History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

How historians like Sima Qian and Ban Gu have shaped our understanding of ancient Chinese history, including the history of philosophy.

How were the texts of the Han dynasty different from those in the Warring States period? How historical circumstances shaped philosophical writing, and how texts in turn shaped Han political culture.

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?

We conclude our series on Mohism with an interview that looks at the Mohists' dialectic and its relationship to their ethics. 

Later Mohists explained in the Canons how to provide compelling philosophical arguments, and how to avoid mistakes in argumentation. Does this count as “logic”?

What Mohist dialectics and Gongsun Long’s “White Horse Not Horse” argument tell us about the connection between language and knowledge.

Did Mozi tell people that ghosts exist and that we can change our fate because he thought these things are true, or because it would be beneficial for people to believe them?

An interview on the contrasting views of Mohists and Confucians on ethical duties and warfare.

How the Mohist principle of “inclusive care” leads to political order and (mostly) forbids the fighting of wars.

Disagreements between the Mohists and the Confucians: is seeking benefits the right way to approach life? What motivates us to act morally, care for our loved ones or a doctrine of impartiality?

How did the Mohists establish their consequentialist ethic of “impartial care (jian ’ai)”? Was this theory ultimately grounded in the will of Heaven?

An introduction to the Mozi, the founding text of an anti-elitist school of thought that tests social and political practices by the measure of “benefit.”

In our final episode on classical Confucianism, our interview guest tells us about the surprising moral depth of the concept of "etiquette"

Can classical Confucianism be redeemed from its reputation for rigidly hierarchical thinking when it comes to the relationship between men and women?

Can classical Confucian ideas be adapted to produce a theory of democracy fit for today's world?

Were Confucian ideas about Heaven, ritual, and fate driven by a religious attitude, or a naturalistic one?

Mengzi and Xunzi show that a Confucian political theory need not be idealistic.

An interview about the "resonant cosmos" in early Confucianism, and the role played by music in linking sages to the universe.

The role of knowing in Confucian ethics: should it be understood as “knowing how,” or even “knowing to,” rather than “knowing that”?

Morality is what makes us humans, for the Confucians. But does morality come from inside us, outside us, or both?

Xunzi, a thinker who shaped the course of Confucian philosophy by showing how deliberate effort can overcome our wicked natural tendencies.

Several ancient Chinese texts speak of an egoist and hedonist known as Yang Zhu: did he pose a coherent challenge to the Confucians and other ethicists?

In the Mengzi, the text that bears his name, Mengzi ("Mencius") holds that the human heart-mind is the wellspring of goodness.

Should the remarkable parallels between Aristotelian and Confucian ethics lead us to classify Confucianism as a type of “virtue ethics”?

In this interview, we learn how Kongzi become the pivotal sage of early Chinese history, and what new discoveries teach us about the Confucian tradition.

What does the Analects say about living as a human being? How are individuals embedded in society, and how do they develop their unique identities?