Chinese Philosophy (PHIL10179)
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Chinese Philosophy (PHIL10179) Course Guide 2018/19: Semester 1 Course Organiser: Dr. Mog Stapleton: [email protected] Dugald Stewart Building: room 5.04 Office hours (term time): Wed. 12-13.00 Autonomous Learning Group tutor: Wilson Lee: [email protected] Course Secretary: Ann-Marie Cowe: [email protected] Class times and Locations: Lecture: Mondays 16-17.00 (starting 17th September) Tutorials: Wednesdays 10-12.00 (starting 19th September) Autonomous Learning Groups: TBA Course Description: This course is intended as an introduction to some of the key debates and ideas in Chinese Philosophy. Through a close reading of some of the most influential texts in e.g. Confucianism and Daoism, students will develop an understanding of the variety of philosophical approaches in Chinese Philosophy and how these may relate to approaches to Western Philosophy. This course will not assume any previous knowledge in the area. All reading will be in English translation. Intended Learning Outcomes: On completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key debates in Classical Chinese Philosophy 2. Independently analyse the most influential texts in Chinese Philosophy 3. Demonstrate core skills in philosophy, including the ability to interpret and engage with philosophical texts, to evaluate arguments, and to develop one's own critical ideas Overview of Course week by week: 1. Introduction to the Warring States period 2. Confucianism 1: Confucius - Analects 3. Confucianism 2: Mencius 4. Confucianism 3: Xunzi 5. Mohism 6. Daoism 1: Laozi & the Daodejing 7. Daoism 1 cont.d 8. Daoism 2: Zhuangzi 9. Daoism 2 cont.d 10. Legalism: Han Feizi 11. Integration of material/Introduction to comparative philosophy Key texts: All essential texts are available in electronic format from the library or freely online. Van Norden, B., & Ivanhoe, P. (2005). Readings in classical Chinese philosophy (2nd ed.).Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. (Hard copy and online access from library). This textbook has selections from all of the texts that we will be studying. Note that I may suggest different translations than those in this collection. But it is fine for you to use these one’s. Van Norden, B. (2011). Introduction to classical Chinese philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. (Hard copy and online access from library). The accompanying introduction to the above book of readings. Intended for newcomers to Chinese Philosophy from the western tradition. 2 Overviews of Chinese Philosophy Highly recommended for beginners: Puett, P. M., & Gross-Loh, C. (2017). The Path: A New Way to Think About Everything. Viking. A highly accessible introduction to the main ideas in Classical Chinese Philosophy aimed at the general public. (Hard copy in library). Fung, Y.-L. (1997). A Short History of Chinese Philosophy: A Systematic Account of Chinese Thought from Its Origins to Present Day. (D. Bodde, Ed.). Free Press. An academic but very readable introduction to the main schools of Chinese thought – chapter by chapter - from the classical period to the present. (Hard copy in library). Graham, A. (1989). Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical argument in ancient China. La. Salle, Ill.: Open Court. (An older introduction but a classic. Hard copy in library). Moeller, H. (2004). Daoism explained: From the dream of the butterfly to the fishnet allegory. Illinois: Open Court. A very accessible overarching introduction to Daoism focussing in particular on the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. (Hard copy in library). The texts themselves: I will be using a variety of translations of the texts. Mostly these will be the same as the extracts available in the Van Norden and Ivanhoe collection so it’s fine if you just have this. However if you want to buy full versions of the texts then the following are the ones that I recommend. However, it will be fine if we have different versions as we can discuss why different translators translate passages differently: Confucius - Analects: Confucius. (2003). Analects: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett Classics Series). (E. Slingerland, Trans.) (New Ed edition). Hackett Publishing Co, Inc. (Online access). Mengzi – Mencius: Mengzi. (2008). Mengzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett Classics). (B. W. Van Norden, Trans.) (UK ed. edition). Hackett Publishing Co, Inc. (Online access). Xunzi: Xunzi. (2014). Xunzi: The Complete Text. (E. L. Hutton, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Hard copy in library). Laozi - Daodejing: • Ames, R., & Hall, D. (2004). Daodejing: "making this life significant" : A philosophical translation (First trade paperback ed.). (Hard copy in library). • Moeller, H., & Laozi. (2007). Daodejing (Laozi): A complete translation and commentary. Chicago, Ill.: Open Court. (Free online through library). Zhuangzi: Zhuangzi. (2009). Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett Classics). (B. Ziporyn, Trans.). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. (Online access). 3 Free online: Teaching translations by Robert Eno of the Analects, Mencius, Daodejing, and Zhuangzi are all available freely online here: http://www.indiana.edu/~p374/Resources.html Free online translation of Zhuangzi by Burton Watson: https://terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu.html Translations of some of the texts (mostly rather old ones by James Legge) can also be found online on the Chinese Text Project: https://ctext.org/ A note on readings: Most students on this course will not have any background in non-western philosophy. It is a huge undertaking to become familiar with the spirit, ideas, arguments, and texts of a completely new approach in one semester. Nevertheless we are going to try to do so. This means that it is absolutely critical to do preparatory reading before lectures as well as consolidating and further reading afterwards in addition to reading the primary texts themselves. It is the nature of a course like this that there is a lot of reading. For those who may have a slower reading speed for any reason I recommend using the smartphone app “voice dream reader”: http://www.voicedream.com/ to which you can upload docs, pdfs and epubs and set it to read them to you. In addition I have several recommendations of audio & audiovisual resources below. If you find any other resources (e.g. podcasts etc.) do share these with your classmates via the Autonomous Learning Group. Audio & Audiovisual resources: Khan Academy - Ancient and Imperial China https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/zhou-qin-han- china/v/zhou-qin-and-han-dynasties Gives a basic overview of the history and philosophy of the time period. This will help to situate the philosophers who we will be discussing during the course. Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom meets Modern Science An excellent survey by the philosopher Edward Slingerland (the translator of the Analects in the ‘Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy). It doesn’t go in the same order as we do but will be very useful to watch alongside, before, or after the course. To take the actual course, which starts in September and could be good as then you would get a chance to participate in online discussions you can sign up at EdX: https://www.edx.org/bio/edward-slingerland Or, you can simply watch the module videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/chinesethought History of Chinese Philosophy podcast https://teacup.media/2018/05/17/the-history-of-chinese-philosophy/ 4 Week by week readings Week 1: Introduction to the Warring States Period Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • None Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Chapter 1 “Historical Context” of Van Norden’s Introduction to Chinese Philosophy • Robert Eno’s online resources for his 2010 class on Early Chinese Thought: o General Introduction o Historical Background Recommended further study on this topic: • Module 1 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought • Chapters 1-3 of: o Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge University Press, 1996/2010. (Hard copy in library). Even more for the curious: • Audio lecture series on Chinese History from The Great Courses: From Yao to Mao Week 2: Confucius and the Analects Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 2 “Kongzi and Confucianism” of Van Norden’s Introduction • Chapter 3 “Kongzi and Virtue Ethics” of Van Norden’s Introduction Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Chapter 1 “The Analects” of Ivanhoe & Van Norden’s Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy Recommended further study on this topic: • Module 2 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought • Riegel, Jeffrey, "Confucius", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2013/entries/confucius/>. • Hall, D., & Ames, R. (1987). Thinking through Confucius (SUNY series in systematic philosophy). Albany]: State University of New York Press. (Hard copy in library – ebook on order). Even more for the curious: • Coursera MOOC: Explorations in Confucian Philosophy • Audio lecture series on Confucianism and the Analects from The Great Courses • Fingarette, H. (1998). Confucius : The secular as sacred. Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press. • Olberding, A. (2014). Dao Companion to the Analects. (Ordered online access). • Rosemont, H., & Ames, R. (2016). Confucian role ethics : A moral vision for the 21st century? (Global East Asia). Göttingen: V