore
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824800758
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
What are the basic, unique characteristics of the Chinese mind, of the Chinese philosophical tradition, and of the Chinese culture based upon that thought-tradition? Here, in a series of living essays by men of exceptional competence, is an interdisciplinary approach to the essentials of Chinese philosophy and culture. These essays are selected chapters from the Proceedings of the four East-West Philosophers’ Conferences held at the University of Hawaii (1939, 1949, 1959, 1964). This volume, published jointly with the University of Hawaii Press, is one in a series of three; the two succeeding volumes will be The Indian Mind and The Japanese Mind. All are intended for the educated reader as well as for the philosophy student and scholar. Though not designed as textbooks, they will provide an excellent base for courses in this area.

An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy

An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy PDF Author: Karyn Lai
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316841855
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This second edition of An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy presents a comprehensive introduction to key ideas and arguments in early Chinese philosophy. Written in clear, accessible language, it explores philosophical traditions including Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and Chinese Buddhism, and how they have shaped Chinese thought. Drawing on the key classical texts as well as up-to-date scholarship, the discussions range across ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, while also bringing out distinctive elements in Chinese philosophy that fall between the gaps in these disciplinary divisions, hence challenging some prevailing assumptions of Western philosophy. Topics include human nature, selfhood and agency; emotions and behaviour; the place of language in the world; knowledge and action; and social and political responsibility. This second edition incorporates new ideas and approaches from some recently excavated texts that change the landscape of Chinese intellectual history.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy Methodologies

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy Methodologies PDF Author: Sor-hoon Tan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472580303
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy Methodologies presents a new understanding of the changing methods used to study Chinese philosophy. By identifying the various different approaches and discussing the role, and significance of philosophical methods in the Chinese tradition, this collection identifies difficulties and exciting developments for scholars of Asian philosophy. Divided into four parts, the nature of Chinese philosophical thought is illuminated by discussing historical developments, current concerns and methodological challenges. Surveying recent methodological trends, this research companion explores and evaluates the methodologies that have been applied to Chinese philosophy. From these diverse angles, an international team of experts reflect on the considerations that enter their methodological choices and indicate new research directions. The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy Methodologies is an important contribution to the education of the next generation of Chinese philosophers.

Chinese Philosophy

Chinese Philosophy PDF Author: Ronnie L. Littlejohn
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857726587
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The philosophical traditions of China have arguably influenced more human beings than any other. China has been the home not only of its indigenous philosophical traditions of Confucianism and Daoism, but also of uniquely modified forms of Buddhism. As Ronnie L Littlejohn shows, these traditions have for thousands of years formed the bedrock of the longest continuing civilization on the planet; and Chinese philosophy has profoundly shaped the institutions, social practices and psychological character of East and Southeast Asia. The author here surveys the key texts and philosophical systems of Chinese thinkers in a completely original and illuminating way. Ranging from the Han dynasty to the present, he discusses the six classical schools of Chinese philosophy (Yin-Yang, Ru, Mo, Ming, Fa and Dao-De); the arrival of Buddhism in China and its distinctive development; the central figures and movements from the end of the Tang dynasty to the introduction into China of Western thought; and the impact of Chinese philosophers ranging from Confucius and Laozi to Tu Weiming on their equivalents in the West."

Tang Junyi

Tang Junyi PDF Author: Thomas Fröhlich
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789004330146
Category : Civilization, Modern
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In Tang Junyi: Confucian Philosophy and the Challenge of Modernity, Thomas Fröhlich examines Tang Junyi's philosophical oeuvre which stands as one of the most ambitious Chinese projects to come to terms with modernity in 20th century.

Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy

Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy PDF Author: Bryan W. Van Norden
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 1603846050
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
This book is an introduction in the very best sense of the word. It provides the beginner with an accurate, sophisticated, yet accessible account, and offers new insights and challenging perspectives to those who have more specialized knowledge. Focusing on the period in Chinese philosophy that is surely most easily approachable and perhaps is most important, it ranges over of rich set of competing options. It also, with admirable self-consciousness, presents a number of daring attempts to relate those options to philosophical figures and movements from the West. I recommend it very highly.--Lee H. Yearley, Walter Y. Evans-Wentz Professor, Religious Studies, Stanford University