Cultivating a Good Life in Early Chinese and Ancient Greek Philosophy: Perspectives and Reverberations

Author:   Prof Karyn Lai ,  Prof Rick Benitez ,  Dr Hyun Jin Kim
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:  

9781350169111


Pages:   272
Publication Date:   25 June 2020
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Cultivating a Good Life in Early Chinese and Ancient Greek Philosophy: Perspectives and Reverberations


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Overview

This book engages in cross-tradition scholarship, investigating the processes associated with cultivating or nurturing the self in order to live good lives. Both Ancient Chinese and Greek philosophers provide accounts of the life lived well: a Confucian junzi, a Daoist sage and a Greek phronimos. By focusing on the processes rather than the aims of cultivating a good life, an international team of scholars investigate how a person develops and practices a way of life especially in these two traditions. They look at what is involved in developing practical wisdom, exercising reason, cultivating equanimity and fostering reliability. Drawing on the insights of thinkers including Plato, Confucius, Han Fei and Marcus Aurelius, they examine themes of harmony, balance and beauty, highlight the different concerns of scepticism across both traditions, and discuss action as an indispensable method of learning and, indeed, as constitutive of self. The result is a valuable collection opening up new lines of inquiry in ethics, demonstrating the importance of philosophical ideas from across cultural traditions.

Full Product Details

Author:   Prof Karyn Lai ,  Prof Rick Benitez ,  Dr Hyun Jin Kim
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Weight:   0.386kg
ISBN:  

9781350169111


ISBN 10:   1350169110
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   25 June 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction (Karyn Lai, Rick Benitez, Hyun Jin Kim) Part I: Harmony, Balance, Beauty: Understanding Conceptions of Cultivation 1. Cultivation and Harmony: Plato and Confucius (Rick Benitez, University of Sydney, Australia) 2. Cultivating Noble Simplicity: Plato (L.M.J. Coulson, University of Sydney, Australia) 3. The Beauty Ladder and the Mind-heart Excursion: Plato and Zhuangzi (Wang Keping, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing) 4. Awareness and Spontaneity: Three Perspectives in the Zhuangzi (Lisa Raphals, University of California, Riverside, USA) 5. Understanding “Dao’s Patterns”: Han Fei (Barbara Hendrischke, Sydney University, Australia) Part II: Doubt, Predicament, Conflict: Cognitive, Affective and Epistemic Difficulties 6. Skepsis and Doubt: Ancient Greece and the East (Yasuhira Yahei Kanayama, Nagoya University, Japan) 7. Wisdowm and Cognitive Conflict: Outlines for Scepticism (Per Lind, Lund University, Sweden) 8. Understanding Fortune and Misfortune in a Good Life: ‘Solon’ and ‘Confucius’ (Hyun Jin Kim, University of Melbourne, Australia and Karen Hsu, University of Melbourne, Australia) 9. Emotion and Self-Cultivation: Marcus Aurelius and Mengzi (Jesse Ciccotti, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong) 10. Dislodging Mundane Wisdom: the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi and the New Testament Gospels (Lauren Pfister, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong) Part III. Here, Now, Ever-after: How to Achieve and Practice a Good Life 11. Knowing How to Act: Aristotle (Sophie Grace Chappell, Open University, UK) 12. Learning to be Reliable: Confucius’ Analects (Karyn Lai, University of New South Wales, Australia) 13. Auditory Perception and Cultivation: the Wenzi (Andrej Fech, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong) 14. Cultivation and the Arts of Writing: Liu Xie, (Will Buckingham, Open University, UK) 15. Death and Happiness: Han China (Mu-chou Poo, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) Bibliography Index

Reviews

The volume includes original and thought provoking essays by scholars who are both specialists and aficionados of ancient Greek and Chinese cross-cultural perspectives on the cultivation of a good life. The essays explore not only the basic positive ideals of what is to be cultivated, and putting the wisdom of a good life into practice, but also the inevitable cognitive and epistemic difficulties associated with such ideals. As such this volume contains a treasure trove of enlightenment for scholars, students and an educated public. * Gerard Naddaf, Professor of Philosophy, York University, Canada * Highly original, insightful, and enlightening, this volume brings together multifaceted cross-cultural studies of ancient Chinese and Greek views on cultivating a good life. The contributors investigate pertinent issues and articulate perspectives on developing practical wisdom, fostering ethical sensibilities, nurturing skills for acting appropriately, and learning the art of living well. Everyone who is interested in learning about Confucian, Daoist, and Greek views on these important matters should read this book. * Chenyang Li, Professor of Philosophy, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore * A remarkable volume that takes us beyond a simple comparative study of what classical Greek and Chinese thinkers have to say about what constitutes a good life into a rich discussion of how to actually cultivate a good life. Challenging the reader at every turn to engage with the question at the philosophical depth it deserves, this is a splendid volume, worthy of careful study. * Thomas M. Robinson, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Classics, University of Toronto, Canada * The premise of this stimulating collection of essays is that ancient philosophers both East and West can help us today to live better lives. In chapters that are scholarly yet accessible, the volume's authors range widely but consistently illuminate the practicality of ancient teachings. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the diverse ways that philosophy can be lived. * Stephen C. Angle, Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies and Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University, U.S.A. *


The volume includes original and thought provoking essays by scholars who are both specialists and aficionados of ancient Greek and Chinese cross-cultural perspectives on the cultivation of a good life. The essays explore not only the basic positive ideals of what is to be cultivated, and putting the wisdom of a good life into practice, but also the inevitable cognitive and epistemic difficulties associated with such ideals. As such this volume contains a treasure trove of enlightenment for scholars, students and an educated public. * Gerard Naddaf, Professor of Philosophy, York University, Canada * Highly original, insightful, and enlightening, this volume brings together multifaceted cross-cultural studies of ancient Chinese and Greek views on cultivating a good life. The contributors investigate pertinent issues and articulate perspectives on developing practical wisdom, fostering ethical sensibilities, nurturing skills for acting appropriately, and learning the art of living well. Everyone who is interested in learning about Confucian, Daoist, and Greek views on these important matters should read this book. * Chenyang Li, Professor of Philosophy, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore * A remarkable volume that takes us beyond a simple comparative study of what classical Greek and Chinese thinkers have to say about what constitutes a good life into a rich discussion of how to actually cultivate a good life. Challenging the reader at every turn to engage with the question at the philosophical depth it deserves, this is a splendid volume, worthy of careful study. * Thomas M. Robinson, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Classics, University of Toronto, Canada * The premise of this stimulating collection of essays is that ancient philosophers both East and West can help us today to live better lives. In chapters that are scholarly yet accessible, the volume’s authors range widely but consistently illuminate the practicality of ancient teachings. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the diverse ways that philosophy can be lived. * Stephen C. Angle, Mansfield Freeman Professor of East Asian Studies and Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University, U.S.A. *


Author Information

Karyn Lai is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Rick Benitez is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, Australia. Hyun Jin Kim is Senior Lecturer in Classics in the Discipline of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

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