Ethics in the Zhuangzi: Dialogues on the State of the Field

This book delves into a broad range of hitherto unresolved issues related to Zhuangzi’s ethics, which include, but are not limited to, the fundamental question of whether Zhuangzi should be regarded as a moralist in the ordinary sense and what Zhuangzi’s views on topics such as equality, moral relativism, good life, intersubjective relations, and social harmony really are. The twelve contributors to this book deliberate on these issues in six debates centering on recent influential publications in the field. In each debate, the relevant publications will be first challenged by their critic and then defended by their author, through which different and competing interpretations of Zhuangzi’s ethical themes will directly confront each other. These author-meets-critic debates will not only reflect what is currently at stake in discussing Zhuangzi’s ethics but also engage and enrich the state of the field today. This volume serves as a good companion to scholars, as well as graduate-level students, who are interested in gaining philosophical and ethical insights from Zhuangzi and Chinese philosophy in general. Contents Contributors Introduction 1 Introduction 2 Ethics in the Zhuangzi: The State of the Field 3 Overview of the Volume 4 Conclusion References How Is Zhuangzi Not a Relativist? A Critique of David Wong’s Interpretation of Zhuangzi as a Pluralistic Relativist 1 David Wong’s Interpretation and Use of Zhuangzi as a Pluralistic Relativist 1.1 Wong’s Interpretation of Zhuangzi as a Pluralistic Relativist 1.2 Wong’s Interesting Interpretation of Zhuangzi’s Skepticism 2 Critique of Wong’s Interpretation of Zhuangzi 2.1 Evaluation of Wong’s Constructionist Interpretation of the Moral Values in the Zhuangzi 2.2 An Evaluation of Wong’s Creative Interpretation of Zhuangzi’s Skepticism 3 Conclusion References The Open Text of the Zhuangzi 1 What Is Pluralistic Relativism? 2 Do I Interpret Zhuangzi to Be a Pluralistic Relativist? 3 Bai’s Criticism of the Textual Basis for My Interpretation 4 Constructive Skepticism 5 Is Using the Light Immune from Skeptical Doubt? 6 Must Heaven or Humanity, or Rejecting the Bifurcation? 7 Why I Call the Zhuangzi an Open Text References Zhuangzi’s “Difference Stories” and Patient Moral Relativism 1 Introduction 2 The Story of Lady Li 3 The Marquis of Lu and the Sea Bird 4 Hundun’s Demise 5 Bo Le’s Horses 6 Conclusion References Difference Stories and Patient Moral Relativism in the Zhuangzi: A Response to Waldemar Brys 1 Introduction 2 The Lady Li Story 3 The Seabird Story 4 The Hundun Story 5 The Bo Luo Story 6 Conclusion References Ethics and Normativity in Zhuangzi: A Commentary on Jung Lee’s Ethics of Attunement 1 Introduction 2 The Concept of Morality and the Ethics of Attunement 2.1 Reconceptualization of Morality 2.2 Ethics of Attunement 3 The Concept of Morality 4 Problems of Lee’s Ethics of Attunement 4.1 Interpretation of the Butterfly Dream 4.2 The Way as the Source of Normativity 5 Daoist Practical Identity 6 Conclusion References The Art of the Way: Toward a Dao-Centered Ethics in the Zhuangzi 1 Morality as an Essentially Contested Concept 2 Responding to the Normative Reality of the Way 3 Toward a Dao-Centered Ethics in the Zhuangzi References A Zhuangzi Who Is Attentive to the World of Man: Rethinking Zhuangzi’s Ethics in the Light of Eske Møllgaard’s Interpretation 1 Introduction 2 Is Zhuangzi’s Ethics Religious or Positive? 3 Is Zhuangzi’s Moral Law Kantian? 4 Does Zhuangzi Postulate a Distinction Between Heaven and Man? 5 Conclusion References Zhuangzi, the Criminals, and Kant 1 Zhuangzi 2 The Criminals 3 Kant 4 Conclusion References The Limit of the Skill Paradigm: A Critique on Chris Fraser’s Ethics of Dao and De 1 From Eudaimonia to Interpersonal Ethics 2 Good Life’s Content 2.1 Good Life and Good Skill 2.2 Is Wandering Eudaimonia? 2.3 Not All Skills Are Equal 2.4 The Condition for Good Life 3 Interpersonal Relations as a Field of Skill 3.1 Can Zhuangzi Condemn a Daoist Nazi? 3.2 The Problem of Harm 4 Conclusion References How Dao and De Can Shape a Plausible Zhuangist Ethics 1 Introduction 2 The Life of De and the “Good” Life 3 Are All Dao Equal? 4 Harm, Respect, and Dao 5 “Ordinary” Patterns 6 Malevolent Dao 7 Conclusion References To Argue as Zhuangzi Argues: On Steve Coutinho’s Interpretation of Ethics in the Zhuangzi 1 Introduction 2 The Sameness of Differences: The Confluence of Shifei Distinctions 3 The Ladder of Perspectives: Da and the Optimism of Ethical Growth 4 Is Coutinho Interpreting Zhuangzi, or Is Zhuangzi Interpreting Coutinho? 5 Conclusion References Vastness, Penumbrae, and Ethics in the Zhuangzi: A Response to Robert Tsaturyan 1 Ethics of Interpretation 2 Background and Genesis of a New Interpretation 2.1 Two Over-Interpreted Shifei Passages 2.2 Later Mohist Canon: Shifei as Dichotomous Judgment 2.3 A Contrasting View of Opposites 2.4 Interlude: Penumbrae and Paradox from the West 2.5 On the “Extensiveness” of Penumbrae 2.6 Asserting a Self-Contradiction 3 Towards and Ethics of Indeterminacy 4 Ethics and Vastness 4.1 The Ethics of Evaluating Perspectives 4.2 Mind the Gap References