Constraint and li, work and qi: Deacon and Zhu Xi

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-254
Author(s):  
Margus Ott
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Equilibrium ◽  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Zhu Xi

Abstract In this article, I bring together the famous American semiotician Terrence Deacon and the most famous proponent of Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200). I focus on two of Deacon’s central concepts, constraints and work. All systems are constrained in some way, i.e. they behave in certain ways, but not in all ways. And “work” means that in their existence they make some difference: a gas in thermal equilibrium does not produce work. I bring these notions together with Zhu Xi’s concepts of li 理 and qi 氣. Li can be understood as internal articulation of a system or an event, its “veins.” And qi is the power of existence of a system or an event, its “energy.” In this light, I discuss the topics of the priority of li, the coagulation of qi, the normativity implied in the li, and self-cultivation. A connection to Deacon can give us new tools to make sense of those ancient topics of Chinese philosophy, and a connection to Zhu Xi can give semiotics in general and Deacon’s theory in particular an extension to certain fields that have been underdeveloped in Western thought, for instance self-cultivation.

Wisdom in Chinese Confucian Philosophy

2020 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-356
Author(s):  
Robert Cummings Neville
Keyword(s):  
Western Thought ◽  
Zhu Xi ◽  
Confucian Philosophy ◽  
Internal Marker

Abstract This article introduces the Chinese conception of wisdom by a focus mainly on the famous discussion in Mencius. It emphasizes that everything is a change, that changes toward wisdom are natural (or in the case of Xunzi, humane), and that people are always changing toward or away from what is wise. In contrast to much Western thought, wisdom is a response to external things, not to an internal marker. Moreover, it is nearly always a commentary on conjoint actions as in a game, or ritual. The essay continues some strands of Chinese thinking about wisdom through Xunzi and up to Zhu Xi. My position as a Westerner is commented on at the end.

The Ti-Yong 體用 Model and Its Discontents

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brook A. Ziporyn
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Zhu Xi ◽  
Philosophical Thought ◽  
The Core ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Core Concepts

This chapter provides compelling perspective on Zhu Xi’s repurposing of Buddhist ideas to develop his own philosophical thought. The focus is the ti-yong (inherent reality-function) conceptual polarity—one of the core concepts in Chinese philosophy. The author shows that although Tiantai Buddhists, Huayan Buddhists, and Zhu Xi all deploy the ti-yong model as a crucial component of their metaphysics, in certain key places they deploy it for different ends, leading to subtle structural differences that amounted to large philosophical consequences for these different groups. The author first develops a detailed comparison of these models in the Huayan and Tiantai schools, and then shows how analogous structures to each of these are adapted to form parts of Zhu Xi’s metaphysics. In doing so, he presents an entirely new way to understand Zhu Xi’s philosophical inventiveness and its profound debt to Buddhist thought.

Chung-Ying Cheng: Creativity, Ontogenerative Hermeneutics, and the Yijing

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 124-135
Author(s):  
Eric Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Self Reflection

The hermeneutical dimensions of Chinese philosophy from the Changes of Zhou (the Zhouyi《周易》) through its Confucian, Daoist, and contemporary developments have been a creative inspirational source and guiding intellectual thread in the thought of Chung-ying Cheng. Cheng’s extensive engagement with the Classic of Changes (the Yijing 易經), its role in the formation of the Chinese philosophical tradition and its comparative interconnections with occidental philosophies, has disclosed its deep hermeneutical orientation. The Yijing encompasses processes of empirical observation, empathetic feeling, and self-reflection in the generation of “images,” or prototypical models that are “formobjects” or “process-events,” which performatively enact a comprehensive ontological and situationally appropriate understanding of nature, society, and one self. I examine three issues in outline arising from Cheng’s works in this situation: (1) to what extent Chinese philosophy is hermeneutical with respect to (2) modern European understandings of hermeneutics, and (3) the possibility of the distinctive “onto-generative hermeneutics” that has been articulated for over forty years in the context of Chinese and Western thought in Cheng’s prolific works concerning the Yijing.

scholarly journals Deleuzian (Re)interpretation of Zhu Xi

Asian Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-310
Author(s):  
Margus Ott
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Gilles Deleuze ◽  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Zhu Xi ◽  
Conceptual Space ◽  
Qi 氣 ◽  
Chinese Philosophers

I propose an interpretation of Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200) seen through the ontology of Gilles Deleuze. Zhu Xi is one of the most prominent Chinese philosophers, the figurehead of the so-called Neo-Confucian school, and Deleuze is arguably one of the most important Western philosophers of the twentieth century. Both philosophers presented an ontology of differentiation, whose main aspects or stages I try to analyse in the paper: Deleuze’s notions of the virtual, dark precursor, field of individuation, intensities and the actual; and parallel to these, Zhu Xi’s notions of the veins (li 理), supreme ultimate (taiji 太極), energy (qi 氣), and things (wu 物). It is argued that a Deleuzian (re)interpretation of Zhu Xi is possible and that it may open new tools of analysis for studying Chinese philosophy as well as create a conceptual space that can bring together concepts and practices from different traditions.

The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi's Philosophical Thought

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Zhu Xi ◽  
Chinese Philosopher ◽  
Philosophical Thought ◽  
Conceptual Structures ◽  
Systematic Philosophy ◽  
Confucian Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Project

Zhu Xi (1130–1200) is the most influential Neo-Confucian philosopher, and arguably the most important Chinese philosopher, of the past millennium, both in terms of his legacy and for the sophistication of his systematic philosophy. The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi’s Philosophical Thought combines in a single study two major areas of Chinese philosophy that are rarely tackled together: Chinese Buddhist philosophy and Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucian philosophy. Despite Zhu Xi’s importance as a philosopher, the role of Buddhist thought and philosophy in the construction of his systematic philosophy remains poorly understood. What aspects of Buddhism did he criticize and why? Was his engagement limited to criticism (informed or otherwise), or did Zhu also appropriate and repurpose Buddhist ideas to develop his own thought? If Zhu’s philosophical repertoire incorporated conceptual structures and problematics that are marked by a distinct Buddhist pedigree, what implications does this have for our understanding of his philosophical project? The five chapters that make up this volume present a rich and complex portrait of the Buddhist roots of Zhu Xi’s philosophical thought. The scholarship is meticulous, the analysis is rigorous, and the philosophical insights are fresh. Collectively, the chapters illuminate a greatly expanded range of the intellectual resources Zhu incorporated into his philosophical thought, demonstrating the vital role that models derived from Buddhism played in his philosophical repertoire. In doing so, they provide new perspectives on what Zhu Xi was trying to achieve as a philosopher by repurposing ideas from Buddhism.

Epistemologi Dalam Filsafat Barat

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
Diana Ana Sari
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Five Senses ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract: The presence of epistemology in western philosophy is very influential in life, especially in regulating the strategy of power or power to achieve goals. The style of western thought brought a big change in the knowledge of thinking, perspectives, and behavior that became the motors of civilization. Two main influential schools in the study of western philosophy such as rationalism and empiricism are conflicting. Both favor reason and five senses, but also inseparable from the weaknesses of each that will be revealed by researchers. Likewise the negative impact behind the superiority of western epistemology on the nature and development and existence of humans.

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