Philosophy 153

The course will focus on early Chinese philosophical thought, including different schools such as Confucianism, Daoism, Moism and Yangism. Thinkers to be considered include Confucius, Mozi (Mo Tzu), Yangzhu (Yang Chu), Mencius, Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) and Xunzi (Hsun Tzu). We will discuss the connotations of key philosophical terms, analyze important passages, and consider the relation between and the influence among different early Chinese thinkers. While attending closely to the primary texts, the emphasis is on philosophical ideas in these texts, and we will explore some of these ideas in relation to the contemporary philosophical literature. The overall goal of the course is to provide an understanding of Chinese traditions of thought in their proper historical and cultural contexts, and to illustrate a way of doing philosophical work with these traditions that does justice to their distinctive characteristics and insights.