Franklin Perkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Philosophy, Faculty Member
I tinkered with this book for literally twenty years. It is my best attempt to explain Mengzi’s philosophy in a way that shows why I think it is valuable. It is written for a non-expert audience (I’ve used drafts several times with... more
I tinkered with this book for literally twenty years. It is my best attempt to explain Mengzi’s philosophy in a way that shows why I think it is valuable. It is written for a non-expert audience (I’ve used drafts several times with students), but I think there is enough to interest scholars as well.
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That bad things happen to good people was as true in early China as it is today. Franklin Perkins uses this observation as the thread by which to trace the effort by Chinese thinkers of the Warring States Period (c.475-221 BCE), a time of... more
That bad things happen to good people was as true in early China as it is today. Franklin Perkins uses this observation as the thread by which to trace the effort by Chinese thinkers of the Warring States Period (c.475-221 BCE), a time of great conflict and division, to seek reconciliation between humankind and the world. Perkins provides rich new readings of classical Chinese texts and reflects on their significance for Western philosophical discourse.
The first review of this has appeared (http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/54193-heaven-and-earth-are-not-humane-the-problem-of-evil-in-classical-chinese-philosophy/). The full review with some comments is posted here: http://warpweftandway.com/franklin-perkins-humane/
The first review of this has appeared (http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/54193-heaven-and-earth-are-not-humane-the-problem-of-evil-in-classical-chinese-philosophy/). The full review with some comments is posted here: http://warpweftandway.com/franklin-perkins-humane/
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My best attempt to explain the philosophy of Leibniz in a way that clear, comprehensive, and relatively easy to appreciate.
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The Portuguese translation of Leibniz: A Guide for the Perplexed.
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Why was Leibniz so fascinated by Chinese philosophy and culture? What specific forms did his interest take, and how did it compare with the relative indifference of his philosophical contemporaries and others such as Spinoza and Locke?... more
Why was Leibniz so fascinated by Chinese philosophy and culture? What specific forms did his interest take, and how did it compare with the relative indifference of his philosophical contemporaries and others such as Spinoza and Locke? Franklin Perkins examines Leibniz's voluminous writings on the subject and suggests that his interest originated within his own philosophy since the nature of his metaphysical and theological views required him to take Chinese thought seriously.
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The Chinese translation of Leibniz and China: A Commerce of Light.
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While philosophy and religion were never sharply distinguished in China, what we now call Chinese philosophy incorporated, theorized, and sometimes opposed practices and views that can reasonably be called religious. These included... more
While philosophy and religion were never sharply distinguished in China, what we now call Chinese philosophy incorporated, theorized, and sometimes opposed practices and views that can reasonably be called religious. These included questions about cosmogony, the problem of evil, and the relationship between human beings and the divine. Philosophers were also concerned with common aspects of religion that are now often neglected in philosophy, such as ritual and divination. Finally, the disagreements between different ways and different philosophies led to reflection on pluralism and its value. All of these fit generally into the category of philosophy of religion.
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Across almost all world religions, one finds the belief that our values are part of the structure of the world and that they ultimately determine our fate, so that good people end up rewarded and bad people are punished. Such a claim has... more
Across almost all world religions, one finds the belief that our values are part of the structure of the world and that they ultimately determine our fate, so that good people end up rewarded and bad people are punished. Such a claim has no intrinsic connection to theism, and the fact that bad things sometimes happen to good people or some bad people end up with flourishing lives threatens any of these views. This entry tracks responses to this basic problem across a number of traditions, showing the broader religious significance of the problem of evil.
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The Laozi 老子 or Daodejing 道德經 has been profoundly influential, shaping many aspects of Chinese culture, from medicine to art to philosophy and religion. According to tradition, the text was written in the mid-sixth century BCE, but there... more
The Laozi 老子 or Daodejing 道德經 has been profoundly influential, shaping many aspects of Chinese culture, from medicine to art to philosophy and religion. According to tradition, the text was written in the mid-sixth century BCE, but there has been little trace of it or its impact, until the third century BCE. Recent archeological discoveries of bamboo texts from the Warring States Period have begun to fill in this space. Several cosmogonic texts have been discovered, all buried around 300 BCE, providing some insight into the broader context in which the Laozi was written and took form. The most important discovery is the three sets of bamboo strips found at Guodian, known as Laozi A, B and C. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce these Guodian Laozi materials, with a particular focus on their philosophical significance. The first section provides an overview of the materials and the ways they differ from other versions of the text. Section two offers an interpretation of the content of the materials, showing that they share a coherent philosophical position. The third section discusses the nature of the materials as a text, and the fourth section considers their relationship to the complete Laozi.
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The most explicit philosophical ideas appearing the novel The Man in the High Castle come from East Asian traditions, and most prominent role is given to the Yijing 易經, known in English as the Book of Changes. This paper focuses on the... more
The most explicit philosophical ideas appearing the novel The Man in the High Castle come from East Asian traditions, and most prominent role is given to the Yijing 易經, known in English as the Book of Changes. This paper focuses on the role of the Changes as a way of finding guidance in a world whose complexity exceeds our grasp, providing an alternative to either the paralysis of indecision or the flight from concreteness and complexity into the abstractness that characterizes the thinking behind the Nazi fascism of the Germans. To some degree, the Changes represents a supernatural source of knowledge in the novel, but I will focus on a more philosophical interpretation in which the outcome of divination initiates a hermeneutic process in which the message of the text becomes meaningful only as applied to a concrete context, at the same time that the concrete situation is given its particular significance in relation to the message of the text. What this ultimately does is shift attention away from the immediate and obvious aspects of a situation toward aspects that might otherwise go unnoticed. That process is closely connected to another aspect of Chinese/Japanese philosophy that appears in the novel, which is the need to be patient, yielding, and responsive (associated with yin rather than yang).
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The Xing zi ming chu (性自命出) [XZMC] presents a distinctive account of human dispositions that centers on the spontaneous arising of affects like joy and sadness. This focus on emotion grounds a particular conception of the function of... more
The Xing zi ming chu (性自命出) [XZMC] presents a distinctive account of human dispositions that centers on the spontaneous arising of affects like joy and sadness. This focus on emotion grounds a particular conception of the function of music and ritual that gives music a central role in self-cultivation. Although the account of human dispositions in XZMC was ultimately overshadowed by the opposing views of Mengzi and Xunzi and the question of whether our dispositions are good or bad, its views remained central for Ru philosophy of music. The first three parts of the paper trace the development of the ideas appearing in XZMC through the “Discourse on Music” chapter of the Xunzi and parts of the Yueji. The fourth section highlights the distinctiveness of XZMC’s account through a contrast with the views of Mengzi and Xunzi. The paper concludes by examining the ways in which, in accounting for ritual and music, both the Mengzi and Xunzi employ views like those of the XZMC, even if those are in tension with their core philosophical theories.
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In the past several decades, our understanding of the Laozi has been revolutionized by the discovery of new textual materials. While research has focused on the various manuscript copies of the Laozi, the discovery of other cosmogonic... more
In the past several decades, our understanding of the Laozi has been revolutionized by the discovery of new textual materials. While research has focused on the various manuscript copies of the Laozi, the discovery of other cosmogonic texts dated to the late fourth century BCE indicate that the Laozi was not as unique as it once seemed. Taken together, these texts show a radical shift in philosophical orientation occurring by the late 4th century BCE, a change toward concerns with cosmogony and accounts of human beings as merely one part of the natural world. The goal of this paper is to analyze the various elements of this shift, using the Taiyi shengshui 太一生水 (Great One Generates Water), Heng xian 恆先 (Constancy First), and Fanwu liuxing 凡物流形 (All Things Flow into Form), along with the Laozi bamboo strips found at Guodian. The first section examines the commonalities between the various cosmogonies; the second places cosmogony in the context of other distinctive concerns that the texts share, turning toward the implications of the cosmogonies for human action. The final section examines one of the fundamental points on which the texts disagree.
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This paper gives a reading of the philosophical position found in the Wu xing 五行 (Five Conducts) text excavated at Guodian and Mawangdui. The first part of the essay analyzes the distinction between goodness and de 德. The second part... more
This paper gives a reading of the philosophical position found in the Wu xing 五行 (Five Conducts) text excavated at Guodian and Mawangdui. The first part of the essay analyzes the distinction between goodness and de 德. The second part examines how the various forms of correct behavior are linked to the internal, pointing out the similarities and differences from Mengzi's approach. The paper aims to determine more precisely what the Mengzi and Wu xing have in common, while also making sense of the ways in which they diverge.
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The archeological discoveries of the past several decades have radically expanded our knowledge of the Lǎozǐ and its context. Thus far, most research has focused on the various manuscript versions of the text itself, but there is another... more
The archeological discoveries of the past several decades have radically expanded our knowledge of the Lǎozǐ and its context. Thus far, most research has focused on the various manuscript versions of the text itself, but there is another way in which archeological evidence has changed our knowledge of the Lǎozǐ: the discovery of several other cosmogonic texts, all dated to around the same time as the Guōdiàn materials. While these texts share some concerns and assumptions, they also disagree and offer conflicting positions. Thus rather than assuming that anything sounding vaguely like the Lǎozǐ is saying the same thing in different words, we should be attuned to subtle differences on issues ranging from cosmogony to conceptions of action. We should also allow for the possibility that the Lǎozǐ itself incorporates diverse positions. This paper analyzes one particular example, the role of “the one” (yī 一) in the Lǎozǐ. It argues that the five chapters discussing the one represent an attempt to incorporate what was originally a distinct position that took the one as the ultimate and had no concern with the interdependence of opposites. That position is expressed in the recently discovered Fánwù liúxíng.
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This volume of new essays is the first English-language anthology devoted to Chinese metaphysics. The essays explore the key themes of Chinese philosophy, from pre-Qin to modern times, starting with important concepts such as yin-yang and... more
This volume of new essays is the first English-language anthology devoted to Chinese metaphysics. The essays explore the key themes of Chinese philosophy, from pre-Qin to modern times, starting with important concepts such as yin-yang and qi and taking the reader through the major periods in Chinese thought - from the Classical period, through Chinese Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, into the twentieth-century philosophy of Xiong Shili. They explore the major traditions within Chinese philosophy, including Daoism and Mohism, and a broad range of metaphysical topics, including monism, theories of individuation, and the relationship between reality and falsehood. The volume will be a valuable resource for upper-level students and scholars of metaphysics, Chinese philosophy, or comparative philosophy, and with its rich insights into the ethical, social and political dimensions of Chinese society, it will also interest students of Asian studies and Chinese intellectual history. Cambridge University Press 2015.
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The first translation of a Chinese text into a European language was called Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, that is, Confucius, Philosopher of China, published in 1687. The translation was controversial, but not for calling Confucius a... more
The first translation of a Chinese text into a European language was called Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, that is, Confucius, Philosopher of China, published in 1687. The translation was controversial, but not for calling Confucius a philosopher. Until the late 18th century, it was taken for granted that philosophy existed in cultures outside of Europe. Thus Leibniz refers frequently to Chinese philosophy and to Chinese philosophers, and Christian Wolff’s main essay on Chinese thought is called “On the Practical Philosophy of the Chinese.” This would be unremarkable if philosophical common sense had not since reversed itself – it would now be unusual for a philosophy student to read anything written outside of Europe, because it is assumed that philosophy is uniquely European. This shift took place primarily through the development of German philosophy in the 19th century, appearing most clearly in the work of Hegel, who explicitly denied the Chinese a place in the history of philosophy. This paper examines the historical roots of this shift, arguing that among the reasons for this change was a shift away from a conception of philosophy as a way of living wisely, toward philosophy as a science of concepts.
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This is the entry on “Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy” for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. It can be accessed for free by following the link. Aside from introducing the most influential positions and philosophers, my primary... more
This is the entry on “Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy” for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. It can be accessed for free by following the link. Aside from introducing the most influential positions and philosophers, my primary goal was to illuminate recurring patterns and concerns that can serve as orientation for further reading. The article begins with a brief discussion of the appropriateness of using “metaphysics” in a Chinese context. It then has the following sections: 1) Proto-Metaphysical Background: The Mandate of Heaven; 2) The Cosmogonic Turn (looking at the Laozi and related cosmogonies); 3) Impartiality and Differentiation (looking at ideas of gong 公 or that all things forms one body, and at the concept of xing 性 for distinguishing things as having distinct natures); 4) Correlative Cosmology (a section that includes some discussion of Xuanxue/Neo-Daoism); 5) Buddhist Metaphysics in China; 6) Coherence and Vital Energy in Neo-Confucianism.
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In this paper, I argue for links between two texts that are usually seen as fundamentally distinct and even opposed: the Mozi and the Daodejing. The first part of the paper lays out initial commonalities between the two texts, offering a... more
In this paper, I argue for links between two texts that are usually seen as fundamentally distinct and even opposed: the Mozi and the Daodejing. The first part of the paper lays out initial commonalities between the two texts, offering a justification for discussing them together. The second part addresses the two main points of opposition between the texts – the contrast between an anthropocentric heaven (tian 天) in the Mozi and the way (dao 道) in the Daodejing, and the conflict between Mohist activism and the Daodejing’s non-action. I argue that these differences actually emerge from shared assumptions, and that the Daodejing can be seen as working out tensions inherent in the Mozi. The third part of the paper briefly considers textual sources that suggest hybrid or middle positions between the Mozi and the Daodejing, discussing the last fifteen chapters of the received Daodejing (all of which are missing in the Guodian materials) and parts of the first seven chapters of the Mozi. I conclude by suggesting that these linkages give us a glimpse of some earlier viewpoint that attempted to derive actions from the impartiality and generativity of nature itself, an approach linked closely to opposition to war and to the oppression of the people. The Mozi and the different parts of the Daodejing would represent various developments of some original position, with different orientations and vocabularies. This essay is a companion to “Divergences within the Lǎozǐ: A Study of Chapters 67-81” (T’oung Pao 100 (2014): 1-33), which provides an extensive argument for reading those chapters as expressing a view different from the rest of the Daodejing.
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This is a draft of a somewhat reckless paper responding to the question posed by Joseph Needham: Why did modern science emerge in Europe but not Asia, despite the greater achievements of Asian science through the previous millennium?... more
This is a draft of a somewhat reckless paper responding to the question posed by Joseph Needham: Why did modern science emerge in Europe but not Asia, despite the greater achievements of Asian science through the previous millennium? While rolling through Kepler, Leibniz, Kant, Xu Fuguan, Xunzi, Mozi, and others, I argue that the unusually long and thorough control that religious authorities exerted over intellectual discourse in Europe set up a peculiar circumstance in which philosophy developed to a high level of sophistication while remaining thoroughly based in an anthropomorphic theism. As a result, even when that theism broke down, the status of human beings which it had justified, human beings as the image of God, remained. This period of remainder marks the Enlightenment and European modernity, a period which broke down only in the 20th century. It was in this period, when explanations by appeal to divine intentions faded into the background without undermining the belief that the human mind was uniquely suited to grasp the intelligible order of the world, that science entered a period of rapid progress. This explanation is just the opposite of two common but ridiculous accounts of why science rose in Europe – greater freedom of thought and a cleaner split from religion. While China had (and continued to have) analogous views of anthropomorphic spirits, such views were breaking down at the time Chinese philosophy first began to appear. Thus almost from the start Chinese philosophy was pervaded by a much more humble view of human beings as merely one of the myriad things in nature. While this was initially an advantage in understanding the phenomena of the natural world, it never generated the confidence in human judgment required for the rise of modern science.
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It is well known that the three bundles of bamboo strips found at Guōdiàn containing versions of materials found in the Lǎozǐ included no passages from the last fifteen chapters of the received text. This paper consists of a careful... more
It is well known that the three bundles of bamboo strips found at Guōdiàn containing versions of materials found in the Lǎozǐ included no passages from the last fifteen chapters of the received text. This paper consists of a careful examination of those final fifteen chapters, arguing that they articulate a coherent philosophical position fundamentally different from and even opposed to that of the Guodian materials. The foundation of the last fifteen chapters is an anthropomorphic conception of heaven that supports the good, a view explicitly rejected in the rest of the Lǎozǐ. These last fifteen chapters support the use of punishments, show no awareness of skepticism about language or moralizing categories, and they have no concern with internal practices of self-cultivation. The paper concludes with some reflections on the background of the last fifteen chapters and on the significance of this argument for interpreting the Lǎozǐ, particularly the split between so-called “religious” and “philosophical” readings.
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The study of Chinese philosophy in the English-speaking world has largely focused on ethical and political theories. In comparison, Chinese metaphysics—here understood primarily as theories regarding the nature, components, and operating... more
The study of Chinese philosophy in the English-speaking world has largely focused on ethical and political theories. In comparison, Chinese metaphysics—here understood primarily as theories regarding the nature, components, and operating principles of reality—has been far less researched and recognized. In this essay, we examine various meanings of “metaphysics” as it has been used in denoting a branch of philosophy and make the case that metaphysics is an important part of Chinese philosophy. We argue for the need to study Chinese metaphysics as a serious field of scholarship. We also present some most recent studies of Chinese metaphysics by leading scholars of Chinese philosophy who publish in the English-speaking world. This essay aims to show that not only that Chinese metaphysics is an appropriate and legitimate subject of scholarly research but it can also be a fruitful subfield of in the study in Chinese philosophy.
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This paper explores the tension between travel and community, drawing on bits and pieces from Descartes, Heidegger, and Zhuangzi, with a little from Jason D. Hill and Alphonso Lingis.
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This paper argues that the “Heng Xian” bridges between two distinct discourses that were both prevalent in the late fourth century in China. One discourse focused on the origination of the natural world through a spontaneous process of... more
This paper argues that the “Heng Xian” bridges between two distinct discourses that were both prevalent in the late fourth century in China. One discourse focused on the origination of the natural world through a spontaneous process of differentiation, a position familiar from the Daodejing and “Tai Yi Sheng Shui.” The other discourse focused on the specific ways in which different kinds of things live, a position known primarily from Ru discussions centering on the concept of xing 性, the nature or spontaneous reactions of a particular kind of thing. The “Heng Xian” attempts to account for the specificity of human life – including language and social organization – while remaining within a naturalistic view grounded in spontaneity. The paper concludes by reflecting on what the “Heng Xian” tells us about the status of human institutions.
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This paper examines the role of individual judgment in classical Chinese philosophy through the conflict between the Mohists and the Mengzi. I argue that the Mengzi ultimately argues for limits on individual judgment and calls instead... more
This paper examines the role of individual judgment in classical Chinese philosophy through the conflict between the Mohists and the Mengzi. I argue that the Mengzi ultimately argues for limits on individual judgment and calls instead for reliance on tradition. This is set in contrast to the "birth of philosophy" in ancient Greece.
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This paper looks at the status of human beings in the Zhuangzi by examining the role of fish in the text. I argue that although human beings are presented as (like fish) just one of the myriad things, they still end up being strange in... more
This paper looks at the status of human beings in the Zhuangzi by examining the role of fish in the text. I argue that although human beings are presented as (like fish) just one of the myriad things, they still end up being strange in the context of nature.
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One could define a "tragic" viewpoint in many ways, but its core is the claim that things in this world do not always work out for the best. Probably the greatest tragic figure in the Zhuangzi is the defiant praying mantis, who waves her... more
One could define a "tragic" viewpoint in many ways, but its core is the claim that things in this world do not always work out for the best. Probably the greatest tragic figure in the Zhuangzi is the defiant praying mantis, who waves her arms to fend off the oncoming chariot. This praying mantis is surely a symbol of Confucius, who was said in the Lun Yu to know that what he does is impossible but to do it anyway. In the Zhuangzi, such characters are fools, not heroes. While the view of life in the Zhuangzi is certainly not an optimistic trust that virtue is rewarded, it is just as surely not a tragic text. It tends rather toward comedy or play. This paper will examine the Zhuangzi in relationship to the tragic. The underlying claim is that the Zhuangzi's rejection of the optimism of an anthropocentric universe is more radical than tragedy and helps reveal how a tragic viewpoint remains under the sway of an anthropocentric European tradition. Ultimately, pessimism and optimism both assume the validity of human categories, but this is precisely what is attacked in the Zhuangzi. Ironically, it is precisely the unique flexibility of human beings that allows us not just to recognize the insignificance of our goals and values in the world (seeing our situation as tragic) but to accept and take up that insignificance (seeing it rather as comic). The paper concludes with some reflections on why Zhuangzi's position is both attractive and disturbing.
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This paper examines the Chinese novel the Journey to the West 西游记. It examines the role of laughter, arguing that the ridiculous of attachment is shown through the absurdity of human life.
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In both content and historical position, the “Xing Zi Ming Chu” is of obvious significance for understanding the development of classical Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucian moral psychology. This article aims to clarify one aspect... more
In both content and historical position, the “Xing Zi Ming Chu” is of obvious significance for understanding the development of classical Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucian moral psychology. This article aims to clarify one aspect of the text, namely, its account of human motivation. This account can be divided into two parts. The first describes human motivation primarily in passive terms of response to external forces, as emotions arise from our nature when stimulated by things in the world. The second comes from the role of the heart, which takes a more active role in shaping our responses to the world. This article focuses on the role of the heart. At stake is the status of human agency, in particular, the degree to which the heart, through the formation of a stable intention, allows us to go beyond being simply pulled along by external forces.
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Early Ru (Confucian) discussions of xing, human “nature” are usually contextualized by two perspectives: the debate on whether or not xing is good, and A.C. Graham’s widely accepted claim that Mengzi took up xing as a philosophical... more
Early Ru (Confucian) discussions of xing, human “nature” are usually contextualized by two perspectives: the debate on whether or not xing is good, and A.C. Graham’s widely accepted claim that Mengzi took up xing as a philosophical concept in response to Yang Zhu. Both emphasize the role of xing as a source of ethical norms. This paper relies primarily on the “Xing Zi Ming Chu” 〈性自命出〉 to argue that the emergence of xing as a Ru philosophical concept shows little signs of either perspective. Discussions of xing appear to have emerged not from a concern with justifying norms but rather in relation to problems with self-cultivation. More specifically, the concern around xing comes from the tension between two assumptions, one that acting correctly requires acting according to externally determined norms and the other that for actions to be good, they must come from the genuine emotions [qing 情] born from our xing. What allows these two points to be reconciled is a third assumption, that xing is under-determining, taking form only in relationship to external things. The result is a conception of self-cultivation that consists in using external stimuli, particularly music and ritual, to modify our xing and qing, bringing them to fit what is right. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of how this context sheds light on the relationship between the claim that xing is good and debates about whether or not the virtues are internal or external, the relation of xing to norms, and the precise nature of the conflict between Mengzi and Xunzi
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Some arguments about whether or not there is philosophy outside of Europe. In addition to my paper, there is a paper from Peg Birmingham and a response to both papers from Rodolfe Gasché.
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This paper examines the idea of “following nature” in two classical Chinese thinkers, Mengzi and Zhuangzi. The goal is to complicate appeals to “following nature” in Asian thought and to problematize the very imposition of the concept... more
This paper examines the idea of “following nature” in two classical Chinese thinkers, Mengzi and Zhuangzi. The goal is to complicate appeals to “following nature” in Asian thought and to problematize the very imposition of the concept “nature” on Zhuangzi and Mengzi. The paper begins by establishing some common ground between Mengzi and Zhuangzi, based on two points—both view harmony with tian (heaven/nature) as a primary aspect of living well, and both require a process of self-transformation to reach this harmony. The second part of the paper argues that Mengzi and Zhuangzi give different answers to a similar question. That question is, what does it means to follow or be in harmony with tian? The essay concludes with some reflections on how “following nature” in Zhuangzi and Mengzi might apply to environmental ethics.
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This paper examines various tensions around death and mourning in the Analects (Lun yu) and Mengzi.
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In this paper, I argue for an interpretation of Mencius that emphasizes our dependence on teachers and culture in spite of the goodness of our nature, by examining the relationship among wisdom, emotion, and self-cultivation.
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At first glance, the problem of evil has little place in Chinese thought. At least two assumptions associated with the classical European problem of evil are foreign to a Chinese context. If we take the tema" evil" in contrast... more
At first glance, the problem of evil has little place in Chinese thought. At least two assumptions associated with the classical European problem of evil are foreign to a Chinese context. If we take the tema" evil" in contrast to the merely'" oad," that is, if we give evil ...
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Leibniz worked tirelessly to promote tolerance, peace, and the exchange of ideas, perhaps most in his attempts to bridge religious factions in Europe, but also in his receptiveness to the past and his attitude toward other cultures. This... more
Leibniz worked tirelessly to promote tolerance, peace, and the exchange of ideas, perhaps most in his attempts to bridge religious factions in Europe, but also in his receptiveness to the past and his attitude toward other cultures. This accommodation of differences is rooted in the ...
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This first lecture begins by defining the problem of evil in a way that is more applicable to a global context. It then sets up the problem as it appears more specifically in China, focusing on recurring stories of good people who ended... more
This first lecture begins by defining the problem of evil in a way that is more applicable to a global context. It then sets up the problem as it appears more specifically in China, focusing on recurring stories of good people who ended up with bad lives and giving an overview of the main ways these stories were used. The first part of the lecture discusses methodological issues in comparative philosophy/religion.
This is the first of a three part lecture series given at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago on the topic “The Problem of Evil and the Relation between Heaven and Human in Classical Chinese Philosophy.”
This one was only recorded in audio.
This is the first of a three part lecture series given at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago on the topic “The Problem of Evil and the Relation between Heaven and Human in Classical Chinese Philosophy.”
This one was only recorded in audio.
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This second lecture begins by reframing the problem of evil as a question about following nature – could we be considered moral if we acted according the way nature appears to be. I argue that Chinese thinkers in the Warring States... more
This second lecture begins by reframing the problem of evil as a question about following nature – could we be considered moral if we acted according the way nature appears to be. I argue that Chinese thinkers in the Warring States Period attempted to link ethical action to nature primarily through nature’s generativity (sheng 生) and inclusivity (gong 公 or jian 兼). I discuss a trajectory toward more and more radical inclusivity, from the Mozi to the Laozi and then into the Zhuangzi and parts of the Lushi Chunqiu.
This is part of a three part lecture series given at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago on the topic “The Problem of Evil and the Relation between Heaven and Human in Classical Chinese Philosophy.”
This is part of a three part lecture series given at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago on the topic “The Problem of Evil and the Relation between Heaven and Human in Classical Chinese Philosophy.”
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The final lecture looks at attempts to keep the connection to nature’s generativity while avoiding its radical inclusivity. In the Warring States Period, this is done primarily through the claim that I best express nature’s generativity... more
The final lecture looks at attempts to keep the connection to nature’s generativity while avoiding its radical inclusivity. In the Warring States Period, this is done primarily through the claim that I best express nature’s generativity through my own desires or affects. The consequences of this claim depend on one’s view of natural human affects. The lecture primarily discusses the Mengzi but also parts of the Lushi Chunqiu, and it ends with a Zhuangzian critique of appealing to the human as basis for ethics.
This is part of a three part lecture series given at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago on the topic “The Problem of Evil and the Relation between Heaven and Human in Classical Chinese Philosophy.”
This is part of a three part lecture series given at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago on the topic “The Problem of Evil and the Relation between Heaven and Human in Classical Chinese Philosophy.”
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This is the first of three lectures focusing on the different ways the Daodejing has been interpreted over time and across cultures. In this first lecture, I give an overview of the textual history of the Daodejing (excavated texts and... more
This is the first of three lectures focusing on the different ways the Daodejing has been interpreted over time and across cultures. In this first lecture, I give an overview of the textual history of the Daodejing (excavated texts and commentaries), some of its main themes, and some of the ambiguities that generate such a variety of meanings.
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This is the second of three lectures focusing on the different ways the Daodejing has been interpreted over time and across cultures. In this first lecture, I discuss chapters 1 and 40. There are more questions from the audience and I... more
This is the second of three lectures focusing on the different ways the Daodejing has been interpreted over time and across cultures. In this first lecture, I discuss chapters 1 and 40. There are more questions from the audience and I try to clarify some basic elements of the text.
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This was an upper level philosophy course taught at DePaul University, comparing Sextus Empiricus, Nagarjuna, and Zhuangzi.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Confucianism and Xunzi
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Prof. Robin R. Wang and I were "cultural consultants" for the remake of the Karate Kid. My main impact was the suggestion of the Zhuangzi passage on still water being like a mirror, which comes near the end of this clip.