History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

The relationship between philosophy and politics in the Han Dynasty, focusing on the example of Huang-Lao, a typically “eclectic” tradition of thought.

An interview about fa-thinkers like Shang Yang and Han Feizi, exploring their relationship to the Qin dynasty and to other schools of thought.

Did the fa-thinkers recognize that human beings natural have moral capacities or dispositions? How did they try to manipulate human nature?

Does Han Feizi’s focus on “standards” allow him to provide a more realistic political theory than the Confucian focus on moral cultivation?

The Han Feizi and its “three pillars” of Legalist philosophy: fa (standards), shu (strategy), and shi (positional power).

Was the short-lived Qin empire, which unified China to put an end to the Warring States period, Legalism in action?

The “fa-thinkers” Shang Yang and Han Feizi encourage the rigorous application of “standards,” including law, reward, and punishment.

To celebrate reaching 50 episodes in this series, Karyn and Peter both chat to a leading scholar of Warring States philosophy.

An interview on humor and amoral ethics in a Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi - and its relation to Confucianism and Legalism. 

How is it possible to walk two roads simultaneously? And where does wandering lead us?

Why does the Zhuangzi tell us that death is nothing to fear, to the point that it recommends celebrating the death of loved ones?

How are we to make sense of the different images of Kongzi (Confucius) in the Zhuangzi?

In addition to sages who show us the way, the Zhuangzi features people taking on daily activities such as woodworking and butchering: we discuss how these figures serve as counterpoints to officials in the Zhuangzi’s time.

The many stories about animals in the Zhuangzi encourage us to adopt a perspective that goes beyond the human point of view.

An interview on debates over language and reasoning between the Mohists and the Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi.

The Zhuangzi’s critique of dogmatic approaches to argumentation and governing the state.

We introduce the second great classic of Warring States Daoism, the Zhuangzi, and ask whether it adopts a position of radical skepticism.

Are the methods of warfare proposed in the famous Art of War an example of “applied Daoism”?

An interview on the pervasive use of the yin-yang relational pair in classical Chinese thought generally, and in Daoism in particular.

The concept of wuwei or “non-action”: does it mean that the perfect sage or political ruler simply never does anything?

How the Laozi (Daodejing) applies the lessons of complementarity to the contrast between male and female.

The significance of the Laozi’s use of opposing pairs, which are treated as complementary rather as exclusive dichotomies.

The Laozi (Daodejing) refers to the winds, the rain and the waters. We discuss how these ideas express the Laozi’s views on nature.

The first rule of dao is: don’t talk about dao. We do so nonetheless, focusing on its role in metaphysics and language.

What does “Daoism” refer to in a range of contexts, and how have excavated texts changed our understanding of the tensions between Daoism and Confucianism?