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 =
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 & R Unipress. (Online access).
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Week 3: Mencius
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 6 “Mengzi and Human Nature” of Van Norden’s Introduction • Robert Eno’s online resources for his 2010 class on Early Chinese Thought: o The Confucian School
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Chapter 3 “Mencius” of Ivanhoe & Van Norden’s Readings
Recommended further reading on this topic: • Module 5 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought • Van Norden, Bryan, "Mencius", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =
Even more for the curious: • Shen, Vincent. (2015). Dao Companion to Classical Confucian Philosophy. (Ordered online access). • Xiusheng Liu and Philip J. Ivanhoe. Essays on the Moral Philosophy of Mengzi. (Ordered for library). See in particular Graham and Irene Bloom’s articles on Mengzi and human nature and Hutton’s paper on moral connoisseurship.
Week 4: Xunzi
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 10 “Xunzi’s Confucian Naturalism” of Van Norden’s Introduction
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Chapter 6 “Xunzi” of Ivanhoe & Van Norden’s Readings
Recommended further reading on this topic: • 7.1-7.6 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought • Goldin, Paul R., "Xunzi", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL =
Even more for the curious: • Hutton, E. (2016). Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Xunzi. In particular Mark Berkson’s article. (Ordered online access). • Kline, T., & Ivanhoe, P. (2000). Virtue, nature, and moral agency in the Xunzi. Indianapolis ; Cambridge, Mass.: Hackett Pub.
6 Week 5: Mohism
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 4 “Mohist Consequentialism” of Van Norden’s Introduction • Robert Eno’s online resources for his 2010 class on Early Chinese Thought: o Mohism
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Chapter 2 “Mozi” of Ivanhoe & Van Norden’s Readings
Recommended further reading on this topic: • 4.1-4.6 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought • Fraser, Chris, "Mohism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =
Even more for the curious: • Fraser, C. (2016). The Philosophy of the Mozi: The First Consequentialists. Columbia University Press. (Ordered for library). • Norden, B. (2007). Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy. Especially chapter 3. (Online access). • Ahern, Dennis M. “Is Mo Tzu a Utilitarian?” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 3, no. 2 (1976): 185-193. • Vorenkamp, Dirck. “Another Look At Utilitarianism in Mo-Tzu’s Thought.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 19, no. 4 (1992): 423-443. • Soles, David E. “Mo Tzu and the Foundations of Morality.” Journal of Chinese Philosophy 26, no. 1 (1999): 37-48. • Duda, Kristopher. “Reconsidering Mo Tzu on the Foundations of Morality.” Asian Philosophy 11, no. 1 (2001): 23-31.
Midterm essay question:
Drawing on the texts we have studied so far, compare and contrast the views of human nature in early Chinese Philosophy.
• Due at 12.00 (midday) on Thursday 25th October. • Maximum 1500 words (including footnotes, excluding bibliography). – Note that this is a hard limit. Word counts are automatically generated by Turnitin and essays exceeding the limit penalised. Keep it under 1500 words! • See the end of the handbook for more information about essays.
7 Week 6: Daoism 1: Laozi and the Daodejing
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Moeller, H. (2012). Taoism. In Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (pp. 298-305). • Introduction & chapter 1 of Moeller, H. (2004). Daoism explained : From the dream of the butterfly to the fishnet allegory. Illinois: Open Court.
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Ames, R., & Hall, D. (2004). Daodejing: "making this life significant" : A philosophical translation (First trade paperback ed.). (Hard copy in library). OR • Moeller, H., & Laozi. (2007). Daodejing (Laozi): A complete translation and commentary. Chicago, Ill.: Open Court. (Free online through library). OR • Chapter 4 “Laozi” of Ivanhoe and Van Norden’s Readings.
Recommended further reading on this topic: • Moeller, H. (2004). Daoism explained : From the dream of the butterfly to the fishnet allegory. Illinois: Open Court. (Hard copy in library) An overarching introduction to Daoism focussing in particular on the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. • Moeller, H. (2006). The philosophy of the Daodejing. Columbia University Press. (Similar to the above in some places but focussed only on the Daodejing. Hard copy in library). • Module 3 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought
Week 7: More Daodejing
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 1 “How to read the Daodejing” of Moeller, H. (2006). The philosophy of the Daodejing. Columbia University Press.
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Ames, R., & Hall, D. (2004). Daodejing: "making this life significant" : A philosophical translation (First trade paperback ed.). (Hard copy in library). OR • Moeller, H., & Laozi. (2007). Daodejing (Laozi): A complete translation and commentary. Chicago, Ill.: Open Court. (Free online through library). OR • Chapter 4 “Laozi” of Ivanhoe and Van Norden’s Readings.
Recommended further reading on this topic: • As for week 6
Even more for the curious: • Liu, Xiaogan. (2015). Dao Companion to Daoist Philosophy (Vol. 6, Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. (Online access).
8 Week 8: Daoism 2: Zhuangzi
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 2 “The Zhuangzi” of Moeller, H. (2004). Daoism explained : From the dream of the butterfly to the fishnet allegory. Illinois: Open Court.
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Zhuangzi. (2009). Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett Classics). (B. Ziporyn, Trans.). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. (Online access)
Recommended further reading on this topic: • Module 6 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Thought • Hansen, Chad, "Zhuangzi", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =
Even more for the curious: • Lecture by Professor Michael Puett on Zhuangzi in relation to Confucius
Week 9: More Zhuangzi
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Moeller, Hans-Georg. (1998). Zhuangzi's 'Dream of the Butterfly': A Daoist Interpretation. Philosophy East and West: A Quarterly of Comparative Philosophy, 49(4), 439-50.
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Zhuangzi. (2009). Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett Classics). (B. Ziporyn, Trans.). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. (Online access).
Recommended further reading on this topic: • Moeller, Hans-Georg. (2008). Idiotic Irony in the Zhuangzi. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, 30, 117-123. • Moeller, H. (2017). Hundun’s Mistake: Satire and Sanity in the Zhuangzi. Philosophy East and West, 67(3), 783-800.
Even more for the curious: • Ames, R. T., & Nakajima, T. (Eds.). (2015). Zhuangzi and the Happy Fish. University of Hawaii Press. • Moeller, H., & D'Ambrosio, P. (2017). Genuine pretending : On the philosophy of the Zhuangzi. (Hard copy in library).
9 Week 10: Legalism: Han Feizi
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Chapter 11 “Han Feizi” of Van Norden’s Introduction
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • Chapter 7 “Han Feizi” of Ivanhoe & Van Norden’s Readings
Recommended further reading on this topic: • 7.7-7.10 of Edward Slingerland’s free online course on Chinese Philosophy • Pines, Yuri, "Legalism in Chinese Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =
Even more for the curious: • Goldin, Paul R. (2013). Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Han Fei (Vol. 2, Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. (Online access).
Week 11: Integration & towards doing comparative philosophy
Essential preparation for Monday lecture: • Weber, Ralph. (2013). "How to Compare?" - On the Methodological State of Comparative Philosophy. Philosophy Compass, 8(7), 593.
Essential preparation for Wednesday tutorial: • TBA
Recommended further reading on this topic: • Wong, David, "Comparative Philosophy: Chinese and Western", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =
Even more for the curious: • Nisbett, R. (2005). The geography of thought: How Asians and Westerners think differently and why. London: Nicholas Brealey. (Hard copy in library).
Final essay question:
TBC. • Due 12pm (midday) on Thursday 13th December.
10 Some further reading for your own enjoyment
Allen, B. (2015). Vanishing into things : Knowledge in Chinese tradition. (Online access).
Allen, B. (2015). Striking beauty : A philosophical look at the Asian martial arts. New York: Columbia University Press. (Online access).
Hansen, C. (2000). A Daoist theory of Chinese thought : A philosophical interpretation. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. (Hard copy and online access from library).
Slingerland, E. (2015). Trying Not to Try: Ancient China, Modern Science, and the Power of Spontaneity. Broadway Books. (Ordered for library).
Wang, R. (2003). Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period to the Song Dynasty. Hackett Publishing Co, Inc. (Ordered for library)
Wang, Robin R. (2012). Yinyang : The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture (New Approaches to Asian History ; no. 11). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Online access).
Interested to learn more about Chinese Philosophy?
• The blog for Chinese Philosophy activities and events “Warp, Weft, and Way” has a list of English language graduate programmes in Chinese Philosophy including a list of MA only programmes in China. There are a lot of scholarships around if you want to study in China – check out each programme’s website. • The Confucius institute in Edinburgh offers language programs, and cultural activities (like calligraphy, and lectures) as well as links to scholarships for language learning, Chinese philosophy and other opportunities to visit China. • Beijing Normal University run a summer school each year on Chinese Philosophy. You can apply for a scholarship for it. • The Sinological Development Foundation runs a month long summer school each year with scholarships to cover all expenses except travel there and home. • Website for the British Association for Chinese Studies. • Website for the European Association for Chinese Philosophy.
11 Assessment Information
Assessment will be by means of one 1500 word mid-term essay (40% of the mark for the course) and one 2500 word final essay (60% of the mark for the course). The midterm essay is due on Thursday 25th October 2018 by 12pm. The final essay is due on Thursday 13th December 2018 by 12pm. Essays are submitted via Learn. Senior honours students who are not writing a research dissertation may opt to write a single long essay (approximately 5000 words) instead of the two coursework essays, as part of their dissertation by coursework. These long essays are due on Tuesday 18th December by 12pm. Titles and topics should be agreed with me in advance, and titles should be submitted to the Teaching Office by Monday 22nd October by 12pm.
Word Count Penalties Essays must not exceed the word limit, which includes footnotes but excludes bibliography. (Note that the mythical + or – 10% does not apply in the Edinburgh Philosophy department!).The precise word count must be written on the coversheet. Overlong essays will be penalised according to the following rule: 5% will be deducted for every 100 words, or part thereof, over the word limit. So, 1-100 words over loses 5%; 101-200 words over loses 10%; 201-300 words over loses 15%; and so on. Penalties for Late Submission of Essays Unless an extension has been granted, essays must be submitted by the dates shown in the table of Submission Dates below. Essays submitted late without an extension may not be marked, but, if marked, will incur a penalty (in accordance with section 3.8 of the University Undergraduate Assessment Regulations at: http://students.ppls.ed.ac.uk/assignments/philosophy/penalties/ For each working day that the work is late there will be a reduction of the mark by 5% of the maximum obtainable mark (e.g. a mark of 65% on the common marking scale would be reduced to 60% up to 24 hours later). This penalty applies for up to five working days, after which a mark of zero will be given.
Plagiarism Essays will be checked for plagiarism using Turnitin. The University treats plagiarism by honours students as a disciplinary offence, and anyone caught plagiarising will be referred to the College’s Academic Misconduct Officer. If you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism or need further guidance, you should consult the University’s guidelines: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools- departments/academicservices/students/undergraduate/discipline/plagiarism.
Students can read more about plagiarism and proper referencing practices, and use Turnitin on a trial copy of their essays, in the Philosophy Tools course on WebCT.
Extensions Students are expected to monitor their workload, be aware of all deadlines, and organise themselves accordingly. Extension requests should be submitted before the submission deadline. They must be submitted to the Teaching Office for approval, and must include details of the assessment(s) affected and the length of extension requested, together with supporting evidence if required. Other than in exceptional circumstances, extensions will only be granted in cases of illness or family emergency. If students are seeking extensions for more than one week, they must provide medical evidence and/or discuss the request with the Student Support Officer. Extension requests due to time mismanagement, personal computing/printing problems or ignorance of deadline will not be accepted. The Teaching Office will email the student to tell
12 them whether the extension has been granted. The decision conveyed in this email is final; if students feel that they have been unfairly denied an extension they should make a case to the special circumstances committee for the removal of late submission penalties at the examination board. Retrospective extensions will not be granted. However, late submission penalties may be waived if a student requests an extension on the day of the deadline but cannot get medical evidence until some days later. Extensions include weekends and university holidays. If an extended deadline falls on a weekend, the work should be submitted by 9:30am on the next working day (i.e. work which would be due at 4pm on Saturday due to an extension should be submitted by 9:30am the following Monday).
Students with Adjustment Schedules. Extension requests from students with adjustment schedules that allow ‘short notice extensions’ will be treated sympathetically where possible. Students should however be prepared to give a reason for the extension request; simply citing an adjustment schedule is not an adequate reason. If students are seeking extensions for more than one week, they must provide medical evidence and/or discuss the request with the Student Support Officer.
Special Circumstances. Students may apply for consideration of special circumstances if they feel that events outwith their control have resulted in poor exam performance in comparison to their previous coursework record or even missing an exam. These circumstances most commonly include illness or bereavement but can be submitted for a variety of issues. It is the student’s responsibility to complete a Special Circumstances form giving as much detail as possible and providing supporting evidence. All submissions must be accompanied by medical or other documentation.
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