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Title: A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought: A Philosophical Interpretation by Chad D. Hansen ISBN: 0-19-513419-2 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: September, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: a flawed masterpiece
Comment: According to the previous reviewer, Hansen shows classical Chinese philosophy to be "near in quality" to classical Greek. Actually, this kind of narrow Western appraisal is a symptom of exactly the perspective Hansen consistently attacks. He states (and states and states) that the ancient Chinese models of mind and language are so fundamentally different from Judeo-Greco-Indian models that any attempt to analyze Chinese philosophy with familiar Occidental assumptions completely distorts it.
Most of Hansen's opinions are quite controversial, especially his view that classical Daoism had no metaphysical content and that Confucianism failed (and failed and failed) to develop any real philosophical interest. The basis for such views is his fascinating formulation of Chinese psycholinguistics, which, despite its explanatory force, narrows his scope rather too much. According to Hansen, classical Chinese thinkers ALWAYS approached language as a social rather than personal affair, focused on its function of guidance rather than its ability to represent, and NEVER developed characteristically Western concepts like belief, desire, experience, subjectivity, etc. Neo-Confucianism and post-classical Daoism, he asserts, have been so influenced by Indo-European philosophy (via Buddhism) that they cannot be taken as a reliable basis for interpreting the ancient works. In fact, Hansen goes so far as to say that Buddhism and repressive Confucian orthodoxy have joined forces to squelch classical philosophy. He relegates all post-Zhuangzi (c. 300 BCE) Chinese thought to the trash heap of "mysticism" or "authoritarianism". This approach, while not unjustified, carries some self-evident problems.
As it happens, Hansen's analysis does succeed in making many of the marginalized philosophies - Mohism, Legalism, the School of Names - appear genuinely reasonable and interesting. His rehabilitation of Mozi, in particular, is very welcome after the millennia of unwarranted scorn that seminal thinker has suffered. Without Mozi's search for a constant dao, the "hundred schools" arguably might never have emerged. The central concern of the Legalists (or Standardizers, as Hansen prefers to label them) was improving administration through the imposition of objective, impersonal standards in governance--to most ears hardly objectionable--rather than ruthlessly tyrannizing the people for the king's benefit, as the Neo-Confucian establishment claims.
By tracking the various schools' use of language and sticking to a bare-bones positivist methodology, Hansen succeeds in his goal of providing a "unified translation theory" that explains all of the period's philosophies in a consistent and logically compelling way. But that doesn't remove this book's weaknesses: a barely-concealed bullish and combative attitude that summarily dismisses virtually every Chinese thinker except Zhuangzi; a rigid view of Chinese psycholinguistics that would render the early thinkers unable to conceive of "subjective, inner states"; and, most fundamentally, a narrow insistence on linguistic analysis as against all other concerns.
This is not your typical book on Chinese thought. It broadly criticises existing theories, whatever their origins. Virtually every big name in sinology, as well as every critical and reflective Chinese since 300 BCE, is accused of misapprehending the very essence of classical Chinese philosophy. Despite his engaging and compelling psycholinguistic theories, Chad Hansen really needs to ask himself how he alone could be privilege to such knowledge. Nevertheless, I HEARTILY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. It upsets traditional assumptions, generally with excellent reason. It definitively demolishes the REASON-INTUITION DICHOTOMY which has hobbled most previous attempts to understand "the wisdom of the East". In giving us a genuinely new and stimulating approach to traditional Chinese thought and language use, it points the way for future projects that may succeed more fully.
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant and thought provoking
Comment: Captivating, clear, and powerful. Hansen analyzes the classical period of Chinese philosophy with stunning originality, but with scholarly precision and care. His inerpretation of Mo Tzu's role in Chinese philosophy completely redefined all of my thoughts on the subject. Hansen's insights will prove invaluable to any student of any philosophical tradition. This book is probably the best book about philosophy that I have read.
Rating: 5
Summary: Daoism is real philosophy!
Comment: This book is very clearly written and sees ancient Chinese thought from a Daoist (rather than the traditional Confucian) point of view. Chad Hansen makes a detailed analysis of Confucius and Mencius though, based on their theory of language, and those chapters are exceptional too. Of course, the greatest chapter of the book is the one on Zhuangzi, that shows him to be a sophisticated thinker, having a theory of language inherited from the later Mohists that comes near in quality to Greek philosophy, although never going as far a creating a theory of reason. Highly recommended to all Daoists!
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