현대 한국선도를 대표하는 봉우 권태훈의 사상은 그 폭이 매우 넓으면서도 깊다. 이 글은 봉우의 유불도 삼가사상 가운데 도가사상에 초점을 맞춰 그 철학적 의의를 탐색해본 것이다. 특히 봉우가 도가사상을 일방적으로 수용한 측면보다는 도가사상의 철학적 요소들 을 자기화하여 주체적으로 변용한 내용들을 중심으로 그 의의를 살펴본 특징이 있다. 이 글은 『음부경』의 오적(五賊: 오행을 훔쳐옴) 사상을 대체한 호흡법의 의의, 쓸모없음의 쓸 모를 아는 인재관 제창의 문제, 현재적 시의성 강조와 그 도가철학적 지반에 관한 세 가지 주제를 통해 봉우의 도가사상에 대한 입장을 검토해본 것이다. 봉우의 도가사상에 (...) 대한 입 장을 이해하기 위해서는 그가 본 『음부경』과 도가사상의 관계에 대해 주목해보지 않으면 안 된다. 봉우는 도가사상을 대표하는 노장의 사상이 『음부경』에 영향을 미쳤을 것이라는 일반적 사고와는 달리 『음부경』의 사상이 노장에게 영향을 미쳤다고 주장한다. 봉우는 『음부경』의 사상이 후대에 전승되어 노장사상으로 전개된 것이라고 보고, 그 핵심이 호흡 법에 있다고 한다. 그리고 호흡법과 같이 세상사람들이 중요하게 생각하지 않는 쓸모의 문제에 대해 반성한다. 그래서 봉우는 도가사상의 ‘쓸모없음의 쓸모’의 문제에 주목하 고,‘쓸모없음의 진정한 쓸모’를 가진 인재관을 제창한다. 더 나아가 도가철학적 시간관 이 지금-여기의 현재성을 강조한다는 점을 통해 도가철학의 의의가 결코 퇴행적이거나 현실도피적인 것이 아님을 강변한다. 이와 같은 봉우의 도가사상에 대한 주체적 변용의 문 제는 분명 훌륭한 의의가 있음에 분명하다. 그럼에도 봉우의 사상이 학술적인 측면에서 진 정으로 그 의의를 보장받기 위해서는 『음부경』의 저자 및 사상의 성립기원에 대한 문제가 선차적으로 해결되어야 한다는 과제가 남는다. (shrink)

구봉 송익필(1534-1599)은 조선 중기를 대표하는 성리학자요 예학자이다. 그는 율곡 이이, 우계 성혼 등과 도의지교를 맺었을 뿐만 아니라 그들과 필적할만한 학문적 능력을 갖추었던 인물이다. 그런데 구봉집에는 유교지식인들에게는 특이하게 비쳐질 수밖에 없는 도가적 사유의 스펙트럼을 통해 해석된 세계와 인간에 대한 다수의 시선들이 확인된다.BR 특히 구봉은 『장자』의 내편, 외편, 잡편의 전편에 걸쳐있는 주요 철학개념들을 자유롭게 원용하여 자신의 삶의 지평을 이상적으로 설계해보고자 한 특징이 확인된다. 그는 논문의 형식보다는 자유로운 형식의 문학 장르의 하나인 시의 양식을 통해 자신과 세계에 대한 내면적 심상을 피력하는 모습을 보여준다. 이는 (...) 장자가 성리학이나 예학의 범주로부터 독립된 문학적 지식인임을 은연중 드러냄으로써 문학적 장르에 어느 정도 허용되고 있던 자유로운 삶의 이념에 대한 문제의식을 피력해보고자 한 이유와 무관하지 않다.BR 이 글은 구봉의 도가철학적인 사유방식에 주목하면서, 구봉이 본 이상적 인격과 삶의 지평에 대한 문제를 구체적으로 조명해본 것이다. 이 글은 다음과 같은 세 가지 주제를 논의의 대상으로 삼는다. 첫째, 구봉의 도가사상에 나타난 성인의 이상적 인격과 무정의 미학적 의의가 무엇인지를 확인한다. 둘째, 빈 배의 은유와 물아상망의 이상적 삶의 지평의 문제에 대해 검토한다. 셋째, 장자가 주목하는 안시처순(安時處順, 태어나는 것과 죽는 때를 편안하게 여기는 태도) 또는 자족안분의 이상적 삶의 형태가 구봉에게서 어떻게 이해되고 있는지를 확인한다.BR 이 글은 이와 같은 논의를 통해 구봉이 도가철학적인 사유방식을 통해 기존의 이분법적 세계인식과 사적 욕망의 굴레로부터 벗어나 개체인격을 해방시키자 한 인간학적 의의를 확보할 수 있었음을 확인하였다. 그리고 우리는 결론적으로 이 글의 논의를 통해 조선중기 유교지식인의 내면세계에 조응된 도가철학의 풍경 하나를 새롭게 발견하여 해석할 수 있는 연구사적 계기를 확보한 의의가 있다. (shrink)

The Zhuangzi is one of China's greatest literary and philosophical masterpieces, yet its complexities make it a challenging read. This English translation leads you confidently through the comic scenes and virtuoso writing style, introducing all the little stories Zhuangzi invented and unpicking its philosophy through close commentaries and helpful asides. In Graziani's translation, the co-founder of Daoism emerges as a remarkable thinker. It is a must-read for anyone coming to Chinese philosophy or the Zhuangzi for the first time, and one (...) that reminds us of the importance of thinking beyond our limited, everyday perspectives. (shrink)

In order to highlight the significance of the book I'm reviewing here, let me recount a recent academic experience: A conference on the Zhuangzi is hosted by a leading scholar in the field with the sponsorship of a major university in mainland China. Several prominent scholars present papers focusing on various different passages of the text. The addresses cover the mystical, the performative, the epistemological, the ethical and several other facets of Zhuangzian thought. Yet one topic is conspicuous by (...) its absence: the political. Not a single paper addresses this matter. Romain Graziani's book effectively rectifies this situation by perceptively showing how Zhuangzian thought ran counter to many of the political... (shrink)

The concept of Tao occupies a core position in Taoism and even the entire Chinese classical philosophy. For philosophical Taoism, ‘Tao’ is the ultimate reality. Therefore, exploring Taoist epistemology, its role in governance, education and self-cultivation is necessary. The only way that can be approached beyond human ability to fathom ‘Tao’ is beyond mere reasoning or words. Thus, the basic guiding principles behind Taoism for approaching Tao are ‘no action’ and ‘no words’. In traditional Chinese philosophy, following Tao to (...) cultivate oneself is teaching, so as Taoism advocates the teaching of non-action beyond words. The educational thought of Taoist also strongly dismisses the notion of ‘learning’, which is at odds with the Confucians and majority of Westerns. However, Taoism does not negate the importance of learning to attain knowledge, while only opposes the so-called knowledge that is cumbersome, limited, rigid and antagonistic. According to the Taoist thought, children like all human beings are guided naturally and attain fulfillment in harmony with the rest of the world. Enlightenment is a continual and constant process that can be attained by gradual self-transformation until the Tao is realized. Teaching without words seems to be a negative method, while it actually possesses significance. Excessive addiction to knowledge and efficiency drifts modern education away from Taoism. Excavating the educational significance of Taoist ancient philosophical heritage can facilitate us understanding the true nature of education. (shrink)

In this deeply learned work, Toshihiko Izutsu compares the metaphysical and mystical thought-systems of Sufism and Taoism and discovers that, although historically unrelated, the two share features and patterns which prove fruitful for a transhistorical dialogue. His original and suggestive approach opens new doors in the study of comparative philosophy and mysticism. Izutsu begins with Ibn 'Arabi, analyzing and isolating the major ontological concepts of this most challenging of Islamic thinkers. Then, in the second part of the book, Izutsu (...) turns his attention to an analysis of parallel concepts of two great Taoist thinkers, Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. Only after laying bare the fundamental structure of each world view does Izutsu embark, in the final section of the book, upon a comparative analysis. Only thus, he argues, can he be sure to avoid easy and superficial comparisons. Izutsu maintains that both the Sufi and Taoist world views are based on two pivots--the Absolute Man and the Perfect Man--with a whole system of oncological thought being developed between these two pivots. Izutsu discusses similarities in these ontological systems and advances the hypothesis that certain patterns of mystical and metaphysical thought may be shared even by systems with no apparent historical connection. This second edition of Sufism and Taoism is the first published in the United States. The original edition, published in English and in Japan, was prized by the few English-speaking scholars who knew of it as a model in the field of comparative philosophy. Making available in English much new material on both sides of its comparison, Sufism and Taoism richly fulfills Izutsu's motivating desire "to open a new vista in the domain of comparative philosophy.". (shrink)

Blend classically beautiful illustrations with the wisdom of the ages to awaken your inner being as never before. Read this collection from cover to cover, and then concentrate on applying the different thoughts on your daily life. Start with first light, going with the flow, detachment, and harmony. Turn to a quote each day as a focus for meditations like these: Being a good listener spares one the burden of giving advice. Peace and knowledge will be yours!

The tendency of postmodernity emphasizes on linguistic deconstruction and construction rather than being and nature. Deconstructive attitude is very meaningful in order to overcome modernity through critiques on reason and rationality. However, I feel still unsatisfactory. It is the beginning of this paper. Taoism is focused on nature's spontaneity as logic and grammar to interpret everything that is Wu-wei as the void. It pays attention to immanent transformation and change in nature. Robert Corrington's Ecstatic Naturalism, as a son of American (...) naturalism and Continental metaphysics, walks confidently on the path of postmodernity of deconstruction. These two thoughts are not far away and seem to be good friends. They are fundamentally different; one is very old, the other is very new. Nevertheless, they are very common in explaining everything through natural process and avoiding causality and anthropocentrism. They are ecstatic and mystical due to the emphasis of spiritual and ecstatic transformation. On the other hand, there is a decisive difference between Taoism and Ecstatic Naturalism. Taoism is truly based on continuity and the connectedness of all things as an organism. There is always a gap and division within Ecstatic Naturalism which can appear in tension, in qualitative difference. This tension and betweenness make orders and signification possible. These differences and gaps are explained by the source of movement as negativity. However, void and nothingness cannot be reduced to negativity in Taoism. Taoism does not like hunger and drives, which cannot support the movement of Tao. The movement of Tao is based on returning to origin. In Taoism, nothingness and the void are basic foundations of all kinds of production and manifestation of Tao. In the universe, continuity and connectedness are always "already@ without human beings' artificial intervention. Therefore, the focus is on harmony and equilibrium rather than on tension or difference. Hunger and drives are not natural in Taoism. Ecstatic Naturalism seeks to construct a sound metaphysics to cover division and to free it from linguistic bondage. Taoism is still skeptical about language and knowledge, i. e., insofar as they do not embody Tao. Spiritual transformation is natural itself through forgetting of the self as desubstantialization of the self, which is quite different from Ecstatic Naturalism, which affirms the reliving powers in the face of the ontological difference. They take two different roads in a sense. However, from the perspective of a Korean American philosopher, they are not quite different but very close. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Taoism, Teaching, and Learning: A Nature-Based Approach to Education by John P. Miller, with Xiang Li and Tian RuanJing Dang (bio)Taoism, Teaching, and Learning: A Nature-Based Approach to Education. By John P. Miller, with Xiang Li and Tian Ruan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2022. Pp. 134, Paperback $29.95, ISBN 978-1-4875-4095-1.John Miller’s Taoism, Teaching, and Learning: A Nature-Based Approach to Education (hereafter Taoism, Teaching, and Learning) develops a (...) nature-based account of modern education grounded in Daoism (or Taoism), a school of thought often misunderstood in the West. Daoism has historically been categorized both as a religion (dao jiao 道教) and as a philosophy (dao jia zhe xue 道家哲學); in many cases the spiritual and mystical side of Daoism impresses itself on the reader at the expense of its scientific and philosophical side--as happened with the European missionaries who first exported Daoism to the West. Yet Daoism, especially in relation to pedagogy, cuts across this philosophical/mystical distinction. Happily, Miller and his students, Xiang Li and Tian Ruan, betray no such tendency to pigeon-hole Daoism into one or the other of these categories. The authors adopt a connected and holistic concept of Daoism, which they use to inform and justify their approach to modern education. As such, in the eight chapters of this book, we can see a natural and sensible connection between a holistic Daoism--spiritual, mystical and philosophical--and modern philosophical and educational theories, including Montessori’s cosmic education, Steiner Education, holistic education, and the pedagogical practices of meditation and mindfulness.Miller’s modus operandi is to apply Daoist concepts to contemporary (especially Western) educational issues, both theoretically and practically. In terms of the Daoist belief in the interconnectedness of all things, Miller questions modern subject divisions. When we divide education into geometry, mathematics and so on, we fragment the natural oneness of knowledge and reality as the Daoists would have it. Instead, Miller advocates faith in nature and looks to curricula that reflect the wholeness of nature, such as “cosmic education” and “holistic education” (Chapters 2 and 6). Through such education “we see the relationship between the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of life” (p. 27), and feel the support from the invisible and unproven world.Miller makes excellent use of the Daoist concepts of yin (陰) and yang [End Page 1] (陽), which signify the complementary balance and interplay between opposites. He uses the yinyang paradigm to explore the need for balance in a wide range of interesting and important pedagogical situations; for instance, group collaboration versus individual competition, knowledge versus imagination, intuition versus reason, qualitative versus quantitative, etc. (Chapter 5). He also implements yinyang to unpack the model of creative thinking laid down by Graham Wallace (pp. 66 -70); here, yin and yang are applied to a process within the individual. As we move from confusion to enlightenment, we enact within ourselves a dance between our yin and yang factors.Under the heading “Self-Cultivation” (Chapter 3), Miller attempts to evaluate a number of pedagogical strategies with broad ties to Daoism; namely, “silence,” “contemplation,” “calmness,” “sincerity,” “non-violence and embracing the feminine,” and “humility”. These are informed by Miller’s own personal experience of teaching and applying meditation at the University of Toronto. This provides a useful connection between the spiritual and philosophical dao 道, the mystical and the practical. More generally, these strategies recall Daoist wuwei 無爲 (non-coercive or spontaneous action) and ziran 自然 (spontaneity), which Miller subsequently applies to teaching and mindfulness in Chapter 4 (more on which below).Whereas Miller’s contribution is more theoretical, the two chapters written by his students showcase concrete examples of Daoist pedagogy in the classroom. Li’s chapter (Chapter 1) details a class of high school students learning from nature. Here we find a student club centered around a garden, where the students are allowed to wander in the direction of their interests, rather than imbibing the lessons of the teacher according to a top-down lesson plan. Ruan’s chapter (Chapter 7) looks to the various ways play can be utilized in kindergartens for children’s holistic development, including their social, intellectual, spiritual, physical... (shrink)

There are many strains in Heidegger’s thought to which he often refers, but one that he never mentions, Taoism. Otto Pöggeler has noted that Heidegger’s engagement with Chinese philosophy, and in particular with the Tao Te Ching of Lao-tzu, exerted a decisive effect on the form and direction of his later thinking. With Reinhard May’s careful comparisons of passages from Heidegger’s major texts with translations of the Tao Te Ching and various Zen Buddhist texts, there is now general agreement (...) on Heidegger’s indebtedness to Chinese philosophy. The recurrent themes of his later lectures can all be found in Taoist texts. Often these are points on which he is labeled a mystic or an irrationalist and taken to task by his Western critics. This essay examines some key facets of his thought and compares his position to that of the Tao Te Ching so as to determine the extent to which Heidegger has departed from the Western tradition to become a Taoist. (shrink)

반지성주의는 지성 자체를 부정하지는 않으나 자신이 아는 것만을 옳다고 여기며, 그에 반하는 지적 토론을 반사회적인 것으로 취급하여 권력으로 억압하려는 생각이나 태도를 말한다. 유가가 지적 탐구를 통해 덕성을 함양하고 유위(有爲)의 공동선을 창출하려는 지성주의라면, 도가는 인위적 매개를 끊고 무위(無爲)를 통해 신명(神明)의 도에 직접 다다르려는 다른 의미의 지성주의였다. 『노자』의기지(棄智)는 지성 자체에 대한 반대가 아니라 교지(巧智)에 대한 반대이며, 내면의 밝음[明]을 찾아가는 과정이다. 『장자』의 공자비판은 인위적 가공을 거치지 않고 인간 내면에 실재하는 자연성인 진지(眞知)로 돌아가자는 것이다. 황노(黃老)는 유가의 인의예법이란 외재적 매개를 거부하고, 내재하는 신명을 정신적 주체로 (...) 삼아 직접 도(道=천=자연)에 이르고자 하였다. 이렇게 볼 때 노장과 황노 모두 반지성주의가 아니다. 유가와 도가 논쟁의 핵심은 지식 자체에 대한 문제가 아니라, 무엇이 진정한 지식인가에 대한 것이다. (shrink)

Revolutionizing received opinion of Taoism's origins in light of historic new discoveries, Harold D. Roth has uncovered China's oldest mystical text--the original expression of Taoist philosophy--and presents it here with a complete translation and commentary. Over the past twenty-five years, documents recovered from the tombs of China's ancient elite have sparked a revolution in scholarship about early Chinese thought, in particular the origins of Taoist philosophy and religion. In _Original Tao,_ Harold D. Roth exhumes the seminal text (...) of Taoism--_Inward Training (Nei-yeh)_--not from a tomb but from the pages of the _Kuan Tzu,_ a voluminous text on politics and economics in which this mystical tract had been "buried" for centuries. _Inward Training_ is composed of short poetic verses devoted to the practice of breath meditation, and to the insights about the nature of human beings and the form of the cosmos derived from this practice. In its poetic form and tone, the work closely resembles the _Tao-te Ching_; moreover, it clearly evokes Taoism's affinities to other mystical traditions, notably aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism. Roth argues that _Inward Training_ is the foundational text of early Taoism and traces the book to the mid-fourth century B.C. (the late Warring States period in China). These verses contain the oldest surviving expressions of a method for mystical "inner cultivation," which Roth identifies as the basis for all early Taoist texts, including the _Chuang Tzu_ and the world-renowned _Tao-te Ching._ With these historic discoveries, he reveals the possibility of a much deeper continuity between early "philosophical" Taoism and the later Taoist religion than scholars had previously suspected. _Original Tao_ contains an elegant and luminous complete translation of the original text. Roth's comprehensive analysis explains what _Inward Training_ meant to the people who wrote it, how this work came to be "entombed" within the _Kuan Tzu,_ and why the text was largely overlooked after the early Han period. (shrink)

This module is a review of the guiding ideas of Lao Tzu’s ethics of wu wei and the Tao, an account of Lao Tzu’s prioritisation of the feminine as a basic moral principle, the problem of masculinity for practical rationality, his criticism of language, doctrines and oppressive politics. Finally, we shall evaluate the moral import of Lao Tzu’s teachings, and close with some reflections on the synergy between Taoist and Madhyamaka Buddhist thought, which rendered the latter so easily (...) received in Asia. (shrink)

This article provides a Taoist reading of Camus’ posthumously published novel, The first man. With its focus on the early life of the central character, Jacques Cormery, The first man is a semi-autobiographical account of learning and transformation, but it is, like so many other stories of its kind, one sustained by complex tensions: between the comfort of the familiar and the promise of the new; between possibility and despair; between resistance and acceptance. A theme that binds some of (...) the key educational elements of the book together is love: Jacques’s love of his mother and his elementary school teacher and their love for him; love of learning; and love of ‘home’. A Taoist theoretical framework is helpful in understanding the nature of this love and its pedagogical significance. In particular, the book exemplifies the importance of the figure of the mother—both in the person of Jacques’s mother and more symbolically in the notion of ‘the Great Mother’. The article concludes with thoughts on the value of literature for educational inquiry. (shrink)

"Chinese philosophy before our Christian era is emphasized in this nontechnical summary of Chinese thought. Professor Creel also deals with Confucianism, the ideas of Mo-tsu and Mencius, Taoism, Legalism, and their variations and adaptations. As an introduction for the general reader, this book stands among the best."—_China: A Resource and Curriculum Guide_ "There exists nowhere else such a well-written presentation of the main trends in Chinese thought in so brief a space. The text is not cluttered with Chinese (...) names and the pages are not weighed down with footnotes—but the references are there for those who want them, with suggestions for further readings. This is a book which can be understood by those who have never read anything else about China."—_The New York Times Book Review _. (shrink)

Patricia De Martelaere was a Belgian author, philosopher, and practitioner of shadowboxing. She wrote an inspiring little book on Taoism that stresses the physical, energetic, and martial aspects of its practice. This paper elaborates upon three central ideas from her work, turns them into a direction that she did not envision, and applies them to a critical-historical interpretation of the Taoist texts that she elaborates upon: an active way of non-knowing, the awareness of a shared ground, and the intellectual (...) fertility resulting from this approach. By occasionally putting aside certain assumptions from contemporary research on early Chinese Taoist philosophers - with respect to books, authors, philosophical consistency, schools, etc. - we can offer alternative accounts to the now dominant forms of interpretation. This approach does not take a position in favor of or against the existence or importance of such entities as “books‘, “philosophers‘, or “schools‘ in pre-imperial China. Nor does it promote an alternative for the dominant narratives. It simply allows for a degree of openness with respect to these narratives, thereby allowing for greater nuance that is at risk of being suffocated in the current context of academic philosophy. (shrink)

본 연구는 『장자』의 「양생주」가 함의하고 있는 양생사상을 고찰 하고 도교 ‘호흡법’을 통하여 ‘포정해우’를 새롭게 해석하는 것이다. 연구의 목적은 첫째 「양생주」에 대한 새로운 견해를 제시하는 것이고, 두 번째가 ‘포정해우’ 부분의 함의를 이전 연구와는 다른 시각으로 해석하는 것이며, 세 번째가 ‘지궁어위신’이 함의 하고 있는 ‘장자의 장생사상’에 대하여 그간에 연구들이 밝히고 있는 쟁점들을 분석하여 「양생주」 결론에 부합하는 해석을 제시하는 것이다. 또한 장자철학사상인 도, 자연⋅무용⋅무위가 「양생주」에 어떻게 반영되어 있는지를 고찰한다. 그리고 양생주의 각 장이 서로 어떤 연계성을 띠고 있는지를 고찰한다. 본 연구 논문은 전체 3장으로 (...) 구성되어 있다. Ⅰ장 서론에서 연구의 배경과 도교와 장자를 중심으로 고대 중국의 장생사상과 양생법을 개괄하고, 본론인 Ⅱ장에서는 ‘포정해우’ 전체 문장을 8단락으로 나누고 각 단락을 도교의 ‘호흡법’으로 해석하여 다소 불합리한 것같이 보이는 표현부분들이 합리적 표현임을 밝힌다. 그리고 ‘지궁어위신(指窮於爲薪)’의 함의를 「양생주」 결론에 적합하게 해석한다. 마지막 Ⅲ장은 결론으로 장자 양생사상과 철학 그리고 도교의 ‘호흡법’을 통한 포정해우의 해석은 전 「양생주」에 어떤 관련성이 있는가를 종합하여 정리한다. (shrink)

The main thesis of this dissertation is that there is an intrinsic connection between Heidegger and Taoism, which may be called "the horizontal-regional way of thinking". This is a middle way extending "between and beyond" the conceptual and the perceptual, and through "pure images" or "techne", being essentially involved into an ontological horizon or region. The nature of this region is what Heidegger calls "appropriation" that is comparable to Chinese "Tao" and ancient Greek "logos". It signifies the primordially mirror-playing and (...) reciprocal belonging, through which opponents are opened to each other and thus win their "ek-sistential" ownership. In the text of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu , Tao is neither a law nor an isolated nothingness, but must be understood as the appropriational region of ch'i--the topological regioning and mingling of yin and yang. ;One crucial source in which Heidegger achieves this horizontal thinking is found in his interpretations of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and Husserl's works on phenomenology. Thus, it can be seen that this non-conceptual thinking is relevant to the deepest concern of western philosophy. This ontological regioning is also the unbroken thread running through all of Heidegger's writings and is manifested in his techne-cal usage of language. Nevertheless, it is trans-formed and relies on various images in the different stages of his career. Similarly, the authors of Lao-Chuang found it necessary to be occupied by the "images without objects", in order to express the regional sense of Tao. It just makes no sense to assert that Taoism in its ultimate understanding of Tao discards language acts as a whole. Actually, by the time of Lao-Chuang's composition, "tao" had derived the meanings of "opening" and especially "saying" from its original meaning of "way". Heidegger's guess, out of the calling of pure thinking, that Tao as the topological Way giving all ways is the origin of "the thoughtful Saying" is anticipatorily accurate. His long-lasting interest in Taoism is profoundly built on thinking itself rather than on any incidental reason. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Original Tao: Inward Training and the Foundations of Taoist MysticismJohn A. TuckerOriginal Tao: Inward Training and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism. By Harold D. Roth. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. Pp. v + 268. Hardcover $29.50.Searching for the origins of things remains a perennial favorite of Western scholars. For millennia, this quest has been at the core of innumerable scholarly projects. However, it has had (...) significantly less appeal to Asian thinkers, many of whom are more accustomed to assuming a continual presence or an eternal, cyclical recurrence, rather than an absolute beginning or creation ex nihilo from which all could be traced. Harold Roth's Original Tao: Inward Training and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism continues this time-honored line of investigation, applying it to Taoist mystical writings, in a search for what Roth calls "the original tao." While such a line of research might appear perfectly reasonable to Western minds, it seems a bit incongruous with much of Taoist thought, especially when the latter is accepted and explained in terms of its own categories. For Taoists, of course, the uncarved block, the great thoroughfare, the tao itself, is the origin of all things, including mystical approaches to it and the human predicament.Given this anti-genealogical outlook, with its radical de-emphasis of texts and historical individuals, it should come as no surprise that the origins of Taoism are as murky, and hints about the same as misleading, as any could possibly be. The legendary figure Lao Tzu, now widely recognized as a fabricated philosopher meant to supply a set of presumably whimsical origins, and thus mock the appeal to them, is a case in point. Another might be the Chuang Tzu's satirically progressive deconstruction of the notion of a "beginning to being" via positing an infinite regress of beginnings that have not yet begun to be.1 Despite this, there remains the determination (and Roth is by no means alone here) to discover what has been hidden, perhaps intentionally. Without meaning to compromise this quest, we nevertheless might well ask whether the search does not somehow impair its own integrity as a [End Page 307] statement about the subject being explored. Put another way, is not the way that can be discussed the true way?Methodologically, Roth's book is "a study in 'textual archaeology' " that seeks to uncover "long-lost or long-overlooked texts and the interpretation of their significance" (p. 3). Its focus is on a collection of philosophical verses titled Nei-yeh (Inward training), which, as Roth notes, A. C. Graham earlier characterized as "possibly the oldest mystical text in China" (p. 2). While basing his analyses in part on textual, historical, and hermeneutic insights that have resulted from the relatively recent discovery of the Ma-wang-tui manuscripts, Roth's purported discovery of "the original tao" emerged not from the literal, archaeological unearthing of a text hitherto unknown, but from a new level of interpretive, historical appreciation of a writing long known to exist, Inward Training.Inward Training had been known, however, as a portion of the Kuan Tzu, a work typically characterized as "legalist" in philosophical orientation. By analyzing Inward Training via a "mystical hermeneutic," Roth suggests that the verses composing it are not just so much ancient metaphysical poetry, but instead derived from a group of devoted practitioners of breathing meditation who conceptualized their discipline through metaphysical notions regarding both the cosmos and human nature. According to Roth, these practitioners subscribed to the "guiding and pulling" methods often associated with "dietary and sexual regimens," practices later criticized in texts such as the Chuang Tzu and Huai-nan Tzu. The cosmology generated by these practitioners, and recorded in Inward Training, was, notably enough, similar to what emerged later in the Lao Tzu, a text mistakenly considered, for millennia, to be the origin of the way. Thus Roth resituates Inward Training, moving it from the more recent peripheries of antiquity to the very headwaters of the ancient tradition, as the original way.In radically rethinking the beginnings of Taoism without invoking the traditionally accepted but apparently ahistorical claims of a Lao-Chuang filiation, Roth proposes a new... (shrink)

. Several contemporary writers have found certain correlations between Taoism and modern philosophy of science to be particularly noteworthy because of their usefulness for interpreting world views, implicit or explicit, in each. However, the recent project in science and epistemology–the work of Michael Polanyi–which is probably most fruitfully resonant with Taoism has not yet been explored in that connection. The purpose of the present article is to begin that exploration. The essay provides a preliminary sketch of certain key moments in (...) Polanyi's thought and then turns attention to the Taoist themes of Tao, wu‐wei, and tz'u as these illuminate and are illuminated by the Polanyian post‐critical epistemology. (shrink)

In this expansive and highly original two-volume work, Jim Behuniak reformulates John Dewey's late-period "Cultural turn" and proposes that its next logical step is an "intra-Cultural philosophy" that goes beyond what is commonly known as "comparative philosophy." Each volume models itself on this new approach, arguing that early Chinese thought is poised to join forces with Dewey in meeting an urgent cultural need: namely, helping the Western tradition to correct its outdated Greek-medieval assumptions, especially where these result in pre-Darwinian (...) inferences about the world. Relying on the latest findings in Chinese philosophy, these volumes establish "specific philosophical relationships" between Dewey's ideas and early Chinese thought for this purpose, showing how together they can assist us in getting our thinking "back in gear" with the world as it is currently known through the biological, physical, and cognitive sciences. Volume One: Dao and Nature engages Dewey with themes generally associated with "Daoism," and includes discussion of the organization of organic form, teleology, cosmology, knowledge, the body, and technology. Volume One thus works to establish "Chinese natural philosophy" as an empirical framework in which to consider the cultural-level phenomena examined in Volume Two: Dao and Culture. (shrink)

In this article, I would like to take a closer look at the philosophical meaning of the term “process,” which is a fundamental category in Arnold Mindell’s psychology. The Taoist origins of this concept go back to the Tao – the principle of the universe. Tao is the process of passing into each other the opposite aspects of the monastically understood Qi energy. Mindell was also inspired by the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung, which emphasizes the importance of (...) archetypal, unconscious mental processes and their impact on the ego through random thoughts, fantasies or dreams. Mindell distinguishes between a primary process (mental content that we are aware of) and a secondary process (mental content that we are not aware of) to explain what connects a person with her natural living – an unadulterated existence through rigid boundaries between the two processes acquired during one’s upbringing. The purpose of this article is to explore the Jungian and Taoist roots of Mindell’s psychology and to characterize individual lives as confronting their entire processual being, thus becoming natural living. -------------------------- Received: 14/04/2022. Reviewed: 19/10/2022. Accepted: 24/10/2022. (shrink)

The paper explores the possibility of finding radical elements of individualistic and libertarian especially left-libertarian thought in Taoist philosophy. It demonstrates that philosophical Taoism should be treated in a comprehensive way, with a particular emphasis on ethics. In connection with this, the anti-authoritarian ethico-political dimension of early Taoism is examined, and it is argued that the Taoist philosophers of ancient China had a deep respect for the equal liberty of individuals, who are all unique by nature. As (...) a result, findings suggest that Taoist anarchism in early medieval China evolved as the logical conclusion from ancient Taoist ethico-political thought since radical ideas were embodied in it. The research goal of this paper is to develop a Taoist-libertarian virtue ethics and to show its political relevance. Therefore, it is also intended to show how Taoist libertarianism avant la lettre undermines political authority despite being neither consequentialist nor deontological, unlike typical American libertarianism. (shrink)

Abstract:While many readers know Aldous Huxley as the author of Brave New World, few know him as a philosopher. Even fewer readers are aware of his extensive knowledge of Eastern philosophy and the ways in which he perceives epistemological and ethical parallels between Eastern thought and Western philosophy. This essay freshly unveils this unexpected part of Huxley by investigating his dialogue with a classical Chinese philosophy called Taoism and the ways in which Taoism contributes to the formation of his (...) most important philosophical treatise The Perennial Philosophy (1946), written as a book of global philosophy. (shrink)

Examines the development of the philosophy, culture, and civilization of ancient China and discusses the history of Taoism and Confucianism.

충암 김정은 정암 조광조와 더불어 기묘사화 때 희생된 사림파 인물로서 당대의 도학사상을 대표하는 인물이다. 이런 그가 유학사상 이외에 노장철학사상에 대해 관심을 갖고 심도있는 해석을 제시한 점은 학술적 가치가 매우 크다. 그럼에도 충암사상을 노장철학의 단일 입장에서 면밀하게 연구한 성과는 전무한 상황이다.BR 이에 이 글은『충암집』에 나타난 노장철학사상과 관련한 여러 가지 내용들 가운데 특히 노자출관도(老子出關圖)와 남곽자은궤도(南郭子隱几圖)라는 그림을 보고 충암이 동명의 시작품으로 제시한「노자출관도」및「남곽자은궤도」에 나타난 노장철학의 사유세계를 구체적으로 검토해본 것이다.BR 충암은 두 그림 속에서 장자가 제시한 진인(眞人)의 모습을 확인하고, 노자를 진인으로 묘사함과 동시에 남곽자기 역시 진인으로 (...) 추정케 하는 언급을 남긴다. 이들 진인이 목표로 나아가는 공간적 배경은 신선도교적 성격을 띠고 있는 곤륜산인데, 충암은 노자와 남곽자기라는 진인이 궁극적으로는 신선의 반열에 도달함을 목표로 삼았다고 해석케 할 가능성을 남긴다. 그리고 이를 위해서는 궁극의 도에 도달해야 할 뿐만 아니라 자기 자신을 잃어버리는 자기무화의 과정이 필요함을 역설한다.BR 충암이 본 두 그림 속 노장철학의 사유세계는 변화와 무(無)에 그 사상의 지반을 둔다. 이러한 사유로 인해 충암은 결정적으로 그림은 그림일 뿐 결국 실재가 아니라는 점을 강조한다. 노자와 남곽자기의 삶의 궤적보다 중요한 것은 지금-여기에서 숨 쉬고 있는, 나를 잊은 나 자신이라는 것이다. 이같은 충암의 노장철학 해석의 의의는 인간이라면 언제든지 그 노력 여하에 따라 진인과 신선이 될 수 있다고 하는 가능성을 열어놓았다는 점에서 찾아진다. (shrink)

This insightful explication of oriental philosophy meets a long felt need for a critical introduction to four systems of eastern thought—Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism—presented in familiar western terms. Students of comparative religion, eastern philosophy and civilization, and the philosophy of religion who have been trained in traditional western modes of thought often find the intuitive and aphorisic quality of eastern writing a major stumbling block to understanding. This is eastern philosophy presented to westerners by a westerner, a (...) practical and understandable guide for students and for others who wish to expand their understanding in this important area. (shrink)

This is the first work available in English which addresses Zhuangzi’s thought as a whole. It presents an interpretation of the Zhuangzi, a book in thirty-three chapters that is the most important collection of Daoist texts in early China. The author introduces a complex reading that shows the unity of Zhuangzi’s thought, in particular in his views of action, language, and ethics. By addressing methodological questions that arise in reading Zhuangzi, a hermeneutics is developed which makes understanding Zhuangzi’s (...) religious thought possible. A theoretical contribution to comparative philosophy and the cross-cultural study of religious traditions, the book serves as an introduction to Daoism for graduate students in religion, philosophy, and East Asian Studies. (shrink)

Arthur Waley's brilliant and definitive translation of one of the foremost of all mystical books, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, has become a modern classic in its own right. Unlike previous translations, it is founded not on the medieval commentaries but on a close study of all the early Chinese literature, and it provides a singular example of authoritative scholarship skillfully blended with brilliant, precise writing. In his introduction, Dr. Waley gives an extensive scholarly account of Chinese thought down (...) to the end of the third century B.C. Here, the author presents a full picture of Chinese prehistory, early philosophy, and literature, showing the original, lofty conception of Taoism before the gradual corruption through the course of centuries, tracing this conflict of philosophies and its background of politics. (shrink)

Ten conference papers which focus on the literature's attempt to regain control and rejuvenate the indigenous traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

I will speak here of three notions which are crucial for a thoroughgoing understanding of the three East Asian philosophical/religious teachings of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The first I name integrated practice ; the other two are already known to modern scholarship as essence-function and interpenetration. Despite the readily observable reliance on these fundamental and unifying elements by the major masters of the three traditions, through the past century of modern scholarly investigation in the West they have been paid almost (...) no sustained attention. While they have occasionally been identified in a fragmentary and cursory way, they have not been examined from the perspective of their role as fundamental constituents of a holistic cultural worldview, or as a set of pan-East Asian metaphysical categories which are radically distinct from basic Western paradigms, and which have retained remarkable consistency throughout the long histories and wide range of schools of thought contained in the three traditions. (shrink)

This ambitious book presents a new interpretation of Chinese thought guided both by a philosopher's sense of mystery and by a sound philosophical theory of meaning. That dual goal, Hansen argues, requires a unified translation theory. It must provide a single coherent account of the issues that motivated both the recently untangled Chinese linguistic analysis and the familiar moral-political disputes. Hansen's unified approach uncovers a philosophical sophistication in Daoism that traditional accounts have overlooked. The Daoist theory treats the imperious (...) intuitionism that alienates critical thinkers as a feature of Confucianism alone. Freed from the view that Confucianism is the core of Chinese thought and from myopic Confucian interpretations, Chinese thinkers emerge as unmistakably philosophical. (shrink)

This paper claims that palliative care is a suitable approach for offering comprehensive support to patients with life-threatening illness and unavoidable asthenia, to enhance their quality of life in aging and chronic illness. There are however some conceptual barriers to accessing that care on the Chinese Mainland: Death-denying culture and society; Misguidance and malpractice derived from the biomedical model; Prejudice against PC and certain deviant understandings of filial piety culture. To counter these obstacles, the study introduces the philosophy of Chinese (...) Taoist Chuang-tze to enlighten the public from ignorance and remove some illusions about death and dying; inspire people to face and accept illness and death calmly, and keep harmony and inner peace of mind to alleviate suffering, with the aim of providing wisdom and a shift of attitude toward life and death. Chuang-tze’s thoughts are consistent with the provision of palliative care, and to a certain degree, can promote its acceptability and delivery, and the conception of good death in practice. (shrink)

Explores the development of Chinese thought, highlighting its concern with questions of coherence. Providing a bracing expansion of horizons, this book displays the unsuspected range of human thinking on the most basic categories of experience. The way in which early Chinese thinkers approached concepts such as one and many, sameness and difference, self and other, and internal and external stand in stark contrast to the way parallel concepts entrenched in much of modern thinking developed in Greek and European (...) class='Hi'>thought. Brook Ziporyn traces the distinctive and surprising philosophical journeys found in the works of the formative Confucian and Daoist thinkers back to a prevailing set of assumptions that tends to see questions of identity, value, and knowledge—the subject matter of ontology, ethics, and epistemology in other traditions—as all ultimately relating to questions about coherence in one form or another. Mere awareness of how many different ways human beings can think and have thought about these categories is itself a game changer for our own attitudes toward what is thinkable for us. The actual inhabitation and mastery of these alternative modes of thinking is an even greater adventure in intellectual and experiential expansion. Brook Ziporyn is Professor of Chinese Philosophy, Religion, and Comparative Thought at the University of Chicago Divinity School and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the National University of Singapore. His books include The Penumbra Unbound: The Neo-Taoist Philosophy of Guo Xiang, also published by SUNY Press. (shrink)

It is illuminating to contrast the views of the great 19th century German philosophy G.F.W. Hegel and the 20th century existentialist—phenomenologist Martin Heidegger in their attitudes towards Asian philosophy. There is a sense in which both philosophies are Eurocentric, but another deeper sense in which Heidegger’s philosophy is much more respectful towards Asian philosophy and, many argue, incorporates ideas of some of the great Asian philosophies, in particular, Taoism and Zen Buddhism.

This paper is an interpretation of the thought of the twentieth century Korean religious thinker, Yoo Yŏng-mo (柳永模, 1890-1981), a pioneer figure who sought to re-conceptualise a Christian understanding of the Ultimate Reality in the light of a positive openness to the plurality of Korean religions. Yoo Yŏng-mo considered that it was possible to present an overall picture of harmony and complementarity between the three traditions of Korea and Christianity, and this is endorsed by the present thesis. This essay (...) is aimed at providing a religious rationale for inter-faith dialogue. Using the principles of ‘Change’ (易, i) and ‘Yin-ying’ (陰陽)dominated in Chinese Classics and East Asian way of thinking, this paper lays out a methodology for envisaging harmony and mutual complementarity between traditions. The effect of some central concepts from within Confucian, Buddhist and Taioist tradition on the Christian thought of Yoo Yŏng-mo is then analysed and examined. In this respect, this paper argues that the Ultimate Reality based on the principle of harmony and mutual complementarity is not only both personal and impersonal as well as both transcendent and imminent, but also neither personal nor impersonal as well as neither transcendent nor imminent. Essentially, therefore, this essay accepts that Yoo Yŏng-mo’s equating of the Christian idea of God with the ‘Great Ultimate’ (太極) in Confucianism, with ‘Nothingness’ (無) in Buddhism and with the ‘One’ or Tao (道) in the thought of Lao-Chuang (老莊思想) of Taoism is a legitimate equivalence to make and that this does indeed pave the way for a potentially fruitful dialogue between Korea’s main religions. The drawing together of the Great Ultimate, Absolute Nothingness, the One Absolute from the Tao and the traditional personal God of Christianity gives the discussion an entirely new direction which has become a challenge for traditional orthodoxChristian theology and also for a pluralistic religious society. (shrink)

In this collection of original essays, leading scholars of East Asian studies seek to define the deeply religious dimensions of Confucian and Neo-Confucian thought and practice in order to demonstrate its intellectual connections with other traditions of thought--such as Taoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism--at specific junctures in history.

Cette contribution décrit les tensions existantes entre classiques de la tradition chinoise au sujet du féminin grâce aux apports de la sinologie contemporaine. Elle présente la place du féminin dans les Entretiens et explore l’alternative proposée par le Daodejing pour le rôle social du féminin et la description de la réalité la plus fondamentale : la Dao. Ces classiques furent ensuite l’objet d’une tradition de commentaires à partir de la dynastie Han jusqu’à aujourd’hui.