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Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy

Bryan W. Van Norden · 2011 · Medium (150–350 pages)

4.3 from 3 reviews

Virtue & characterChineseConfucianismDaoism
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What it is

An introduction to the philosophers of China's classical period, written for readers without background in Chinese. Van Norden sets the scene in the Zhou dynasty and the Warring States, then works through the major figures and texts: Confucius and the Analects, Mozi and the Mohists, Yang Zhu, Mengzi (Mencius), the Daodejing, the Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and Han Feizi. He treats them as philosophers making arguments that can be assessed, and pays particular attention to their disagreements about human nature, the cultivation of virtue, the role of ritual, and how government should work. The central debate between Mengzi, who held that human nature is good, and Xunzi, who held that it is bad, is set out with the conceptual framework needed to see what each meant. The book closes each chapter with suggestions for further reading, and explains key Chinese terms as they arise.

Why read it

It gives a newcomer a clear, argument-centred tour of the founding period of Chinese philosophy, fair to each school.

Where to start

Read the chapter on Confucius, then go straight to the chapters on Mengzi and Xunzi to see the human nature debate.

Reviews

  1. Lin Pei-shan

    Reliable and readable. Van Norden is a partisan of taking Chinese philosophy seriously in philosophy departments, and it shows in the care he gives each argument. My students read classical Chinese and still found his explanations of terms like ren and li useful.

  2. Ji-woo Ryu

    The later Neo-Confucian debates are what my students meet, and I used this to remind myself of the classical roots. The chapters on Mengzi's sprouts are excellent. I would have liked a little more on how these texts were read in Korea, but that is another book.

  3. Elif Yıldız

    Mencius and Xunzi are why I came to this site, and this book finally explained what 'human nature is bad' does and does not mean for Xunzi: not that we are evil, but that goodness comes from deliberate effort and ritual. As a psychology student I found the debate oddly close to arguments about emotion regulation. Clear and generous.