Tag Archives: This Is the Way

Episode 13 of “This Is the Way”: Family Before State

Confucianism is well known for prioritizing familial responsibilities and love over other competing demands such as public interest or duties to the state. In this episode we explore two of the best known passages from early Confucianism that some modern scholars believe makes Confucianism morally problematic. The first passage we discuss is the “Upright Gong” passage, Analects 13.18, which has Confucius advocating mutual “covering up” of crimes by fathers and sons. The second passage is Mengzi 7A35, in which Mengzi is asked what the sage king Shun would have done if his father had committed murder. Mengzi’s answer, briefly stated, is that Shun would have given up his throne and would have fled with his father to care for him for the rest of his life.

Through these passages we explore questions about justice, consequentialist ethics, and the nature of moral dilemmas (and Confucian ways of handling them). Continue reading →

Episode 12 of “This Is the Way”: Zhuangzi on Play

Play seems to constitute an important part of a flourishing human life. Most of us experience play through things like simple childhood games of hide-and-go-seek or more intellectual activities like chess or go. What these experiences of play have in common is that they are circumscribed in various ways to the times, places, and circumstances established by the boundaries and rules of those games. But what if the attitudes that we bring to play were applied to our lives more broadly?  In this episode we explore the concept of play as a way of life. We explore it with Professor Pauline Lee (Saint Louis University), an expert in Chinese thought, focusing on the famous “gourd passage” from Chapter One of the Zhuangzi. Continue reading →

This Is the Way: nominate a passage for Richard and Justin to discuss

Richard and Justin are planning to record an episode of This Is the Way that focuses on passages from Chinese philosophy requested by the audience. So, if there is a passage (or a very small set of passages that centers on a single theme) from any historical Chinese text that you would like to be featured on a near-future episode, please email them at chinesephilosophypodcast@gmail.com. Or you can also feel free to post a reply or send a message to either Justin or Richard through the social media platform that you use (or leave a comment on this blog post). They will consider all nominations sent to them by July 8th.

Episode 3 of “This Is the Way”: Oneness

In the third episode of This Is the Way we explore the topic of oneness with our guest Philip J. Ivanhoe, a distinguished scholar and translator of East Asian philosophy. In part I, Justin gives a quick overview of Neo-Confucian philosophy and its connection to oneness. In part II, we talk with Ivanhoe about his book, Oneness: East Asian Conceptions of Virtue, Happiness, and How We Are All Connected. Some issues that we discuss include the following: the truth value of oneness (neither “strictly true” nor a groundless and pointless hallucination), the benefits of oneness (security, spontaneity, and metaphysical comfort), and the sense in which we are the minds of Heaven, Earth and the myriad things (Wang Yangming was right after all!).

Below you will find a more detailed accounting of topics, some specific passages and books or articles mentioned in the episode, and an opportunity to “weigh in” and share your views about the topic (or about the hosts’ wild claims about oneness or Chinese philosophy).

Your feedback is very welcome! Please leave a comment below, mail the hosts at ChinesePhilosophyPodcast@gmail.com, or follow them on X @ChinesePhilPod.

Continue reading →