UBCx CHINA 300x
Foundations of Chinese Thought
Edward Slingerland University of British Columbia
Fall 2014 October 14 – December 8
This course is designed to give students a thorough introduction to Warring States (6th-3rd c BCE) Chinese thought, focusing on Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism and Legalism. Sometime known as the age of “the Hundred Schools of Thought,” this period of Chinese history witnessed the formation of all of the major indigenous schools of Chinese thought, which in turn had an impact on the development of East Asian cultural history that is still felt today. Important themes to be discussed include conceptions of the self, models of self-cultivation and rationality, and differences in spiritual and political ideals. Students will be exposed to both received texts and recently discovered archeological texts; this combination of sources will both enrich students’ understanding of the world of thought in early China and call into question the boundaries drawn between the traditionally-defined “schools” such as Daoism or Confucianism. Parallels with developments in Western philosophical and religious traditions will be highlighted. We will also explore the relevance of early Chinese thought for contemporary debates in ethics, moral education, and political philosophy, as well as the manner in which early Chinese models of the self anticipate recent developments in the evolutionary and cognitive sciences.
Duration:
The MOOC will run for 7 weeks, covering one full module per week, each module consisting of 8-10 short (approx. 10 minutes) videos.
Estimated Student Time Commitment per Week
Each week will include 1.5-2.5 hours of video content. Students can be expected to spend 4-6 hours per week total on the class, including watching the videos, completing quizzes and the peer graded assignment, completing the class reading (30-50 pages a week) and participating in the online discussions.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Students will gain a comprehensive introduction to early Chinese thought and strategies for engaging with alternative cultural models of ethical training, models of the self, and self-other relations. Close readings of English translations of early Chinese texts will help them to parse and interpret philosophical argumentation, assumptions and logic, and they will gain experience working through ethical dilemmas. They will learn how to approach historical materials in a responsible manner, gleaning contemporary insights without oversimplification or inaccurate appropriation. Looking at early Chinese thought through the lens of modern science will also give students an understanding of the basics of human cognition and evolutionary theory. The writing assignment will give students practice in thinking through how the early Chinese material relates to the contemporary world.
Assessments
There will be seven (7) weekly multiple-choice quizzes, one at the end of each module, testing the student’s knowledge of that particular module. In addition, there will be one optional peer-assessed written assignment (600-800 words, approximately 2 double- spaced pages) around the midterm of the class. No make-ups or rescheduling of the quizzes will be allowed, but those who complete the peer assessed writing assignment, and participate in being a peer assessor on one other assignment, can replace their lowest quiz grade with their grade on the peer assessment. In addition, anyone completing the peer assessment will receive 3% of extra credit added onto their final grade. There will also be a multiple-choice final exam.
The final grade will be calculated as follows:
7 quizzes @ 10 points each: 70% Peer Assessed Writing Assignment: Grade replaces lowest quiz Final Exam 30%
Students who choose to receive a Verified Certificate of Achievement are required to achieve a minimum overall grade of 60%.
Course Schedule
Module 1: Introduction, Theoretical Issues, Introduction to Early China
This module will introduce students to what it means to study religious or philosophical thought from an academic perspective, what we mean by “religion” or “philosophy,” what different models of ethics and ethical reasoning exist, why studying Chinese thought in particular might be helpful, what some of the unique perspectives that we will confront in the course will be, and how all of this will connect to contemporary issues and modern scientific models of the self. We will also get an introduction to early Chinese history and the first historical dynasties in China, those of the Shang and Zhou.
VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: Why (and How) Do We Study Other Cultures? Lecture 1: Nuts and Bolts: Course description, mechanics Lecture 2: What Does it Mean to Study “Thought”? Lecture 3: Human Thought: Mind vs. Body, Reason vs. Emotion, Cold vs. Hot Cognition Lecture 4: Human Nature and Civilization: Institutions, Commitments, and Different Models of Ethics Lecture 5: Wu-wei 無爲 (ooo-way), De 德 (duh) and the Paradox of Spontaneity
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 6: (Very) Early China Lecture 7: Beginnings of Written History in China: The Shang Dynasty Lecture 8: Themes in Shang Dynasty Thought Lecture 9: Introduction to the Zhou Dynasty Lecture 10: Zhou Dynasty Thought
Concluding Video: Module 1 Q&A with Prof. Slingerland
READINGS
Videos 1-5: Trying Not To Try (excerpts) Introduction, pp. 1-17 Chapter 1, pp. 25-37 Chapter 7, pp. 172-178
Videos 6-9: PDF1: Excerpts from Book of Odes, Book of Documents
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #1
Module 2: Carving and Polishing With Confucius/Kongzi
This module explores the first great philosopher of China, Confucius, and the task he faced of rescuing what he saw as a profoundly degenerated age—one that reflected a sharp decline from the spiritual and political harmony of the ancient. His proposed solution was to reshape human beings into perfected sages through ritual, classical texts, and the arts. What Confucius has much to say about the role of cultural forms, the relationship of the individual to society, and the inextricably social nature of human beings serves as an important corrective to some of excessively individualist aspects of our modern self-conceptions. VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: Becoming civilized Lecture 1: Confucius and the Analects. Lecture 2: “I transmit but do not innovate.” (Not quite.) Lecture 3: Ritual: Acquiring a behavioral language Lecture 4: Learning: Acquiring the Ability to think
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 5: Holistic Education: The role of the arts in morality Lecture 6: Building cold into hot: Moral skill, flexibility and autonomy Lecture 7: At Home in Virtue: Harmonizing our nature with civilized life Lecture 8: “Like the wind over the grass”: Non-coercive order in the Analects Lecture 9: Beware the village poseur! The paradox of wu-wei in the Analects
Module Q&A with Prof. Slingerland
READINGS
Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Analects
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #2 Modeling/Instructions for Peer Assessed Writing Assignment and Assessment
Module 3: Laozi and the Uncarved Block
In this module we encounter the Daoist backlash against Confucianism in the form of Laozian “primitivism,” the world’s first documented counter-cultural movement. Laozi advocated rejecting learning, technology and society and a return to a natural, simple life in small agricultural villages. He has much to teach us about the dangers of hypocrisy, the potentially corrupting influence of social norms, and the value of simplicity.
VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: Back to Nature Lecture 1: The World’s First Hippies Lecture 2: Laozi and the Daodejing Lecture 3: The Unhewn Wood and the Desires of the Belly Lecture 4: The Desires of the Eye: Madison Ave. and the Hedonic Treadmill Lecture 5: “He Who Speaks Does Not Know”: Getting Beyond Language
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 6: Samsara: The Cycle of Reversion Lecture 7: Do Nothing, Be Natural: Laozi’s Golden Age Lecture 8: New Insights from the Earth: The Guodian Laozi Lecture 9: Instrumentalism and the Challenges of “Being Natural”
Module Q&A with Prof. Slingerland
READINGS
Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Daodejing
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #3 Peer Assessed Writing Assigned
Module 4: Maximizing Benefit: the Consequentialism of Mozi; The Mid-Warring- States Linguistic and Physiological Turns; Guodian Confucianism
Impatient with both the Daoist primitivists and the Confucians, Mozi was the world’s first great utilitarian or consequentialist thinker, arguing that rational calculation of social benefits should drive our behavior and that we should strive to practice “impartial caring.” His viewpoints echo those of modern utilitarians such as Peter Singer, sharing the same strengths and weaknesses.
VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: Confronting Social Inequality Lecture 1: Mozi and Materialist State Consequentialism Lecture 2: Honor the Worthy: Job Performance and Ideological Unity Lecture 3: Others’ Fathers are Your Father: The Doctrine of Impartial Caring Lecture 4: Against Music and Funerals: The Anti-Elite Chapters Lecture 5: On Ghosts and Heaven’s Will: Mozi’s Religious Fundamentalism and Activism
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 6: Later Mohist Logic and the Mid-Warring-States Linguistic Turn Lecture 7: The Discovery of the Body: Yang Zhu and The Mid-Warring-States Physiological Turn Lecture 8: Inward Training: Qi and Self-Cultivation Lecture 9: Gaozi? The Guodian School of Confucianism
Module Q&A with Prof. Slingerland
READINGS
Lectures 1-5 Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Mozi Lectures 6-8 PDF2: The Logicians, Yang Zhu and Inward Training Lecture 9 PDF3: Excerpts from Guodian Confucian texts
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #4
Module 5: Cultivating the Moral Sprouts with Mencius/Mengzi
Mencius revives the thought of Confucius with a twist: cultivation and refinement are important, but only because they represent the natural development of tendencies already inside us. A great moral psychologist, Mencius argued that we all possess the sprouts of proper moral behavior, and need to cultivate them like a patient farmer. From a contemporary perspective, his model of moral education looks both psychologically sophisticated and prescient.
VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: Training the Imagination Lecture 1: Mencius and the New World of Late-Warring States Thought Lecture 2: Mencius and Gaozi: Where Do You “Get” Rightness? Lecture 3: Human Nature is “Good”: Mencius and the Moral Sprouts Lecture 4: Evidence for the Sprouts: Mencian
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 5: Evidence for the Sprouts: Modern Scientific Lecture 6: Cultivating the Self: Mencius’ Agricultural Metaphors Lecture 7: “Extension”: The Importance of Moral Imagination Lecture 8: Mencian Gradualism and Internalism: The Wisdom of the Body Lecture 9: The Paradox of Wu-wei in the Mencius
READINGS
Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Mengzi
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #5 Peer Assessed Writing Due
Module 6: Zhuangzi’s Celebration of the “Weeds” of Humanity
Suspicious of any fixed, explicit system of morality, the Daoist Zhuangzi advocated freeing the mind of all doctrines and value judgments, “fasting the mind,” so that our innate Heavenly tendencies can be activated. He believed that the only way to move through the world properly was to get beyond linguistic distinctions and logical thought in order to perceive and engage with reality directly. Zhuangzi has much to teach us about the power of the unconscious and the importance of embodied skills.
VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: Letting the World Pull You Along Lecture 1: Zhuangzi and the Zhuangzi Lecture 2: Undergrowth in the Head: The Problem of Fixed Ideas Lecture 3: Fallenness: Getting Rid of the Human Essence Lecture 4: Qi and the Fasting of the Mind
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 5: Guided by the Spirit: Skill Stories in the Zhuangzi Lecture 6: Zhuangzi and the Embodied Mind Lecture 7: Drunk on Heaven: In the World But Not of It Lecture 8: The Paradox of Wu-wei in the Zhuangzi
READINGS
Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Zhuangzi
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #6 Peer Assessment Evaluations Due
Module 7: Return to Externalism: Xunzi and Legalism; Conclusion
Xunzi marks in many ways a return to the original vision of Confucius, where spiritual and moral perfection is seen as the product of a long process of training and self- cultivation. He was also one of the earliest naturalist or atheistic philosophers in world history, presenting a functionalist view of religion that anticipates in many ways the views of modern scholars. In this module we’ll also discuss the “Legalist” school associated with Xunzi’s disciple, Hanfeizi, and how it can be seen as growing out of, but significantly differing from, Xunzi’s views.
In our concluding lectures, we will consider how the goal of “effortless action,” or perfected spontaneity, served as a central focus for many of our early Chinese thinkers (even those that rejected the goal), and how the particular tension involved in trying not to try served to drive much of the theoretical speculation about human nature, self- cultivation, etc. Evolutionary theory will allow us to see how the paradox of spontaneity is a real one, and one fundamentally linked to cooperation dilemmas lurking at the heart of human civilized life. This will also involve students in a consideration of broader theoretical issues concerning the rule of law versus norms-based theories of human sociality.
The end of the module will conclude with a discussion of the benefits of studying both ancient philosophy and the thought of other cultures, and how the kind of intercultural understanding that results is essential for anyone living in our contemporary globalized world.
VIDEO LESSONS
Intro video: The Value of Institutions Lecture 1: Xunzi and the return to externalism Lecture 2: Xunzi on the origins of Confucian culture Lecture 3: The world’s first functionalist theory of religion Lecture 4: A Perennial Debate: Xunzi vs. Mencius / Conservatism and Liberalism
Mid-week Announcement by TAs: Hot/Interesting Discussion Threads
Lecture 5: Han Feizi and Legalism Lecture 6: Han Feizi and Lecture 7: The First Emperor and the Unification of China Lecture 8: Concluding remarks: Why doesn’t the paradox of wu-wei go away? Lecture 9: Concluding remarks: Globalization and secularization.
READINGS
Lectures 1-4: Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Xunzi
Lectures 5-7: Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, the Hanfeizi
Trying Not to Try (excerpts) Chapter Two, pp. 38-52 Chapter Seven, pp. 178-196
Lecture 8:
PDF4: Paradox of Wu-wei in Guodian Confucian Texts
ASSESSMENTS
Quiz #7 Discussions of Peer Assessed Assignment Released
DECEMBER 2-8: Final Exam
DECEMBER 10: Final grades and verified certificates released