The Penumbra Unbound: The Neo-taoist Philosophy Of Guo Xiang (suny Series In Chinese Philosophy And Culture)

The Penumbra Unbound Is The First English Language Book-length Study Of The Neo-taoist Thinker Guo Xiang (d. 312 C.e.), Commentator On The Classic Taoist Text, The Zhuangzi. The Author Explores Guo's Philosophy Of Freedom And Spontaneity, Explains Its Coherence And Importance, And Shows Its Influence On Later Chinese Philosophy, Particularly Chan Buddhism. The Implications Of His Thought On Freedom Versus Determinism Are Also Considered In Comparison To Several Positions Advanced In The History Of Western Philosophy, Notably Those Of Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, Fichte, And Hegel. Guo's Thought Reinterprets The Classical Pronouncements About The Tao So That It In No Way Signifies Any Kind Of Metaphysical Absolute Underlying Appearances, But Rather Means Literally Nothing. This Absence Of Anything Beyond Appearances Is The First Premise In Guo's Development Of A Theory Of Radical Freedom, One In Which All Phenomenal Things Are Self-so, Creating And Transforming Themselves Without Depending On Any Justification Beyond Their Own Temporary Being.--book Jacket. Classical Chinese Philosophical Background -- Overview Of Guo Xiang's Philosophical Project -- Problem Of Spontaneity And Morality In Earlier Xuanxue -- Guo's Solution: The Image Of Traces -- Dangers Of Traces -- Interactivity Without Traces: Vanishing (into) Things -- Unification Of Independence And Interdependence -- Lone-transformation -- Unity Of Activity And Nonactivity -- Guo Xiang's Use Of The Term Xing: The Inherency Of Change And The Confluence Of Chance, Freedom, And Necessity In The Notion Of The Self-so -- Comparative Notes On Freedom And Determinism. Brook Ziporyn. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 179-182) And Index. The Penumbra Unbound Contents Acknowledgments Part I Introduction The Classical Chinese Philosophical Background An Overview of Guo Xiang’s Philosophical Project The Problem of Spontaneity and Morality in Earlier Xuanxue Guo’s Solution:The Image of Traces The Dangers of Traces Part II Interactivity Without Traces: “Vanishing (Into) Things” The Unification of Independence and Interdependence Part III Lone-Transformation The Unity of Activity and Nonactivity Appendix A Guo Xiang’s Use of the Term Xing:The Inherency of Change and the Confluence of Chance, Freedom, and Necessity in the Notion of the Self-So Appendix B Comparative Notes on Freedom and Determinism Notes PART I PART II PART III APPENDICES Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z

in Order To Clarify The Uniqueness Of Taoism And Its Importance In A Comparative Philosophical Context, Ziporyn (religion And Philosophy, Northwestern U.) Suggests Looking At Guo Xiang's (252-312) Commentary On The zhuangzi (chuang-tzu), One Of The Two Foundation Works Dating Between The Sixth And Third Centuries Bce. It Became The Orthodox Commentary Attached To The Older Text In All Subsequent Chinese History. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, Or