THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS A REANALYSIS OF CHUANG TZUS BUTTERFLY DREAM

Chuang Chou's Butterfly Dream is perhaps the most well-known and widely studied passage in the Chuang Tzu . It is also one of the most slippery with regard to its meaning. In this paper, I have proposed that the meaning of this passage can be clarified when the passage is recognized as an embodiment of Chuang Tzu's main thane and the double-bind method of instruction which is found throughout the second chapter of the Chuang Tzu. Understood as such, the passage stands as the quintessential example of this theme and teaching style, pressing the reader to transcend the limits of dualistic thinking and awaken in the fullest sense of the word. When viewed from this vantage point, the perplexing nature of the passage dissolves and its beauty and profundity shine through as never before.     

论庄子思想之美

《庄子》文本中直接论述美的内容虽然不是很多,但是庄子哲学和《庄子》一书始终都贯穿着一种心学与泛审美主义的美学精神。或许正因为此种思想特色,李泽厚干脆说庄子哲学即美学(李泽厚,第178页)。对庄子思想作美学探讨,大体可以从庄子美学与庄学之     

REVIEW

Book reviewed in this article:
Experimental Essays on Cnuang-tzu. Edited by Victor H. Mair.
Chuang Tzu: World Philosopher at Play by Kuang-ming Wu     

略论佛教对道教心性论的思想影响

本文认为,老庄道家和魏晋玄学影响了佛教尤其是禅宗的心性论,随后佛教特别是禅宗的思想又反过来影响了道教的心性论。文章着重从轮回果报与形亡性存、万法皆空与忘身无心、心生万法与心为道体、明心见性与修心炼性诸方面分析佛教对道教心性论的影响,强调佛教对道教在转变人的形体、生命、人性、心性修养、人生理想的看法上起了巨大的推动作用,并指出就心性思想影响的深度和广度来说,佛教尤其是禅宗都超过了儒家对道教的影响。     

Tao Psychotherapy: Introducing a New Approach to Humanistic Practice 1

This article introduces a relatively new and unknown approach to humanistic psychotherapy, called Tao Psychotherapy that was founded by a Korean psychiatrist, Dr. Rhee Dongshick, in 1974. Today, Tao psychotherapy is a synthesis of Eastern and Western psychotherapies seeking to integrate psychoanalytic, existential, humanistic, and transpersonal, and Eastern perspectives in a single coherent approach. The article opens with a brief overview of the Tao and Taoism. A sample of writings attributed to Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu is presented as a prelude to a discussion of the meaning of the Tao itself. Following this, the author, a daseinsanalytic psychotherapist who has been studying Tao psychotherapy in South Korea for over two years, presents an overview of this approach, introducing Rhee Dongshick and the Korean Academy of Psychotherapists as well as the distinctive character of this new approach to humanistic practice. The article closes with a reflection on the ancient allegory of the ox herder, as seen in the famous ten ox herder pictures, discussing it from Taoist and Heideggerian perspectives, especially as it is relevant to the process of psychotherapy. Throughout the article the author reflects on the cultural sources of Tao psychotherapy and on the implications of the approach for humanistically attuned, depth psychological thought and practice.     

On the Special Logic Thesis in Chinese Philosophy

I address the problem of whether philosophy can be international by its claim to represent rationality, hence universality. I argue in favor of this claim by focusing on the special logic thesis in Chinese philosophy. This thesis holds that a different type of logic must be used when studying the Chinese texts. I argue at length against the special logic thesis by examining the problem of human nature in the Confucian philosophers Mencius, Hsün Tzu and Kao Tzu. I show how their arguments can be reconstructed as inductive analogical arguments and as deductive argument. I then broaden the notion of the logic of argumentation into a discussion of metaphysical anti-essentialism and underdetermination in order to resolve the problem of human nature and also to show how the same types of logical analysis (more generally construed) can be applied to the arguments from these Confucian philosophers. Under my treatment, Kao Tzu, somewhat surprisingly, turns out to provide the most insight.     

Is second order practice possible?

This paper looks at the difficulties in applying second order ideas to therapeutic practice. It considers, first, what second order ideas are and how they relate to one another, second, what second order practice looks like, and third, the problems these ideas create when trying to apply them. It is argued that their pure application is impossible given our strong moral beliefs, but that there are good ethical and aesthetic reasons for taking such ideas as far as we can.
'There are always people who possess a theory they cannot act on.'(Leih Tzu from The Book of Leih Tzu)     

Hsun Tzu on Family and Familial Relations

The Confucian tradition is often held to have accorded the family a prominent place in their ethics. This paper distinguishes three different senses in which the family is held to be primary in Confucian morality. It then explores Hsun Tzu's views on the family and familial relations. I argue that, while other early Confucians such as Confucius and Mencius would have held the family to be primary in all three senses, Hsun Tzu held the family to be primary in only one of the three senses. In particular, there is textual evidence that Hsun Tzu holds that one's primary obligation is to the ruler of the state, rather than to the immediate family.     

庄子"天地大美"思想的现代阐释

在知识学、美学、伦理学分科的学术背景下解读庄子思想,庄子以“道”为指归,批判现实人生中的知识、伦理因素,追求与“道”相融通的境界,向自身、向固有存在结构复归,具有美学内涵。“天地大美”作为其唯一肯定的通达于“道”的中介,在于使世界以其本来面目自然呈现,具有“美”的本体意义,成为体现庄子思想美学内涵的核心范畴。     

Book reviews

Blue Dragon White Tiger. Michael Saso, 1990 Hawaii, University of Hawaii Press 215 pp., No price given

Chuang‐Tzu for Spiritual Transformation. Robert E. Allinson, 1989 Albany, State University of New York Press 203 pp., $39.50 hb, $14.95 pb

Japanese Martial Arts and American Sports. Cross‐Cultural Perspectives on Means to Personal Growth M. Kiyota & H. Kinoshita (Eds), 1990 Tokyo, Nihon University 247 pp., No price given

The Question of Rationality and the Basic Grammar of Intercultural Texts. Hwa Yol Jung, 1989. IUJ Monograph 3, Nigata, International University of Japan ¥2000

The Arabic Linguistic Tradition. G. Bohas, J.‐P. Guillaume & D. E. Kouloughli, 1990 London and New York, Routledge 163+x pp., £30.00

The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind‐Body Theory. Yuasa Yasuo, edited by T. P. Kasulis and translated by Nagatomo Shigenori Albany, State University of New York Press $14.95 hb

Sainthood, Its Manifestations in World Religions. Richard Kieckerhefer & George D. Bond (Eds), 1990 University of California Press XII + 263 pp., $12.95 pb

East of Existentialism: The Tao of the West. Ray Billington, 1990 London, Unwin Hyman xviii+316 pp., No price given     

从"载营魄抱一"看逍遥境界与成仙信仰

中国古代道家(教)常常或隐或显地体现出对内体的肯定甚至眷恋。本文从中国古代的魂魄二元灵魂观入手考察其身体观及对灵肉关系的看法,并选取《庄子》逍遥境界与道教的成仙信仰这两种迥异于西方的超越样式进行具体的分析,以期展露其“肉体关怀”的真正根源所在。     

罗杰斯与老子的人性观比较研究

西方人本主义理论的代表人物罗杰斯与道家的创始人老子的理论对人性的观点有很多相似之处,这种相似的人性观主要表现在他们对人的基本动机的理解之上,这两个基本动机分别为实现倾向性和复归倾向性。该文通过比较这两种基本动机,探讨罗杰斯与老子的人性观的相似点与不同点。     

The Five Flavors and Taoism: Lao Tzu's Verse Twelve

In verse twelve of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu makes a curious claim about the five flavors; namely that they cause people not to taste or that they jade the palate. The five flavors are: sweet, sour, salt, bitter (these four are the elements of taste in the West, recognized by the science of taste) and spicy or hot as in ‘heat’ (or picante, not caliente). To the Western mind, the claim, ‘The five flavors cause them [persons] to not taste,’ is counterintuitive; on the contrary, the presence of the five flavors in a dish or in a meal would expand or enhance the senses and the palate, i.e., taste would be augmented by the five flavors. So what is the plausible meaning of the Taoistic claim? To answer this question, I look very briefly at the history of the doctrine of the five flavors and the history of Chinese cuisine. Lao Tzu probably has Confucian feasts in mind in making such a claim, but other interpretations are discussed.     

Reverie: between thought and prayer

Abstract:  Taking inspiration from a quotation by Lao Tzu, this paper considers 'reverie' as a dynamic process of containment as well as a state of mind. Reverie as a quality of thought akin to prayer is explored in the relationship between self and other. In infant observation, the paper contemplates the development of a baby's capacity to reach beyond the personal world to an archetypal experience of being held, where the creation of an internal space in mind could indicate the beginnings of spiritual awareness. 'Maternal/analytic reverie' views the passage of unconscious communication between patient and analyst as the result of a 'window' opening in the meniscus of the analyst's self. 'Paternal/supervisory reverie' reflects on the impact on a patient of an extra containing mind of a supervisor. 'Archetypal reverie' considers the transforming impact of numinous dreams on the psyche, and reflects on the power of prayer. Drawing on clinical examples from these four areas, the aim is to demonstrate the usefulness of the 'void within' and the perceptive function of emptiness in the 'doors and windows' of our mind.     

今传王弼本《老子》分篇分章源流考

《老子》书大致从战国晚期就开始以道经为上篇、德经为下篇,到王弼为《老子》作注时,《老子》的篇次和章句划分应该初步稳定。唐陆德明采用王弼注为《老子》作音义,并以道、德作为上、下篇题,以后又经历了长时期的流传变化,至明代后期或清代,今传王弼本的篇章结构逐渐固定下来。     

LANGUAGE AND THE TAO: SOME REFLECTIONS ON INEFFABILITY

Confucius withdrew and told his disciples, "I know a bird can fly; I know a fish can swim; I know animals can run. Creatures that run can be caught in nets; those that swim can be caught in wicker traps; those that fly can be hit by arrows. But the dragon is beyond my knowledge; it ascends into heaven on the clouds and the wind. Today 1 have seen Lao Tzu, and he is like the dragon!"     

DAOIST PRESENTATION AND PERSUASION Wandering among Zhuangzi's Kinds of Language

A concern central to virtually all full‐blooded instances of religious ethics is how persuasively to represent a world central to our fulfillment that far exceeds our normal understanding. The treatment of three kinds of language in an early Daoist text, the Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu), contains an especially profound discussion and expression of such persuasive presentations in religious ethics. This study examines it and concludes by viewing Dante's Commedia through the perspectives Zhuangzi's ideas and practices present.     

Chuang Tzu,Butterfly and Wittgenstein: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Psychological Factors and Philosophical Thinking in the Life of Ludwig Wittgenstein

This is a preliminary attempt at exploring the relationship between psychology and philosophical thinking. It first looks at Chuang Tzu’s analogy of the butterfly representing the spirit of spontaneity that is central in Taoist philosophy. Second, it explores the psychology of self-consciousness that inhibits spontaneity, and lastly, it looks at the impact of psychopathology in the life of Ludwig Wittgenstein and his philosophical thinking by focusing on his struggle with mental illness and two philosophical transitions: the movement toward mysticism as an attempt to quiet his obsession and his later writings on ordinary language philosophy as a way out of the pain of self-consciousness. This article puts forth the argument that Wittgenstein’s development of ordinary language philosophy is closely connected with his personal struggle with mental illness. It is a philosophical attempt at coping with his existential psychological struggle, the quest for the butterfly.     

The spirit and development of Neo‐Gonfugianism

The ideal of human life as a life of sagehood is the core of Confucian thought. In neo‐Confucianism the stress is on the self‐perfectibility of man, and the central concern of neo‐Confucianist thinkers has accordingly been with the question of how man can cultivate his own potentiality to be a sage. The different answers they give are in the form of teachings about the ‘way’, these teachings incorporating different philosophical views of mind, human nature, and the universe. The author outlines the views of successive neo‐Confucianists and their versions of the ‘way’, seeing their teachings as developments towards the doctrine presented by Wang Yang‐ming (b. 1472), whose thought can be seen in particular as a synthesis of the views of Chu Tzu and Lu Shiang‐shan.