Ziran: The Philosophy of Spontaneous Self-Causation (SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture)

"Ziran, an idea from ancient Daoism, defies easy translation into English but can almost be captured by the term "spontaneity." It means "self-causation," if "self" is understood as fundamentally plural, and "causation" is understood as sensitivity and responsiveness. Applying ziran to the fields of action theory, attention theory, and aesthetics, Brian Bruya uses easy-to-read, straightforward prose to show, step-by-step, how this philosophical concept from an ancient tradition can be used to advance theory today. Incorporated into contemporary philosophy of action, ziran opens us to the notion of movement and action as self-organizing. Incorporated into contemporary cognitive science, ziran opens us to the possibility of effortless attention, contrary to the reigning paradigm. Incorporated into contemporary aesthetics, ziran opens us to a new category of art--somatic art--and a new, refined understanding of improvisation"-- Back cover Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1. Ziran and Its Absence in Western Philosophy 18 Spontaneous Self‐Causation, or Natural Action, in Daoism 18 Ziran 自然 19 Wu Wei 無為 23 The Skill Episodes of the Zhuangzi 24 Spontaneous Self‐Causation, or Natural Action, in the Western Tradition 27 Aristotle 28 Julian Offray de La Mettrie 38 Jean‐Jacques Rousseau 39 William James 41 Friedrich Schiller 42 Conclusion 45 2. Saving Natural Human Action from the Paradox of Spontaneity 48 Natural Human Action Is Theoretically Impossible 51 Self‐Organization as a Model for All Motion 57 Two Kinds of Motive Self 59 Superior Performance of the Divided Self 65 Conclusion 74 3. Effortless Attention: A Missing Concept in Contemporary Cognitive Science 76 Effortful and Effortless Attention 77 Research on Effortless Attention 89 Focus of Attention Affects Performance 90 A Single Coding System for Perception and Movement 92 Neurological Correlates of Effortless Attention 95 Training Attention 98 Conclusion 100 4. Broadening Aesthetics: Spontaneity, the Somatic Arts, and Improvisation 102 Two Problems in Aesthetics 102 Art, Nature, and Movement: The Category of Somatic Art 105 Improvisation and Aesthetic Spontaneity 114 Form and Syntax: The Action Diagram 122 Cultivation of Aesthetic Spontaneity 128 Concentration 128 Letting Go 129 Responsiveness 130 Ease 132 Epilogue 134 Notes 138 Works Cited 152 Index 156