The Butterfly Dream is probably one of the most well-known anecdotes in philosophical literature, and as such, it has both enjoyed and suffered from several interpretations and misinterpretations. There are much more interpretations of the Butterfly Dream than this study can gloss over, but for the sake of brevity: I divide the two approaches according to how they view the characters in the plot. Specifically speaking, the first group, which for convenience I will call the egoistic thesis, views the plot in such a way that Zhuangzi is Chuang Chou, and that the butterfly is an imagined representation of the mind, while the second group, which for convenience I will call the monistic thesis, holds that Zhuangzi is different from Chuang Chou as well as the butterfly, hence supposing that the butterfly dream is an entirely distinct reality. Albeit seemingly crude, this provides a simple yet insightful view of the premises that prevent one approach from compromising with the other, as well as the crossing over of one interpretation into another which belong to the same approach. Moreover, this approach will allow me to better fulfill the overarching aim of this study, which is to contextualize a specific rendition of the monistic thesis against the backdrop of the philosophy of the Inner Chapters and its notion of Dao as a whole such that the Zhuangzi will emerge more aptly as a perspectivist. In other words, the Butterfly Dream points to what Hans-Georg Moeller terms as "a structure of presence" which, if viewed against the context of Zhuangzi's philosophy, shows the paradox of the absolute unity but also the absolute singularity of all things.In what were earlier times, Chuang Chou dreamed, making a butterfly.So flitted, flitted, he was a butterfly. Indeed, he showed what he himself was, going as he pleasantly intended! He did not understand Chou. So suddenly, he awoke. Then so thoroughly, thoroughly, it was Chou.(But then he did) not understand did the dream of Chou make the butterfly? Did the dream of the butterfly make Chou?Chou with the butterfly there must-be, then, a division. This it is which men call 'things changing'. 1 1 Kuang-Ming Wu, The Butterfly as Companion: Meditations on the First Three Chapters of the Chuang Tzu (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1990), 153. I chose this translation because it is the closest, word per word, to the Chinese free-verse.2 Perspectivism here is to be distinguished from the notion that truth is relative, as in relativism, but rather that the relative is true, and is an angle of the bigger picture. T 102 THE BUTTERFLY DREAM AND ZHUANGZI'S PERSPECTIVISM
Chan Buddhism as we know it today can perhaps be traceable to what is known as the Hongzhou school, founded by Mazu Daoyi. Although it was Huineng who represented an important turn in the development of Chan with his iconoclastic approach to enlightenment as sudden rather than gradual, it was in Huineng's successor, Mazu, where we saw its complete radicalization. Specifically, Mazu introduced a radicalized approach of collapsing substance (體 ti) and function (用 yong), as well as principle (理 li) and phenomena (事 shi), into a complete overlap. As a result of this radicalization, the Hongzhou lineage received some strong criticisms, the most important of which was possibly by Guifeng Zongmi, of the Heze lineage. Zongmi criticized Mazu for his supposed antinomianism, claiming that Mazu's approach completely stunts moral and religious cultivation. Due to their commitment to "suchness" rather than deliberate theory, however, Hongzhou never bothered to answer Zongmi's critique. As such, it is the goal of this article to utilize Guo Xiang's philosophy as a tool to understand the implicit Hongzhou response to Zongmi. As I shall demonstrate, his philosophical enterprise shares the same ontology of absolute oblivion which Hongzhou was also predicated upon and is, therefore, a possible alternative to understanding what could have been the Hongzhou response to the alleged antinomianism.
Abstract:The aim of this article is to show the Confucian virtue of li as the highest embodiment of the Jun zi as found in the Lun yu. While ren remains the most primary and most important of the virtues, it is an inner goodness which can only find its expression or manifestation in the virtue of li, while such manifestation is made possible only through an external ontological ideal that is the virtue of yi. As such, the interplay of ren and yi, which finds its harmony in li, is made possible only through the embodiment of li as a dynamic moral principle given substance by ren and given form by li, and perfected by the Jun zi. Keywords:Jun zi, Li, Confucius, ritual, propriety i, or rituals and propriety, when viewed by the modern mind, can have the tendency to be dismissed by modernity as nothing more than empty tradition which binds and limits one's capabilities, especially in a generation which celebrates the creation of one's self as an art form. 1 From the Confucian perspective, however, it does just exactly the opposite, which is to widen one's horizons, that is, consciousness, and thus capabilities as well.Indeed, one cannot help but wonder just how following ancient, even outdated, traditions can possibly be a virtue. What does this matter of culture, commonly understood as something that's amoral, 2 have to do with becoming a good citizen of the state, or even becoming a good human being?1 See Nietzsche's body of works, among other counter-enlightenment thinkers, which dominate the intellectual trends of contemporary society.2 That is to say, that high culture as an aesthetic virtue is, after modernity, commonly averse to morality. In a way, culture can even be said to be meta-ethical in that it is the context, which shapes ethics and is therefore not boxed within morality. Nietzsche, Freud, Marx, Foucault, among other thinkers of modernity argue to this effect. L THE CULTURED MAN AS THE NOBLE MAN© 2015 Christine Abigail L. Tan http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_17/tan_december2015.pdf ISSN 1908-7330 Yet li is considered as one of the five primary Confucian virtues, and as I will try to argue, even the very virtue, which the Noble Man or Jun zi embodies most.It is thus the aim of this study to show the relation between ren and li, being that li is the manifestation of ren in its concreteness, but which is made possible by the concept of yi. This interplay of ren and yi, which finds its harmony in li is, as I will try to prove, found in the Lun yu to be embodied in the Jun Zi.In order to do this, I will first show the utmost importance of ren, its immediacy and immanence, as well as show the two aspects of ren, which are zhong and shu. Next, I will show the implication of yi in zhong and shu, coming to the conclusion that yi is an external moral ought while ren is an internal motivation for goodness. The third section will thus deal with the notion of li as the concrete manifestation of the previous two virtues, where the compassion of ren and the unflinching discipline of yi find their perfect harm...
for the gift of his mentorship not only in writing this dissertation but in other professional and personal matters. It has been a true honor to have worked under his authoritative guidance, which he has generously given me despite his own demanding schedule. I will be eternally grateful for the depth of his wisdom, the height of his patience, and breadth of his magnanimity. It is in large part owing to his expertise and careful examination that I owe the completion of this work. I am also indebted to my friends who have provided me their support, both intellectual and emotional. Eran Ranatunge has patiently discussed my ideas with me, reading large chunks of the dissertation and helping make passages which are highly abstract appear more intelligible. Many of our conversations served as a sounding board for the concepts I discuss here; I am thankful for his selflessness. I also benefitted from stimulating discussions with Mark Cabural and Kelly Agra who, in spite of our distance, never failed to be available for philosophical engagement. Furthermore, it has been a pleasure to have met and interacted with my NTU Philosophy cohort, Zhang Lili, Hu Jianping, Alice Simionato, Alexa Nord-Bronzyk, and Jacob Bender. We are not a big community, but our discussions have nevertheless been intellectually robust, and for this, I am thankful and proud.My time at NTU has truly been a gift, and it would not have been possible without the financial support that NTU has charitably given me. The university's Research Scholarship grant has allowed me to write without i ii worrying about financial burdens, and the grants for conferences that the school has provided allowed me to exchange ideas with the people that were influential to this work. More than this, NTU has provided me with an environment that was conducive to my intellectual growth-an environment where I had the advantage of attending multiple conferences and seminars that allowed me to interact with like-minded scholars. NTU's staff also deserve credit for their top-notch work: from the library staff who went out of their way to acquire materials necessary for this work, to administrative staff at the Graduate Education Office-Ivy, Christina, and Qiao En-who have made bureaucracy and paperwork, necessary for the completion of this work, a breeze.Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to my mother who, despite her traditional and most practicable upbringing, has lovingly allowed for the circumstances to favorably nurture a daughter's quixotic pursuit of an unconventional academic life.
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