The Ways Of Confucianism: Investigations In Chinese Philosophy

By: and

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis

The study of Chinese philosophy requires an unusual combination of talents.

First, one must be a philosopher at heart (if not of academic department), for the issues that Mencius, Zhuāngzĭ [Chinese text removed], Zhū Xī [Chinese text removed] Wang Yángmíng [Chinese text removed], and other Chinese thinkers address are living philosophic issues.

Just as it took someone with a genuine understanding of science--Joseph Needham--to first appreciate Chinese science, so it takes a genuine philosopher to fully engage Chinese philosophy.

Second, one must be a Sinologist, for even modern Chinese are separated by wide linguistic and cultural barriers from their predecessors.

And to study Chinese philosophy without the tools to overcome those barriers is merely to project one's own preoccupations and concerns onto an alien culture, thereby robbing oneself of the opportunity for a genuine "fusing of horizons." Among the generation of scholars who came to intellectual maturity following the second world war, several stand out for their knowledge of both philosophy and Sinology. Among these are A. C. Graham, D.C. Lau, Donald Munro, and David S. Nivison.

Of these four, Nivison's work is the least well known. Although highly respected in Sinological circles and among us "happy few" who study Chinese philosophy, Nivison has remained a philosopher's philosopher, and his work is not commonly cited.

Consider two outstanding recent histories of ancient Chinese philosophy--Benjamin Schwartz's The World of Thought in Ancient China (1985) and A. C. Graham's Disputers of the Too (1989). Schwartz cites only two papers by Nivison--one dating the conquest of the Shang by the Zhou (1983), and one a highly technical bit of philology analyzing Shang Dynasty oracle bone inscriptions (1978-1979). Graham, on the other hand, cites three articles by Nivison, only one of which is on philosophy (1980a), the other two essays dealing with chronological issues (1982-1983,1983).

Copyright:
1996

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
ISBN-13:
9780812693409
Publisher:
Open Court
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Carus Publishing Company
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Philosophy
Submitted By:
170
Proofread By:
170
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

No Rating Yet