Cultivating a Good Life in Early Chinese and Ancient Greek Philosophy: Perspectives and Reverberations

Description

This book engages in cross-tradition scholarship, investigating the processes associated with cultivating or nurturing the self in order to live good lives. Both Ancient Chinese and Greek philosophers provide accounts of the life lived well: a Confucian junzi, a Daoist sage and a Greek phronimos. By focusing on the processes rather than the aims of cultivating a good life, an international team of scholars investigate how a person develops and practices a way of life especially in these two traditions. They look at what is involved in developing practical wisdom, exercising reason, cultivating equanimity and fostering reliability. Drawing on the insights of thinkers including Plato, Confucius, Han Fei and Marcus Aurelius, they examine themes of harmony, balance and beauty, highlight the different concerns of scepticism across both traditions, and discuss action as an indispensable method of learning and, indeed, as constitutive of self. The result is a valuable collection opening up new lines of inquiry in ethics, demonstrating the importance of philosophical ideas from across cultural traditions Title Page Copyright Page Contents Introduction Part 1: Harmony, Balance, Beauty: Understanding Conceptions of Cultivation Chapter 1: Cultivation and Harmony: Plato and Confucius Introduction Harmony in general Communal and personal harmony Plato and Confucius on the practice of harmony Conclusion Notes References Chapter 2: Cultivating Noble Simplicity (Euētheia): Plato Notes References Chapter 3: The Beauty Ladder and the Mind-Heart Excursion: Plato and Zhuangzi Plato’s beauty ladder Zhuangzi’s mind-heart excursion Comparative models of cultivation Notes Bibliography Chapter 4: Awareness and Spontaneity: Three Perspectives in the Zhuangzi Awareness, spontaneity, and agency Animal awareness An anthropological perspective Conclusion Notes References Chapter 5: Understanding ‘Dao’s Patterns’: Han Fei Notes References Part 2: Doubt, Predicament, Conflict: Cognitive, Affective, and Epistemic Difficulties Chapter 6: Skepsis and Doubt: Ancient Greece and the East Positivity of Greek skepsis and negativity of Japanese 疑 Scepticism and tranquillity Protreptikos logos in Plato’s Euthydemus: Doubt and philosophy Chinese 道 and Greek hodos Confucius and Socrates: Cultivation in each setting Socrates’ Kingly Art as the target of his philosophical hunting Philosopher as the hunter Skepsis, as consideration and sceptic way of living Sceptics’ cognitive therapy and meditation Conclusion Notes References Chapter 7: Wisdom and Cognitive Conflict: Benign Perplexity in the Outlines of Scepticism Introduction Wisdom and its cultivation The school of perplexity The storm of aporia Notes References Chapter 8: Understanding Fortune and Misfortune in a Good Life: ‘Solon’ and ‘Confucius’ Notes References Chapter 9: Emotion and Self-Cultivation: Marcus Aurelius and Mengzi Marcus Aurelius Mengzi Comparison Notes References Chapter 10: Dislodging Mundane Wisdom: The Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi and the New Testament Gospels Categories and themes of ‘instruction interactions’ Notes References Part 3: Here, Now, Ever-after: How to Practise and Achieve a Good Life Chapter 11: Knowing How to Act: Aristotle Aristotle as ethical anti-theorist Practising virtue and knowing what to do Practical truth and metaethical realism Knowing how to argue about ethics ‘Judgement’ and ‘master rules’ in ethics Note References Chapter 12: Learning to Be Reliable: Confucius’ Analects Introduction Xin: its place in the Analects Acting reliably Learning to be reliable Notes References Chapter 13: Auditory Perception and Cultivation: The Wenzi 文子 Introduction Sensual perception and the exemplary person Auditory perception and self-cultivation Auditory perception and the content of the Wenzi Conclusion Notes References Chapter 14: Cultivation and the Arts of Writing: Liu Xie Introduction Liu Xie and his Wenxin diaolong Cultural patternings Squandering energy, dissipating vitality Nourishing vitality A virtuous circle: The arts of living and the arts of writing Writing in the service of life Notes References Chapter 15: Death and Happiness: Han China Views of happiness in early Chinese texts Representations of the netherworld Attitudes towards the netherworld Mortuary practices and the search for happiness Notes References List of Contributors Index