endobj Oxford: Oxford University Press. Liu, Xiaogan. He accomplishes this through something reminiscent of a Socratic Dialogue. ______. 6Consider the following widely known thought experiments. So I smashed them.2. 1968. Are we just engaging in irresponsible moral epistemology in using hypothetical thought experiments and taking them, at best, as tools of persuasion to belief in a certain claim and, at worst, as grounds of evidence for a position? In this article we focus on the famous dialogue between Zhuangzi and Huizi concerning the question whether or not ren (in particular the shengren ) have qing . In Les pres du systme Taoste. Leiden: Brill. %PDF-1.5 Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. Searle, J., 1980, Minds, brains and programs, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, III: 417-457. He hobbled over to look at his reflection in the well. Early Confucian Perspectives on Emotions. In Dao Companion to Classical Confucian Philosophy, edited by Vincent Shen. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution. Daoism: Laozi and Zhuangzi. In World Philosophy, edited by Jay L. Garfield and William Edelglass. Bradley, Scott P. 2015. 1957. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. Morgan, Jeffrey. Nature, Myth, Realism, The science of futures. Although many of the anecdotes in the Zhuangzi would fail to count as good thought experiments, the very reasons they fail might be exactly what Zhuangzi intends in order to promote philosophical reflection and wonder. Si, L , trans. 2019. Paris: Cathasia, 2e tirage. The author thanks the helpful comments of anonymous reviewers, and thanks the authors of all the references. 2011. People who follow their natures and pursue their own path to language learning will be happier and more successful than learners who try meet goals set for them by others. Even though the lessons are in story form, that doesnt mean that they are easy to decipher. It was big and all, but because it was so useless I finally just smashed it to pieces., Zhuangzi said, You are certainly stupid when it comes to using big things. Leiden: Brill. Schipper, Kristofer, trans. Zhuangzi on Qing: Lack of Qing, Giving Free Reign to Qing, and Setting Qing at Rest :. Philosophical Researches 4: 5059. The Complete Work of the Zhuangzi . PubMedGoogle Scholar. Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. The Status of Qing in Philosophical Texts of Ancient China. In Expressions of States of Mind in Asia, edited by Paolo Santangelo. As we learned with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, philosophy has One thing that does seem clear is that Zhuangzi advances the view that anything one asserts is necessarily from a certain perspective. The great man rises high into the air, that is, he raises his consciousnesshe becomes aware even of those things which scare and disgust him, even about himself (especially about himself). In the same way, your teachings have no practical use., Zhuangzi replied, This tree may be useless as lumber, but you could rest in the gentle shade of its big branches or admire its rustic character. The unrealistic nature of a thought experiment is one thing that can differentiate it from other counterfactual reasoning. volume20,pages 133148 (2021)Cite this article. If he turns my right arm into a bow, Ill shoot down a dove for roasting. Beyond the Troubled Water of Shifei: From Disputation to Walking-Two-Roads in the Zhuangzi. Chong, Kim-chong. Sartres gnarly tree root and Zhuangzis useless tree: - Medium . A logical analysis of the debate on Hao River - Taylor & Francis People want to make sense of him and offer a charitable interpretation where the various threads in his writing can be woven together so we can attribute a consistent view to Zhuangzi. In Les pres du systme Taoste. Albany: State University of New York Press. In Western thought experiments although there often are elements that defy reality as we know it, it is understood that that kind of setup is necessary to bring out certain features of a problem that do correspond to our reality. Ma, L., van Brakel, J. Revisiting the Exchange between Zhuangzi and Huizi on Qing. Huizi and Zhuangzi about gourds; the story of Cook Ding (sometimes called Butcher Ding); and the story of Wheelwright Pian. volume20,pages 133148 (2021)Cite this article. Wilhelm, Richard, trans. Zhuangzi, the Taoist philosopher, lived in. Lin Ma. This study presents clear modern logic analysis of the debate; it can also provide a more reliable logical basis for the discussions of Zhuangzi and Huizis related philosophical thoughts. How is it you never thought of making it into an enormous vessel for yourself and floating through the lakes and rivers in it? Emotion in Pre-Qin Ruist Moral Theory: An Explanation of Dao Begins in Qing. Philosophy East and West 53.2: 271281. Zhuangzi Jackson uses this thought experiment to argue that because Mary gains some knowledge the first time she sees red, she didnt know everything to know about color through knowing all the physical facts about color and so, he says, the thesis of physicalism (i.e., the idea that everything is physical) is false.8. There is no neutral fence on which to sit, but neither is there land immune to the shifting sands of the constantly changing universe. 2013. For example, 1) the situations are often highly unrealistic, beyond what normal, real-world counterfactual reasoning would get one to; 2) the characters involved have abilities or disabilities that few if any humans have and sometimes3; and 3) the situations have a way of making a point or a position more memorable than a plainly stated proposition4. The Philosophy of Life: A New Reading of the Zhuangzi. Imaginations wander through a world of Zhuangzis human and non-human characters, but unlike with the Western thought experiments, bringing back observations of such people and situations with the express purpose of better helping and understanding our own lives is not necessarily the point. Insofar as these are aims in philosophy, Zhuangzi might do better in prompting these in his reader than one who puts forth a self-standing thought experiment advancing a particular thesis. Zhuangzi on happy fish and the limits of human knowledge 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. ______. Wang, Rongpei, trans. This admittedly is a different kind of similarity, one involving the similar, Jackson has actually since changed his position on the thesis of physicalism and he no longer think, Roy Sorensen 1992 has a discussion of several criticisms on the use of thought experiments, stories, This is uncharacteristic of Western thought experiments where the philosopher presents the imagined, One could, for example, think here of Zhuangzis famous butterfly dream that concludes chapter 2 of. 2016. Wandering on the Way. How does what he say in other places help us to understand what he might be saying in this passage? The Zhuangist Views on Emotions. Asian Philosophy 28.1: 5567. Zhuangzi: The Inner Chapters. I split them into ladles but they were too big to dip into anything. Beijing : Zhongguo Huaqiao Chubanshe . In The Sacred Books of the East, edited by F. Max Mller. Dordrecht: Springer. 4 0 obj In this sense, though the stories are often fantastic, the book is meant to offer a realistic lesson in the uselessness of trying to figure out life.18 So that might be the message stop trying so hard to understand, to look for a (main) point, to have things to make sense. It is the acknowledgement of his ignorance which give him a reason to better himselfbecause he knows just how far he is from who he could become. Foot, P., 1967, The problem of abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect, Oxford Review, V. Hochsmann, H., Guorong, Y., 2007, Zhuangzi, Boston, Pearson Education. 1995. Chai, David. What is he trying to do? The debate between Zhuangzi and Huizi has profound epistemological significance, however, the main body of their debate comprises logical inferences and refutations. 2018. Psychology and Self-Cultivation in Early Taoistic Thought. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 51.2: 599650. Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu Master Zhuang late 4th century BC) is the pivotal figure in Classical Philosophical Daoism.The Zhuangzi is a compilation of his and others writings at the pinnacle of the philosophically subtle Classical period in China (5th3rd century BC).The period was marked by humanist and naturalist reflections on Huizi, aka Hui Shi, was a representative of the School of Names. I planted it, and when it matured it weighed over a hundred pounds. Or in Searles Chinese Room, Searle argues that because he is functioning just like a computer running a program but understands nothing of the meaning of the inputs and outputs (in Chinese) that he is manipulating, so artificial intelligence, just in virtue of running a certain program, does not have understanding. I filled it with liquid, but it was not firm enough to lift. crits de Matre Wen , . The Happiness of Fish A Taoist Tale, Huizi said, Youre not a fish how do you know what fish enjoy?, Zhuangzi said, Youre not me, so how do you know I dont know what fish enjoy?, Huizi said, Im not you, so I certainly dont know what you know. Zhuangzi helps us to reckon with the fact that we necessarily come to the world with a certain perspective there is no view from nowhere but we are invited through Zhuangzis stories to get out of that perspective and see that of others. Beijing : Shangwu Yinshuguan . Thats what it means to construct for oneself a fictional intellectual opponent with which to spar. Machek, David. A New Examination of Evidence about the Zhuangzi. Toung Pao 96.4/5: 299369. 2003. Guiyang : Guizhou Renmin Chubanshe . 23 This is uncharacteristic of Western thought experiments where the philosopher presents the imagined case and then discusses what it implies. You can divert the trolley to another track that only has one person on it. The video below (Flight from the Shadow) is an example of the type of teaching he engaged in. Introduction: Emotions and the Conceptual History of Qing . In Love and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Literature, edited by Halvor Eifring. First, we demonstrate that, while Huizi probably understands qing as something like feelings or emotions, Zhuangzis view is that having qing is connected All Is Well in the Great Mess. 2015. Do computers understand things the way humans do? A Complete Translation of the Zhuangzi [in modern Chinese] . Beijing : Zhongguo Huaqiao Chubanshe . Taipei : Shijie Shuju ; http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuang.html (last accessed on October 12, 2020). 1889. Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling on a bridge over the River Hao, when the former observed, See how the minnows dart between the rocks! Uselessness. Assignment: the stories of chuang tzu - Proficient Experts New York: Columbia University Press. 2003. Leiden: Brill. 2015. One tool a philosopher can use is hypothetical scenarios. The Background of the Mencian Theory of Human Nature. Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies 6.12: 215271. Dancy is mainly concerned with thought experiments in ethics, and in defending a version of moral particularism, although some of what he says can be applied to thought experiments generally. PubMedGoogle Scholar. 2002-2022 The Linguist Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 2003. 2004. Zhuangzi said, The minnows swim about so freely, following the openings wherever they take them. Napoli: Universit degli Studie di Napoli LOrientale.. Nozicks question is, would you plug into such machine for life? (LogOut/ 2001. But in cherry picking some famous thought experiments and anecdotes in the Zhuangzi, I will demonstrate that there are a couple of interesting differences to draw out that I think would apply to many pairings of a Western thought experiment and one of Zhuangzis stories. Dao Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, philosophy - U.S Elite Tutors 25Because with Zhuangzi its not always clear what is being asked, or what position he is advocating, readers start to wonder about the man behind the stories, entertaining questions such as: What kind of philosopher is Zhuangzi? Arthur C. Danto e l'ontologia dell'arte, Il Significato Eluso. First I will discuss Western thought experiments and a few reasons that have been given for and against using these tools to acquire knowledge. 3Of course there is no way in one paper that I could hope to take into consideration the variety of contemporary Western thought experiments and compare them to even half of the fables we find in the Zhuangzi. 4This paper has two main sections. 2015. The video below (Flight from the Shadow) is an example of the type of teaching he engaged in. She knows an enormous amount of information about color, much more than you or I do, but is there anything she doesnt know about color if she has only read all about it? Feeling in Zhuangzi: From Joy to Serenity. In Expressions of States of Mind in Asia, edited by Paolo Santangelo. Zhang, Gengguang , trans. Zhuangzi is a master storyteller and he uses that talent to teach important moral What is there to dislike?There is no commentary from Zhuangzi himself on this story23, except that he writes of other people who also testify that whatever Heaven does to them, they do and should receive without resisting. Das wahre Buch vom sdlichen Bltenland. but we dont typically look at what other things the philosopher has said or what we know about the person in order to figure out how to interpret a thought experiment. This curiosity about the man behind the story I will return to later. Most scholars have understood qing in this exchange as referring to feelings or emotions. We take issue with such readings. 1 0 obj 2Reading Zhuangzi one encounters anecdotes that are not quite the same as a classic Western thought experiment, and yet there are several similarities we might note. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-020-09765-6, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-020-09765-6. Autumn Floods (Chapter 17 are sufficiently exhaustive to make his conclusion sound. Assignment: the stories of chuang tzu Research Gist Albany: State University of New York Press. The Zhuangzi presentation of Hui Shis views concludes: He had many perspectives and his library would fill five carts but his doctrine was selfcontradictory. Other times the humans might be in a very ordinary situation, but the humans themselves are altered or have some special background. A New Examination of Evidence about the Zhuangzi. Toung Pao 96.4/5: 299369. It wasnt that they werent wonderfully big, but they were useless. 1889. In raising a question, or challenging or illustrating a certain view, the thought experiment stands on its own. Liu, Xiaogan. Huizi believes his knowledge is sufficiently complete as to be capable of using rational deduction to come to only correct answers. Did you know that with a free Taylor & Francis Online account you can gain access to the following benefits? Indianapolis: Hackett. Rather, we are freed when we can leave this (human) self and life behind. It is precisely because we dont know exactly what Zhuangzi is up to that the discussion and wonder are enduring. There is a question in the literature about whether Zhuangzi is more of a relativist or a skeptic15, and it is often hard to pin down what his own stance positive stance is, if he has one. But one gained territory while the others never escaped bleaching silk because what they used it for was different. 24Alternatively, perhaps Zhuangzi thinks Master Chariot is crazy, and he is inventing a character who seems accepting of such ridiculous things happening as a way of questioning the sanity of a mind that is so calm and unperturbedMaster Chariot then would be an example of how Daoist passivity can go too far. It is vital to note that Huizis acknowledgment that Zhuangzi is not a fish demonstrates some truism in the problem brought about by SR. London: Bernard Quaeitch. But for the purposes of this paper, lets be charitable going forward and assume that there is some positive value in using thought experiments or made-up characters and stories as vehicles to raise questions or make a point. Qin, Xuqing , and Sun Yongchang , trans. The Writings of Kwang-Tze. Indianapolis: Hackett. Albany: State University of New York Press. Ray Sorensen writes that analytic philosophers make heavy use of thought experiment because it is the natural test for the clarificatory practices constituting conceptual analysis: definition, question delegation, drawing distinctions, crafting adequacy conditions, teasing out entailments, advancing possibility proofs, mapping inference patterns (1992: 15). 2013. had a gourd of over a hundred pounds. 1957. My teachings are like this.. 2004. Emotion and Agency in Zhuangzi. Asian Philosophy: An International Journal of the Philosophical Traditions of the East 21.1: 97121. 2010. My chin is hidden in my navel. 2012. A Didactic Annotation to the Zhuangzi . WebHuizi said to Zhuangzi, The king of Wei left me the seeds of a big gourd. I filled them with water but they werent sturdy enough to hold it. Dancy, J., 1985, The role of imaginary cases in ethics, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 66: 141-153. 1968. Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. I cut it in half to make a dipper, bit it was too wide to scoop into anything. Besides, at the very least, thought experiments and stories can show us candidates for what we might concern ourselves with.14. Jena: Diederichs. Here we see Zhuangzi make explicit that which hitherto he spoke of only implicitlythe significance of the phoenix, Peng, and the difference between the great and the small. USefullnes is. Wang Bi and Xuanxue. In Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy, edited by Xiaogan Liu. Zhuangzi Mair, Victor H., trans. Zhuangzi and the Happy Fish Dialogue. Indianapolis: Hackett. WebZhuangzi is criticizing his friend Huizi for smashing giant gourds because he couldnt find a conventional use for them. Virg, Curie. My shoulders are peaked. 2016. 19To be fair, I should note that Zhuangzi doesnt always leave the reader in the dark as to what a story is about or what he himself thinks of the characters involved. 2007. The debate between Zhuangzi and Huizi has profound epistemological significance, however, the main body of their debate comprises logical inferences and refutations. This combined with Zhuangzis penchant for irony, the fact that Zhuangzi alludes to fictitious characters and texts, and even takes real figures like Confucius and attributes to the sage things we cant be sure Confucius actually said all of this can make it hard to know what exactly he thinks of the people and things he writes about. Abstract On a prima facia reading, Zhuangzi seems to endorse some form of skepticism or relativism. Zhuang Zi: De volledige geschriften: Het grote klassieke boek van het Taosme Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Augustus. Dordrecht: Springer. Mair, Victor H., trans. Qu Yuan was a versatile government official at that time, and he was highly vres De Tchoang-Tzeu. 2014. The specific type of fiction that Western philosophers use is often called a thought experiment. Contemporary Annotations and Translations of the Zhuangzi . The Asian master of wit and storytelling is the Daoist, Zhuangzi (sometimes spelled Chuang-Tzu). For example, we might want to interpret Master Chariots story in light of other thingsZhuangzi says about the natural transformation of things25 and conclude that Zhuangzi is trying to say that transformation (whether an arm into a rooster, or life into death) is nothing to fear or avoid. School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China (Zhe-xue-yuan), Av. Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings. In Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe and Bryan W. Van Norden. 2010. With Zhuangzi, however, its not clear that understanding his stories is supposed to lead us back to some aspect of human life. Roth, Harold D. 1991. ______. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. 22The above stories show that sometimes Zhuangzi is forthright on what he thinks about a certain creature, human or otherwise. Zhuangzi summary | Britannica 23What Zhuangzi thinks of Master Chariot we dont know for sure. 2015. 2014. He makes possible travel across great bodies of waterthe Jungian symbolic unknown and unconsciousthereby, he is able to go places and do things priorly inaccessible. Some of these purposes include helping us to: 1)better understand a concept by artificially constructing a scenario that makes certain features more salient 2) think about where we stand on a specific issue 3) consider alternative perspectives in a given situation and 4) see in what way a philosophers many thoughts could be made coherent or reasonable. 2003. This is not to say that all thought experiments incorporate all of these things, but a good thought experiment will often touch on several. Virg, Curie. Chuang-Tzu: The Inner Chapters. Part of Springer Nature. Zhuangzi is a master storyteller and he uses that talent to teach important moral and philosophical lessons. Wieger, Lon, trans. Sheesh! 2013. Zhuang Zi . Chuang Tzu. https://www.academia.edu/35172330/Zhuangzis_Doctrine_of_No_Emotions_forthcoming_in_Dao_Companion_to_the_Philosophy_of_the_Zhuangzi_Kim_Chong_Chong_and_Kai_Yuan_Cheng_eds_final_draft (last accessed on October 12, 2020). 8One hallmark of thought experiments is that they involve stretching ones imagination for a time in order to imagine either an unusual human, an unusual situation, or both. He lives an unexamined life and is thereby ignorant of his own ignorance. Let us bring our Wandering Far and Unfettered to a close here in this third Meditation of the Zhuangzis opening chapter. If he turns my buttocks into wheels and my spirit into a horse, Ill climb aboard. Emotions and Genuineness in Chinese Native Thinking: A Response to Graham and Hansen ():. Journal of Beijing Youth Politics College 14.1: 4852. Taipei : Shijie Shuju ; http://www.terebess.hu/english/chuang.html (last accessed on October 12, 2020). ______, trans. 17With Zhuangzi, on the other hand, it is often not clear what exactly the point of a story is nor what position Zhuangzi himself might be criticizing or advancing. Jackson has actually since changed his position on the thesis of physicalism and he no longer thinks its false. The Ethics of Responding Properly: The Notion Qing in Early Chinese Thought. In Love and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Literature, edited by Halvor Eifring. Leiden: Brill. Zhuangzi - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Wieger, Lon, trans. Philosophical Reflections on the Fish Happiness Anecdote Les fondements philosophiques de la rhtorique chez les sophistes grecs et chez les sophiste chinois. The Tradition of Emotive Writing in the Zhuangzi and Its Echoes in Later Generations. Frontiers of Philosophy in China 10.3: 340352. Oxford: Oxford University Press. This is what I call the presupposition of correctness. In discourse with others, or even with yourself, you will see it more often than not. Lenehan, Katia. Ren, Songyao. Our text offers three additional examples: Nie Ques conversation with Wang Ni; Huizi and Zhuangzi about gourds; the story of Cook Ding (sometimes called Butcher Ding); and the story of Wheelwright Pian. Lynn, Richard John. 1993. 2011. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/23427 (last accessed on November 27, 2020). 2008. Instead, you worried that it was too wide to scoop into anything, which I guess means the mind of our greatly esteemed master here is still clogged up, occupied with its bushes and branches! (Zhuangzi 7-8). In the latter case, the focus is on the idea or question raised, which, Ive suggested, is made patently obvious in a good thought experiment. Eno, Robert, trans. Bradley, Scott P. 2015. This is exactly what is occurring in the mind of Huizi. Cheng, Anne. Changsha : Hunan Renmin Chubanshe . Although these differences arguably make Zhuangzis anecdotes poor thought experiments, according to Western analytic standards, it seems that if the purpose of a fabricated story is to encourage the reader to broaden her philosophical outlook, to see something more clearly that she might not have seen in a more realistic case, or to provide a more memorable way to retain a point, then Zhuangzis stories are highly effective pedagogical tools. Chong, Kim-chong. Google Scholar. You . ______, trans. 2011. What a habit, to obliterate possibility and potential in the mind out of bitterness and arrogance. Words are for meaning: when youve got the meaning, you can forget the words.26 Zhuangzis fantastical stories, along with the most beloved Western thought experiments, are devices that philosophers use to communicate a certain message, and in Zhuangzis case it might be a message that goes beyond words. In both, finding the message of the work or the intention of its creator is not necessarily the purpose of the piece as much as is engaging with it and walking away with something even if that something is not an understanding of the actual work but rather a broadening of the mind, an interesting question, or a pleasurable experience. A true language learner must be like the crooked tree of Zhuangzi, not seeking perfection of form, but prospering by taking advantage of surrounding resources. They are used in all branches of philosophy, including ethics, metaphysics and epistemology. Different disciplines have their different tools for doing so. Huizi took the utility of gourds as being their usefulness as containers or drinking vessels, and so concluded that the gourds in question being too large for this purpose had no utility; Zhuangzi pointed out that there is a perspective that Huizi had not considered -- utility not as a container but as a raft -- from which this is not so. 2009. He presupposes the correctness of his own logic, and when the world shows him that he is incorrect, say through his failure to actualize some potential, he takes this as evidence that the world is incorrect. 2003. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when Zhuangzi said, See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! Napoli: Universit degli Studie di Napoli LOrientale.. Emotionless in Confucianism and Daoism: A New Interpretation. Journal of Chinese Philosophy 38.1: 118133. Overall, Zhuangzi clearly recommends open-minded flexibility as when he scolds Hui Shi for being tied to conventional thinking about how to use giant gourds. New York: Bantam Books. Lin, Yutang , trans. Most scholars have understood qing in this exchange as referring to feelings or emotions. We take issue with such readings. Jinan : Qilu Shushe . He points out that imaginary cases reveal moral principles to us which we can then use to determine our attitude in a new case10, and this can be especially useful when something about certain features of real cases distracts us from what is actually morally important.
Ward 1 Cramlington Hospital, Shock Dyno For Sale Australia, Jfk Jr Last Interview, Articles H