Chinese Philosophy Essay

Final Examination PH203 Chinese Philosophy Emerson College, Spring 2017 Eric Michael Dale, PhD

Please READ THESE DIRECTIONS Final Take-home Examination. This exam is due in class on or by Wednesday 3 May. I will be there to pick it up. Someone else may hand it in for you. This exam cannot be emailed to me. Emailed submissions will be deleted. Someone must get me a physical copy. It may be left in my mailbox in Walker 505. I will count off a full letter grade for every day (not class period) the exam is late. Don=t be late. I have very little time to read everything you=ve written; there is no room for late papers. NO ROOM. I will be checking Google, the textbooks, Wikipedia, About.com, SparkNotes, etc. If your answers seem to be copied from some other source, you will fail the exam, and likely the course. Below are two groups of questions. Pick one question from each group and write about 1000-1500 words on each question. You may write more, but not less. When you quote or cite, do so clearly and consistently.

Use whatever citation style with which you are most comfortable. I do not need a separate bibliography. I do not need a plastic report cover, title page, etc.

Remember, two essays total. ****************************************************************************************** Group One: 1. Describe the ideal ruler according to Han Feizi. Compare this ruler to the political and moral ideal of one of the following: Kongzi, Laozi, Mengzi, Xunzi, or Mozi. 2. Does Zhuangzi doubt the existence of a way, or only our ability to know or describe it? If there is no way, then how could he say it is wrong for people to think that there is one? If there is a way that cannot be known or described, how is it possible to follow it? 3. Yao writes, “Xunzi placed his greatest emphasis on ritual/propriety (li) rather than humaneness (ren, Confucius) or righteousness (yi, Mengzi), and this naturally prompted him to give more attention to penal laws rather than moral models, which made him akin to the ideas of Legalism” (p.77). Compare the teachings of Xunzi and Han Feizi, particularly on the worth of moral models. Is Yao right? Does Xunzi stress laws like Han Feizi, or does he institutionalize Confucian moral models? Discuss. 4. Toward the end of Mozi 16 "Impartial Caring," Mozi gives some examples involving King Ling of Chu, Gou Qian the King of Yue, and Duke Wen of Jin. Are the Mohists defending the particular actions or these rulers, or are they using them merely to illustrate some fact about human beings? Precisely what claim are these examples evidence for? How does this claim fit in with the rest of the Mohist argument about impartial caring? Be careful, it’s easy to misunderstand Mozi here. Read carefully. 5. According to Mengzi (4A27), “The core of ren is serving one’s parents. The core of yi is obeying one’s elder brother. The core of zhi is knowing these two and not abandoning them. The core of li is to regulate and adorn these two”. Thus, zhi and li support ren and li. These four virtues are at the heart of Mengzi’s thought. Discuss. 6. Mengzi and Xunzi represent two distinct developments within the Confucian school. Mengzi writes (6A2), “Human nature’s being good is like water’s tending downward. There is no human who does not tend towards goodness. There is no water that does not tend downwards”. Compare this to Xunzi’s belief that “crooked wood must await steaming and

straightening on the shaping frame, and only then does it become strait” and thus “since people’s nature is bad, they must await teachers and proper models, and only then do they become correct in their behavior” (Xunzi 23). 7. Zhuangzi is famous for using his intellectual opponents as characters in his parables, particularly Kongzi. Is the Kongzi portrayed in Zhuangzi's stories a hero, a fool, or something in between? What does it mean in Zhuangzi 5 when Duke Ai says that he and Kongzi are "friends in virtue"? Why does Duke Ai end up praising Kongzi if Sad Nag is the hero of the story? Discuss. 8. Should we consider Han Feizi a moral philosopher, or is morality beside the point for him? If morality is important to him, what sort of morality is it? If it is not, explain how one could follow Han Feizi’s teachings and maintain a moral standpoint towards government. 9. Xunzi 19 contains a famous litany on ritual which ends, “With ritual, all things can change yet not bring chaos, but deviate from ritual and you face only loss”. Discuss the importance of ritual for Xunzi. What does li mean to him? How is similar to Kongzi? Different? Compare Kongzi and Xunzi on li with particular reference to the lines of Xunzi’s litany. 10. In the opening of Mozi 11 "Obeying One's Superior," the Mohists present an account of what Western philosophers call life in the "state of nature" and how it led to the formation of social hierarchy. If you wish you may compare Mozi here with Hobbes’s account of the state of nature (see Hobbes on Canvas). Why do the Mohists think that social hierarchy is necessary? Do you find their account of the "state of nature" plausible? Discuss. 11. What's the difference between little knowledge and big knowledge as described in Zhuangzi 1? Why is it sad that people compare themselves to Peng Zu – because there are things even older than him, or because people shouldn't compare themselves at all? Is the implication that people should seek big knowledge or be content with whatever amount of knowledge they have? Group Two: 12. Read Cua, "The Ethical Significance of Shame: Insights of Aristotle and Xunzi" on Canvas (Other readings). Assess the comparison he makes. What insights can we gain about Xunzi’s ideas about the Confucian ideal? Discuss. 13. Read Neville, "Daoist Relativism, Ethical Choice, and Normative Measure" on Canvas (Other readings). Neville argues that Daoism is typically seen to be ethically relativistic, but that this is a mistake. Assess his argument with particular reference to Zhuangzi’s thought. 14. Read Keightley, "The Religious Commitment: Shang Theology and the Genesis of Chinese Political Culture" on Canvas (Other readings). There is a clear line from early Shang religion all the way to the thought of Han Feizi and the unification of China under the Qin, and beyond. Keightley argues that any understanding of Chinese political thought which minimizes the religious impulse is flawed, despite the history of China under Communist rule. Assess his argument, bringing into your discussion any of our authors that you feel helpful. 15. Read Hall, "Hyperion as Daoist Masterpiece: Keats and the Daodejing" on Canvas (Other readings). The poetic aspects of the Daodijing are at least as important as its philosophical aspects, as it has been a chief source for Chinese art for millennia. Discuss Hall’s comparison and what it tells us about the Daodejing. Bringing Zhuangzi into this conversation would be particularly helpful. 16. Read Huang, "Confucius and Mencius on the Motivation to Be Moral" on Canvas (Other readings). What is similar to Kongzi in Mengzi? What is different? Assess Huang’s argument. Do they share a motivation and differ in method, or does Mengzi genuinely develop a new perspective – and if so, is it better than Kongzi’s? No? Discuss. 17. Read Liu and Shao, "Early Buddhism and Taoism in China (A.D. 65-420)" on Canvas (Other readings). Many times in the course of the semester we’ve discussed the Buddhist element in the formation of Chinese thought, particularly its interaction with Daoism. Discuss the interactions of Buddhism and Daoism and assess the comparisons Liu and Shao make, particularly between Buddhist and Daoist meditation practices. Kohn’s book will be helpful in navigating this topic from the Daoist perspective.

18. Li, "The Life of the Party: The Post-Democratic Future Begins in China" on Canvas (Other readings). Typically, Western conversations about ‘whither China’ revolve around whether or not China can bring itself to terms with Western liberalism. Li thinks this is a silly assumption, and believes that China offers a genuine third-way between old-style Communist central planning and the emptiness of modern liberal consumerism. Assess his argument in terms of one of the philosophers we have read this semester; Mengzi, Xunzi, Mozi, or Han Feizi all lend themselves to this sort of political debate. 19. Link, "What It Means to Be Chinese: Nationalism and Identity in Xi’s China" on Canvas (Other readings). Do Confucian values lead inevitably to nationalism? Discuss. Your answer should focus in particular on Mengzi, Xunzi, Mozi, or Han Feizi. 20. Read Jones and Culliney, "The Fractal Self and the Organization of Nature: The Daoist Sage and Chaos Theory" on Canvas (Other readings). The temptation to read Daoism in terms of modern science is very old in the West, and this comparison with chaos theory is one of the more interesting. Assess their argument in terms of what you know of Daoism. Discuss the comparisons they make; is this a helpful approach? Can we learn new things about Daoism from these sorts of comparisons? 21. Read Kim, "Beyond Liberal Civil Society: Confucian Familism and Relational Strangership" on Canvas (Other readings). Is modern liberal civil society at odds with traditional relational filial piety? Assess Kim’s argument with particular reference to the argument Mozi makes against Confucian partiality. 22. Read Li, "Confucian Ethics and the Environment" on Canvas (Other readings). We often assume that Daoism is the last word on East Asian ecological philosophy, but this is incorrect. Assess Li’s argument and include in your discussion the distinction in Confucian ethics between Mengzi and Xunzi. Which of these two thinkers might be more useful in crafting an environmental consciousness?