Thinking from the Han: Self, Truth, and Transcendence in Chinese and Western CultureThis book continues a comparative project begun with the authors' Thinking Through Confucius and Anticipating China. It continues the comparative discussions by focusing upon three concepts--self, truth, transcendence--which best illuminate the distinctive characters of the two cultures. "Self" specifies the meaning of the human subject, "truth" considers that subject's manner of relating to the world of which it is a part, and "transcendence" raises the issue as to whether the self/world relationship is grounded in something other than the elements resourced immediately in self and world. Considered together, the discussions of these concepts advertise in a most dramatic fashion the intellectual barriers currently existing between Chinese and Western thinkers. More importantly, these discussions reformulate Chinese and Western vocabularies in a manner that will enhance the possibilities of intercultural communication. |
Contents
Prologue | xi |
The Problematic of Self in Western Thought | 3 |
THE MODERN SELF | 11 |
THE VAGUENESS OF THE SELF | 14 |
The FocusField Self in Classical Confucianism | 23 |
THE MINDLESS SELF | 28 |
THE BODILESS SELF | 31 |
THE AIMLESS SELF | 35 |
LOGIC AND RHETORIC | 135 |
CHINA AND THE WEST | 143 |
A Pragmatic Understanding of the Way Dew it | 147 |
PLOTTING A COURSE DAO i | 148 |
ONE WAY OR MANY? | 150 |
BECOMING AN EXEMPLARY PERSON JUNZI | 155 |
LIVING UP TO ONES WORD XIN AND HAVING INTEGRITY CHENQ ift | 161 |
BECOMING A GENUINE PERSON ZHENREN JtA | 163 |
THE NONWILLING SELF | 37 |
SELF AS FIELD AND FOCUS | 39 |
The FocusField Self in Classical Daoism | 45 |
DIFFERENCE AND DEFERENCE | 58 |
SELF HUMOR AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS | 68 |
Chinese Sexism | 79 |
DUALISTIC SEXISM | 86 |
CORRELATIVE SEXISM | 88 |
Excursus on Method | 103 |
ARS CONTEXTUALIS | 111 |
WHAT HAS ATHENS TO DO WITH ALEXANDRIA? | 112 |
SOME IRONIES OF THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH | 120 |
Cultural Requisites for a Theory of Truth in China | 123 |
COHERENCE AND WORLD ORDER | 124 |
REALITY AND APPEARANCE | 126 |
THEORY AND PRACTICE | 128 |
RATIONAL ARGUMENTS | 129 |
CONVERGENCES AND DIVERGENCES | 171 |
TRUTH AND THE HARMONY OF THE WAY | 180 |
The Decline of Transcendence in the West | 189 |
THE COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN GODS | 193 |
THEOLOGY AND MYSTICISM | 203 |
THE WANING OF TRANSCENDENCE IN SCIENCE AND SOCIETY | 212 |
Tian and Doo Sit as Nontranscendent Fields | 219 |
TIAN X | 232 |
DAO il | 244 |
The Chinese Community without Transcendence | 253 |
COULD SOCRATES AND CONFUCIUS BE FRIENDS? | 254 |
RITES AND RIGHTS | 269 |
Notes | 287 |
| 317 | |
| 331 | |
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Common terms and phrases
achievement aesthetic Analects appeal argue argument articulation associated assumptions becoming character characterized China Chinese and Western Chinese culture Chinese language Chinese philosophy Chinese tradition claim classical Chinese coherence concept concern Confucian Confucius constitute construed context contrast correlative cosmology creativity Daodejing Daoist deference deferential defined difference discussion distinction doctrines dominant dualistic entails existence experience expression fact female focus function gender Graham Hall and Ames harmony Huainanzi human rights humor important individual integrity interpretation junzi language logical male manner means Mencius metaphor metaphysical Mohist Mou Zongsan mystical nature notion one's oneself Parmenides particular person perspective philosophical Plato political pragmatic propositions question rational realization reason relationships renzhe ritual practice roles sage sense sensibility social sort strict transcendence suggests Tang Junyi theory of truth things thinking tian translation understanding Western philosophy Western tradition wuwei wuyu Xunzi zhen Zhuangzi Zigong
