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Author: David Chai
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438472676
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218
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Book Description
Explores the cosmological and metaphysical thought in the Zhuangzi from the perspective of nothingness. Zhuangzi and the Becoming of Nothingness offers a radical rereading of the Daoist classic Zhuangzi by bringing to light the role of nothingness in grounding the cosmological and metaphysical aspects of its thought. Through a careful analysis of the text and its appended commentaries, David Chai reveals not only how nothingness physically enriches the myriad things of the world, but also why the Zhuangzi prefers nothingness over being as a means to expound the authentic way of Dao. Chai weaves together Dao, nothingness, and being in order to reassess the nature and significance of Daoist philosophy, both within its own historical milieu and for modern readers interested in applying the principles of Daoism to their own lived experiences. Chai concludes that nothingness is neither a nihilistic force nor an existential threat; instead, it is a vital component of Daos creative power and the life-praxis of the sage. Chai provides an elaborate philosophical meontological interpretation of the ontology/cosmology found in the Zhuangzi and the implications for existential practice. Its a close, careful, but in many respects quite original reading of the classic that contributes significantly to the field of philosophical Daoist studies. Geir Sigurðsson, author of Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning: A Philosophical Interpretation
Author: David Chai
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438472676
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Get Book
Book Description
Explores the cosmological and metaphysical thought in the Zhuangzi from the perspective of nothingness. Zhuangzi and the Becoming of Nothingness offers a radical rereading of the Daoist classic Zhuangzi by bringing to light the role of nothingness in grounding the cosmological and metaphysical aspects of its thought. Through a careful analysis of the text and its appended commentaries, David Chai reveals not only how nothingness physically enriches the myriad things of the world, but also why the Zhuangzi prefers nothingness over being as a means to expound the authentic way of Dao. Chai weaves together Dao, nothingness, and being in order to reassess the nature and significance of Daoist philosophy, both within its own historical milieu and for modern readers interested in applying the principles of Daoism to their own lived experiences. Chai concludes that nothingness is neither a nihilistic force nor an existential threat; instead, it is a vital component of Daos creative power and the life-praxis of the sage. Chai provides an elaborate philosophical meontological interpretation of the ontology/cosmology found in the Zhuangzi and the implications for existential practice. Its a close, careful, but in many respects quite original reading of the classic that contributes significantly to the field of philosophical Daoist studies. Geir Sigurðsson, author of Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning: A Philosophical Interpretation
Author: Paul Kjellberg
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438409214
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
The Chinese philosophical text Zhuangzi, written in part by a man named Zhuangzi in late fourth century B.C.E. China, is gaining recognition as one of the classics of world literature. Writing in beautiful prose and poetry, Zhuangzi mixes humor with relentless logic in attacking claims to knowledge about the world, particularly evaluative knowledge of what is good and bad or right and wrong. His arguments seem to admit of no escape. And yet where does that leave us? Zhuangzi himself clearly does not think that our situation is utterly hopeless, since at the very least he must have some reason for thinking we are better off aware of our ignorance. This book addresses the question of how Zhuangzi manages to sustain a positive moral vision in the face of his seemingly sweeping skepticism. Zhuangzi is compared to the Greek philosophers Plato and Sextus Empiricus in order to pinpoint more exactly what he doubts and why. Also examined is Zhuangzi's views on language and the role that language plays in shaping the reality we perceive. The authors test the application of Zhuangzi's ideas to contemporary debates in critical theory and to issues in moral philosophical thought such as the establishment of equal worth and the implications of ethical relativism. They also explore the religious and spiritual dimensions of the text and clarify the relation between Zhuangzi and Buddhism.
Author: Scott Cook
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791458655
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
Presents wide-ranging and up-to-date interpretations of the Zhuangzi, the Daoist classic and one of the most elusive works ever written.
Author: Kim-chong Chong
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438462859
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 212
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Book Description
Looks at the Daoist Zhuangzis critique of Confucianism. The Daoist Zhuangzi has often been read as a mystical philosopher. But there is another tradition, beginning with the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian, which sees him as a critic of the Confucians. Kim-chong Chong analyzes the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi, demonstrating how Zhuangzi criticized the pre-Qin Confucians through metaphorical inversion and parody. This is indicated by the subtitle, Blinded by the Human, which is an inversion of the Confucian philosopher Xunzis remark that Zhuangzi was blinded by heaven and did not know the human. Chong compares Zhuangzis Daoist thought to Confucianism, as exemplified by Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi. By analyzing and comparing the different implications of concepts such as heaven, heart-mind, and transformation, Chong shows how Zhuangzi can be said to provide the resources for a more pluralistic and liberal philosophy than the Confucians.
Author: Roger T. Ames
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791494713
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252
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Book Description
Chinese philosophy specialists examine the Zhuangzi, a third century B.C.E. Daoist classic, in this collection of interpretive essays. The Zhuangzi is a celebration of human creativity—its language is lucid and opaque; its images are darkly brilliant; its ideas are seriously playful. Without question, it is one of the most challenging achievements of human literary culture. Thematically, the Zhuangzi offers diverse insights into how to develop an appropriate and productive attitude to one's life in this world. Resourced over the centuries by Chinese artists and intellectuals alike, this text has provoked a commentarial tradition that rivals any masterpiece of world literature. Wandering at Ease in the Zhuangzi continues the interpretive tradition as Western scholars shed light on selected passages from the difficult text, offering the needed mediation between available translations of the Zhuangzi and the reader's process of understanding. Taken as a whole, this anthology is a primer on how to read the Zhuangzi.
Author: Geir Sigurðsson
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438454414
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
A reconsideration of the Confucian concept li (ritual or ritual propriety), one that references Western philosophers as well as the Chinese context. Geir Sigurðsson offers a reconsideration of li, often translated as ritual or ritual propriety, one of the most controversial concepts in Confucian philosophy. Strong associations with the Zhou period during which Confucius lived have put this concept at odds with modernitys emphasis on progressive rationality and liberation from the yoke of tradition. Sigurðsson notes how the Confucian perspective on learning provides a more balanced understanding of li. He goes on to discuss the limitations of the critique of tradition and of rationalitys claim to authority, referencing several Western sources, notably Hans-Georg Gadamer, John Dewey, and Pierre Bourdieu. An exposition of the ancient Chinese worldview of time and continuous change further points to the inevitability of lis adaptable and flexible nature. Sigurðsson argues that Confucius and his immediate followers did not endorse a program of returning to the Zhou tradition, but rather of reviving the spirit of Zhou culture, involving active and personalized participation in traditions sustention and evolution.
Author: Brook Ziporyn
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791487164
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 197
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Book Description
The Penumbra Unbound is the first English language book-length study of the Neo-Taoist thinker Guo Xiang (d. 312 C.E.), commentator on the classic Taoist text, the Zhuangzi. The author explores Guo's philosophy of freedom and spontaneity, explains its coherence and importance, and shows its influence on later Chinese philosophy, particularly Chan Buddhism. The implications of his thought on freedom versus determinism are also considered in comparison to several positions advanced in the history of Western philosophy, notably those of Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, Fichte, and Hegel. Guo's thought reinterprets the classical pronouncements about the Tao so that it in no way signifies any kind of metaphysical absolute underlying appearances, but rather means literally "nothing." This absence of anything beyond appearances is the first premise in Guo's development of a theory of radical freedom, one in which all phenomenal things are "self-so," creating and transforming themselves without depending on any justification beyond their own temporary being.
Author: Steven W. Laycock
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791490963
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 234
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Book Description
Using Buddhist thought, explores and challenges the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre.
Author: Hans-Georg Moeller
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231545266
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 244
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Book Description
Genuine Pretending is an innovative and comprehensive new reading of the Zhuangzi that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D’Ambrosio show how this Daoist classic, contrary to contemporary philosophical readings, distances itself from the pursuit of authenticity and subverts the dominant Confucianism of its time through satirical allegories and ironical reflections. With humor and parody, the Zhuangzi exposes the Confucian demand to commit to socially constructed norms as pretense and hypocrisy. The Confucian pursuit of sincerity establishes exemplary models that one is supposed to emulate. In contrast, the Zhuangzi parodies such venerated representations of wisdom and deconstructs the very notion of sagehood. Instead, it urges a playful, skillful, and unattached engagement with socially mandated duties and obligations. The Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of what Moeller and D’Ambrosio call “genuine pretending”: the paradoxical skill of not only surviving but thriving by enacting social roles without being tricked into submitting to them or letting them define one’s identity. A provocative rereading of a Chinese philosophical classic, Genuine Pretending also suggests the value of a Daoist outlook today as a way of seeking existential sanity in an age of mass media’s paradoxical quest for originality.
Author: Tzu Chuang
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824820381
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 462
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Book Description
In this vivid, contemporary translation, Victor Mair captures the quintessential life and spirit of Chuang Tzu while remaining faithful to the original text.
