The Humanist Spirit of Daoism
The Humanist Spirit of Daoism

Author: Guying Chen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-02-12

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9004361987

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In The Humanist Spirit of Daoism, Chen Guying presents a concise overview of his understanding of the meaning and significance of Daoist philosophy. Chen is a leading contemporary Chinese thinker and spokesperson for a new Daoist approach to existential and socio-political issues. He was born in mainland China in 1935, but after having resettled to Taiwan, he received his education there and was a student activist in the 1960s. He became famous in the Chinese-speaking world with his writings on Nietzsche, Laozi and Zhuangzi. At present he is a Professor at Peking University. This volume collects representative essays from the past 25 years which not only outline Chen’s interpretation of Daoism as a deeply humanist way of thinking and living, but also show how he employs this philosophy in a critique of totalitarianism and neo-imperialism.

The Humanist Spirit of Daoism
The Humanist Spirit of Daoism

Author: Guying Chen

Publisher: Modern Chinese Philosophy

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9789004361973

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In The Humanist Spirit of Daoism, Chen Guying presents a concise overview of his understanding of the meaning and significance of Daoist philosophy. Chen is a leading contemporary Chinese thinker and spokesperson for a new Daoist approach to existential and socio-political issues. He was born in mainland China in 1935, but after having resettled to Taiwan, he received his education there and was a student activist in the 1960s. He became famous in the Chinese-speaking world with his writings on Nietzsche, Laozi and Zhuangzi. At present he is a Professor at Peking University. This volume collects representative essays from the past 25 years which not only outline Chen's interpretation of Daoism as a deeply humanist way of thinking and living, but also show how he employs this philosophy in a critique of totalitarianism and neo-imperialism.

The Wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism
The Wisdom of Zhuang Zi on Daoism

Author: Zhuangzi

Publisher: Peter Lang

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 9781433100789

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Throughout the years there have been several editions of Zhuang Zi's book with significant differences in certain parts of the text. Not every word in the book came from Zhuang Zi's pen. Contributions were made by his disciples and there have been many changes to the original text: errors in hand copying the text, in mistaking notations for text, and in outright forgery throughout centuries. Chen Guying's 1976 edition of the book, an eclectic study of all the editions that identifies probable forgeries, is used as the text reference in the present translation.

Luciferic Verses
Luciferic Verses

Author: Eric Cunningham

Publisher: SteinerBooks

Published: 2023-02-07

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1584208880

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"It is a significant, momentous fact that in the third millennium before Christ, an incarnation of Lucifer in the flesh actually took place in the east of Asia. And from this incarnation of Lucifer in the flesh --for this being became a teacher --there went forth what is described as the pre-Christian, pagan culture that still survived in the gnosis of the earliest Christian centuries." --Rudolf Steiner (The Influences of Lucifer and Ahriman) In the West today, Laozi --who lived sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BC --is perhaps the best-known (along with Confucius) ancient Chinese philosopher, owing to numerous modern renderings of his Daodejing (or Tao Te Ching). Eric Cunningham relates the substance of Laozi's classic work to modern philosophers and thinkers --especially Rudolf Steiner and his esoteric cosmology and philosophy, drawing significant and surprising parallels and contrasts with regard to Steiner's modern path of inner development and to aspects of popular culture. In doing so, he also sheds light on the evolution of consciousness and the universality of Laozi's wisdom of more than two millennia ago.Cunningham combines a new translation of the Chinese classic Daodejing with a unique interpretation of the Dao for today, innovatively employing perspectives of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy interwoven with esoteric world history. Inspirations for this singular reading of the Daodejing includes the suggestion by contemporary esoteric scholars that the mythical Yellow Emperor of Chinese history was a human incarnation of the spirit called Lucifer in the West. This argument has been used to explain the ways in which "demigods" have inserted themselves into the earthly sphere to affect human evolution and history. This theory resonates with certain readings of Genesis 6 and the idea that fallen angels have penetrated the human world and promoted the establishment of ruling classes and elite bloodlines throughout history.The Luciferic Verses considers such claims from the perspective of esoteric history. The author evaluates them on the basis of their convergence with kindred concepts --including Zen enlightenment, mysticism, and the "simulation" hypothesis depicted in the Matrix films --revealing the activities and historical implications of Gnosticism. He makes a bold case for this common thread in various "consciousness-only" concepts of mind --from Plato and the ancient Skeptics to Daoism, Zen, and even the idealism of the 1960s --leading directly to postmodern hypotheses of digital consciousness.Today, philosophers are exploring such topics as virtual reality and digital simulation as new ways of discussing the contours of reality suggested in the Daodejing. Rather than leading us to a more humanistic vision of reality, as the Daoist scholars traditionally maintain, this theory of mind might be the root of a systematic anti-humanist impulse that has operated throughout world history. The Luciferic Verses offers fresh perspectives on Laoze's classic guide to life and inner development, describing its relevance and meaning for today's cultural milieu and modern esoteric thought.

Ritual Performance in Early Chinese Thought
Ritual Performance in Early Chinese Thought

Author: Thomas Radice

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-11-14

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 1350358983

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Examining early Chinese ritual discourse during the Warring States and early Western Han Periods, this book reveals how performance became a fundamental feature of ritual and politics in early China. Through a dramaturgical lens, Thomas Radice explores the extent to which performer/spectator relationships influenced all aspects of early Chinese religious, ethical, and political discourse. Arguing that the Confucians conceived ritual as primarily a dramaturgical matter, this book demonstrates not only that theatricality was necessary for expression and deception in a community of spectators, but also how a theatrical 'presence' ultimately became essential to all forms of public life in early China. Thomas Radice illuminates previously unexplored connections between early Chinese texts, aesthetics, and traditions.

Philosophical Health
Philosophical Health

Author: Luis de Miranda

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-12-28

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 135035306X

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Bringing together leading international and interdisciplinary scholars, this ground-breaking volume examines the theory and practice of philosophical health in contemporary contexts of care broadly understood, care for the self, care for the other, and care for the world. But what do we mean by philosophical health? Whilst this book does not seek to provide a normative definition, as it explores disparate perspectives and encourages pluralism in philosophical ways of life, one may envision philosophical health as a state of creative coherence between a person's or a group's way of thinking and their way of acting, such that the possibilities for a good life are increased, and the needs for flourishing satisfied. An idea central to philosophical health is the concept of 'possibility'. Without a sense of self-possibility and openness to the future, health loses meaning, and conversely, pathologies are defined by various kinds of impossibilities. As such, philosophical health reconsiders care as a process of cultivating or pruning the compossible in embodied, psychological, and social terms, of allowing things to re-generate, or in some cases to vanish. Drawing on the history of philosophy, phenomenology, new materialism, post-colonialism but also a wide range of contemporary approaches to philosophical practice, Philosophical Health sheds light on the understudied philosophical dimension of care and the healing dimension of philosophizing. Advocating philosophy as a lived practice, it uncovers the increasing relevance of philosophical health to contemporary debates on well-being, well-belonging, counselling, and development.

Chinese Ideology
Chinese Ideology

Author: Shiping Hua

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-08-16

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1000422240

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This book traces ideological trends in China through a range of historical and comparative perspectives, spanning the ancient belief systems of Confucianism, Legalism, and Taoism to political ideologies of the present day. Chapters in this edited volume are divided into four parts: traditional Chinese ideology, ideology of the Republic, Maoism as an ideology and post Mao ideology, zoning in on specific historical periods from the Qing and Republic periods to the reform era, as well as the period after the founding of the PRC – through which Mao Zedong’s political thought is notably discussed from the perspective of epistemology and the global impact of Maoism. Key topics include Sun Yat-sen as the Father of the Republic, Li Dazhao, the early Marxist theoretician, Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist Fascism, Liang Qichao’s emotional appeals through liberal political discourse, Jiang Zemin’s theory of ‘Three Represents’ de-emphasising the Marxist concept of class, Hu Jintao’s theory of ‘Harmonious Society’ and Xi Jinping’s political thought. Contributions from world-leading scholars take both comparative and critical approaches, examining not only how studies of ideology are relevant, but how Chinese ideologies have retained their own characteristics distinct to the West. As the first comprehensive study of this subject in the English language, Chinese Ideology will appeal to students and scholars of philosophy, political science, history, and Asian studies more broadly.

The Philosophy of Creative Solitudes
The Philosophy of Creative Solitudes

Author: David Jones

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-04-18

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1350077879

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What is solitude, why do we crave and fear it, and how do we distinguish it properly from loneliness? It lies at the core of the lives of philosophers and their self-reflective contemplations, and it is the enabling (and disabling) condition that allows us to seriously question how to live creatively and meaningfully. David Farrell Krell is one of the decisive philosophical voices on how philosophers can creatively engage their solitudes. The scale and range of his understanding of solitudes are taken up in this book by some of the most distinguished Continental philosophers. Authors address the problem of solitude from different angles, and imagine how to face and respond creatively to it. Blending philosophical narrative and straightforward philosophical treatises, this book provides inspiration for contemplation of our own versions of solitude and their creative potentials. Some authors focus on the work of historical figures in philosophy or poetry, such as Heidegger and Hölderlin, while others deal more directly with Krell's work as exemplary of their own imaginings of creative solitudes. Other authors respond more personally and creatively in their demonstrations of how we can, and must, seek our solitudes. Including an original chapter by David Farrell Krell, this book is an invigorating meditation on the possibility of being philosophical about a life through solitude, and the meaning of this powerfully resonant and universal human experience.

Cultivating a Good Life in Early Chinese and Ancient Greek Philosophy
Cultivating a Good Life in Early Chinese and Ancient Greek Philosophy

Author: Karyn Lai

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-12-13

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1350049581

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This book engages in cross-tradition scholarship, investigating the processes associated with cultivating or nurturing the self in order to live good lives. Both Ancient Chinese and Greek philosophers provide accounts of the life lived well: a Confucian junzi, a Daoist sage and a Greek phronimos. By focusing on the processes rather than the aims of cultivating a good life, an international team of scholars investigate how a person develops and practices a way of life especially in these two traditions. They look at what is involved in developing practical wisdom, exercising reason, cultivating equanimity and fostering reliability. Drawing on the insights of thinkers including Plato, Confucius, Han Fei and Marcus Aurelius, they examine themes of harmony, balance and beauty, highlight the different concerns of scepticism across both traditions, and discuss action as an indispensable method of learning and, indeed, as constitutive of self. The result is a valuable collection opening up new lines of inquiry in ethics, demonstrating the importance of philosophical ideas from across cultural traditions.

Computing Geographically
Computing Geographically

Author: David O'Sullivan

Publisher: Guilford Publications

Published: 2024-01-12

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 146255394X

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Geographic information science (GISc) and systems (GIS) have grown rapidly in recent decades, increasingly on a separate track from geographic thought. As geography's "big ideas"--such as space, place, boundaries, scale, process, and relationality--have evolved, what does this mean for their computational representation? This book considers how key concepts have developed in geography and are represented (or not) in GISc, with a view to bridging gaps between the two. David O'Sullivan shows how revisiting the theoretical underpinnings of geography offers insights on enduring GIS challenges--including map projections, the modifiable areal unit problem, scale and map generalization, and the nature of space and place--while also enriching geographic thought. The book uses examples from across geography's subdisciplines to promote understanding. Chapters are self-contained essays that can easily form the basis of classroom discussions. The companion website provides the figures, code to produce versions of selected figures, updated web links, and other resources.