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"From a Marxist philosophical perspective, this collection of essays investigates the maturing self-consciousness and self-assertion of Chinese academia, especially within the humanities and social sciences, permitting more penetrating insights and critical engagement with the social reality of China. The author elaborates on the relationship between Hegel and Marx's philosophy and their concepts of reality, thereby accounting for the historic and philosophical conditions for the autonomy of Chinese academia. Drawing on intellectual resources from both Eastern and Western archives, including phenomenology, philosophical hermeneutics, Western Marxism, and China's pacifist tradition, the book refutes Huntington's speculation about Chinese imperialism and delineates how China's development can contribute to a fundamental critique of capitalist civilisation and a new paradigm of global governance. In addition, the book challenges the thinking of Chinese neo-liberals and nationalist-conservatives and their understandings of the history and social reality of China. Hence, the author advocates a reconstruction of the spiritual and intellectual realm within society based on Marxism, in order to counter Sinophobia, neo-liberalism, and nationalism at the same time. The book will appeal to readers interested in social and political philosophy, philosophy of history, Marxism, and China studies"--

In 'The Dao of Madness', Alexus McLeod discuss three different accounts of the concept of 'madness' (kuang) in early Chinese thought, and the origins of the conception of mental illness in early China. Madness is discussed in early Chinese texts in connection with personhood, self-cultivation, and agency. The book explores the role of madness in Confucian texts, which take madness as the result of flawed character, and in the Zhuangzi and related texts, which celebrate madness as an alternative and unbounded view of the world. The attempt to solve some of the problems inherent in these earlier views of madness leads to the 'medicalization' of madness and mental illness more generally in Han Dynasty texts, and the origin of the Chinese medical tradition.

I will argue for three points. The first is on the need to make Chinese philosophy a world philosophy. The second point is that, in order to promote Chinese philosophy as a world philosophy we should not historicize philosophy. Philosophy and history are two different disciplines. As important as historical context is, overemphasizing it or even taking philosophy merely as a matter of intellectual history makes it difficult for non-specialists to study Chinese philosophy, and is therefore counter-productive to advancing it as a world philosophy. A good balance is thus needed in order to develop Chinese philosophy in response to contemporary needs and not to exclude a large number of non-specialists from studying and drawing on it. My third point is that comparative philosophy is the most effective way to study, examine and develop Chinese philosophy as a world philosophy. Comparative philosophy provides a much needed bridge across different cultures for philosophy to connect on the world stage.

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.

Being rude is often more gratifying and enjoyable than being polite. Likewise, rudeness can be a more accurate and powerful reflection of how I feel and think. This is especially true in a political environment that can make being polite seem foolish or naive. Civility and ordinary politeness are linked both to big values, such as respect and consideration, and to the fundamentally social nature of human beings. This text explores the powerful temptations to incivility and rudeness, but argues that they should generally be resisted. Drawing on early Chinese philosophers who lived during great political turmoil but nonetheless sought to 'mind their manners,' it articulates a way of thinking about politeness that is distinctively social. It takes as a given that we can feel profoundly alienated from others, and that other people can sometimes be truly terrible.

Introduction: Human Beings and the Importance of Humanity -- Methodological and Historical Background -- Humanisms of Ancient China -- Human Being as the Core of Humanism -- Humanistic Ethics -- Invented Traditions: From Harmony to Asian Values -- Conclusion: Essentialist Views of the Human Self or Panhumanist Universalism?.

As the final work by Ye Xiushan, one of the most famous philosophers and philosophy scholars in China, this two-volume title scrutinizes the historical development of both Chinese and Western philosophies, aiming to explore the convergence between the two philosophical traditions. Combining the historical examination and argumentation based on philosophical problematics, the two-volume set expounds the key figures and schools and critical thoughts in both Western and Chinese philosophical histories. The second volume retraces the origin and development of Chinese philosophy and reveals its focal grounds, i.e. a trinity of man, Heaven, and earth, which helps explain why and how it diverges from Western way of philosophizing. This book also delineates the diachronic transitions of Chinese philosophy that critically embrace different schools of thought throughout history, including Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Marxism, etc., and then constitutes an organic whole. To elicit the potential for a new transformation of contemporary Chinese philosophy, the author encourages a constructive dialogue between the Chinese and Western philosophies. This title will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers interested in philosophical history, comparative philosophy, Chinese philosophy, and Western philosophy ranging over Greek philosophy, German classic philosophy, and contemporary continental philosophy.

As the final work by Ye Xiushan, one of the most famous philosophers and philosophy scholars in China, this two-volume title scrutinizes the historical development of both Chinese and Western philosophies, aiming to explore the convergence between the two philosophical traditions.Combining the historical examination and argumentation based on philosophical problematics, the two-volume set expounds the key figures and schools and critical thoughts in both Western and Chinese philosophical histories. In this first volume, the author investigates the intellectual heritage of ancient Greece and Thales of Miletus as the cradle of European philosophy, freedom in Greek philosophy, reason and negation in classical German philosophy, and the relationship between epistemology and ontology in the philosophical history, thereby illuminating the core spirit of Western philosophy and theoretical quandary facing the contemporary European philosophy.This title will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers interested in philosophical history, comparative philosophy, Chinese philosophy, and Western philosophy ranging over Greek philosophy, German classic philosophy, and contemporary continental philosophy.

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Transcription -- Contributors -- How Constructive Engagement of Davidson's Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy is Possible: A Theme Introduction -- PART ONE CONCEPTUAL SCHEMES, RELATIVISM, AND CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING -- Chapter One Relativism and Its Schemes -- Chapter Two Davidson and Chinese Conceptual Scheme -- Chapter Three Making Room for Comparative Philosophy: Davidson, Brandom, and Conceptual Distance -- PART TWO PRINCIPLE OF CHARITY AND CHINESE PHILOSOPHY -- Chapter Four Where Charity Begins -- Chapter Five Davidson's Charity in the Context of Chinese Philosophy -- PART THREE RATIONALITY, NORMATIVITY, AND INTER-CULTURAL DISAGREEMENT -- Chapter Six Davidsonian Rationality and Ethical Disagreement between Cultures -- Chapter Seven A Davidsonian Approach to Normativity and the Limits of Cross-Cultural Interpretation -- PART FOUR MEANING AND INTERPRETATION -- Chapter Eight On Two Kinds of Meaning and Interpretation -- Chapter Nine Metaphorical Use versus Metaphorical Essence: Examples from Chinese Philosophy -- Chapter Ten Reading the Analects with Davidson: Mood, Force, and Communicative Practice in Early China -- PART FIVE TRUTH CONCERN AND DAO CONCERN -- Chapter Eleven From Donald Davidson's Use of "Convention T" to Meaning and Truth in Chinese Language -- Chapter Twelve Truth Pursuit and Dao Pursuit: From Davidson's Approach to Classical Daoist Approach in View of the Thesis of Truth as Strategic Normative Goal -- Index.

"Chapter One lays out the dominant views of self, agency, and moral responsibility in early Chinese Philosophy. The reason for this is that these views inform the ways early Chinese thinkers approach mental illness, as well as the role they see it playing in self-cultivation as a whole (whether they view it as problematic or beneficial, for example). In this chapter I offer a view of a number of dominant conceptions of mind, body, and agency in early Chinese thought, through a number of philosophical and medical texts"--

'Practical Contextualism' is a multifaceted concept which, I will argue, permeates various ancient Chinese texts. The central focus of practical contextualism is to be aware of, and sensitive to, the contextual environment or situation, including the relationships involved in those contexts. On an individual level, this has important implications for one's daily engagement with others and the world. On a socio-political level, this is essential to creating and implementing well-functioning social and political institutions and policies. Practical contextualism means, among other things, that one must be prepared for possible changes that might occur in these contexts, and calls for the fostering of optimal and timely responses and solutions. In this light, the cultivation of the self is an arduous process whereby one develops epistemic cognition and skills in order to be able to detect and deal with exigent situations. This thesis studies four pre-Qin Chinese texts: the Yi Jing (易經), the Han Fei Zi (韓非子), the Zhuang Zi (莊子), and the Analects (論語). Each of these arguably exemplifies the particular tradition or practical field it represents, and has received extensive and long-term scholarly attention. The current study unveils practical contextualism as a common theme that exists in the four texts, but with different philosophical emphases. The Yi Jing is one of the earliest texts abundant with contextual and practical ideas that are not necessarily limited to any particular philosophical discipline. In the Han Fei Zi, practical contextualism constitutes an overt theme in political discourse. The Zhuang Zi is ideal for examining practical contextualism in Chinese epistemology. The Analects explores how practical contextualism is played out in human societies. The current study proposes a theoretical framework to describe 'practical contextualism', which does not appear specifically in ancient Chinese texts, and has yet to be studied systematically. The framework identifies six distinctive dimensions of ...