The Penumbra Unbound

Brook Ziporyn

Description

The Penumbra Unbound is the first English language book-length study of the Neo-Taoist thinker Guo Xiang (d. 312 C.E.), commentator on the classic Taoist text, the Zhuangzi. The author explores Guo's philosophy of freedom and spontaneity, explains its coherence and importance, and shows its influence on later Chinese philosophy, particularly Chan Buddhism. The implications of his thought on freedom versus determinism are also considered in comparison to several positions advanced in the history of Western philosophy, notably those of Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, Fichte, and Hegel. Guo's thought reinterprets the classical pronouncements about the Tao so that it in no way signifies any kind of metaphysical absolute underlying appearances, but rather means literally "nothing." This absence of anything beyond appearances is the first premise in Guo's development of a theory of radical freedom, one in which all phenomenal things are "self-so," creating and transforming themselves without depending on any justification beyond their own temporary being.

Acknowledgments

PART I

Introduction

The Classical Chinese Philosophical Background

An Overview of Guo Xiang's Philosophical Project

The Problem of Spontaneity and Morality in Earlier Xuanxue

Guo's Solution:The Image of Traces

The Dangers of Traces

PART II

Interactivity Without Traces: "Vanishing (Into) Things"

The Unification of Independence and Interdependence

PART III

Lone-Transformation 99

The Unity of Activity and Nonactivity

APPENDIX A

Guo Xiang's Use of the Term Xing: The Inherency of Change and the Confluence of Chance, Freedom, and Necessity in the Notion of the Self-So

APPENDIX B

Comparative Notes on Freedom and Determinism

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• East Asian religions
• Taoism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791487167
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

the penumbra unbound

SUNY series in

CP C

Roger T. Ames,editor

thepenumbraunbound

THE NEOTAOIST PHILOSOPHY OF GUO XIANG

BROOK ZIPORYN

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by      , 

© 2003 State University of New York

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For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ziporyn, Brook Anthony The Penumbra unbound : the neo-Taoist philosophy of Guo Xiang / Brook Ziporyn. p. cm.—(SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5661-7 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-7914-5662-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy, Taoist. 2. Guo, Xiang, d. 312. I. Title: Neo-Taoist philosophy of Guo Xiang. II. Title. III. Series. BL1920 .Z46 2003 181¢.114—dc21 2002075881

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to my father,

Marvin Ziporyn

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Contents

Acknowledgments ix

PART I

Introduction 3 The Classical Chinese Philosophical Background 5 An Overview of Guo Xiang’s Philosophical Project 17 The Problem of Spontaneity and Morality in Earlier Xuanxue 23 Guo’s Solution: The Image of Traces 31 The Dangers of Traces 51

PART II

Interactivity Without Traces: “Vanishing (Into) Things” 65 The Unification of Independence and Interdependence 85

PART III

Lone-Transformation 99 The Unity of Activity and Nonactivity 125

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   

APPENDIX A

Guo Xiang’s Use of the TermXingInherency of Change and the: The Confluence of Chance, Freedom, and Necessity in the Notion of the Self-So 143

APPENDIX B

Comparative Notes on Freedom and Determinism 149

Notes 161 Bibliography 179 Index 183

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Professor Shuen-fu Lin for all the time he spent reading the Guo Xiang commentary with me, and the insight he brought to our dis- cussions, many years ago when I was a graduate student. Those readings were the inspiration for this book. I would also like to thank Professor Donald Munro for his continuing support for my work in the field of Chinese philosophy, and the guidance given by his example. Thanks also to Northwestern University and the Fulbright Foundation for giving me the time and financial support to complete the manuscript. And special thanks as well to Joshu Ziporyn, whose father I am proud to be, for his basic overall amazingness and the inferences that makes plausible about existence in general. Readers who would like to comment on or discuss the ideas in this work are welcome to write directly to the author at Northwestern University.

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