Andrew Lambert Western New England University a ndrewlambertwneedu Many ways of doing Chinese philosophy Read the text and ask for students untutored thoughts and responses What does Analects 138 suggest to you ID: 782447
Download The PPT/PDF document "Teaching Chinese philosophy" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Teaching Chinese philosophy
Andrew Lambert Western New England University andrew.lambert@wne.edu
Slide2Many ways of doing Chinese philosophy…Read the text and ask for students (untutored) thoughts and responses:
What does Analects 13.8 suggest to you?Read and compare multiple translationsThe difficulties of Daodejing
ch
. 1
Provide
cultural frameworks or frameworks of understanding
to support
students’
reading
A Chinese worldview; know-that vs. know-how
Slide3Role-play and imaginative reflection papers that transpose themes or characters to modern dayFigures with Zhuangzi-like ‘knack’ or skill: eg, A barista like Butcher Ding A
cting in a wu-wei fashion: eg, in a leadership role in a college societyFamily dilemmas and ‘Confucian’ responses
Slide4Address a familiar problem, use Chinese texts to develop responses Partiality-Impartiality in moral theory; the Confucian appeal to interpersonal relationships.Cultural fusion: mastering and importing ideas to form a novel insight or perspective:Disability and Daoism
Music: Guzheng (zither) meets Guns’n’Roses:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO6sFdoklVU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LALgWz0xc0
Slide5Challenges to teaching Chinese philLack of interest in Asian philosophy as an electiveVaries by region and student demographic?What
students (don’t) know: Starting from zero?Little prior exposure to ChinaNo prior exposure to philosophy?An advantage? Not looking for deductive arguments?
Slide6A method that responds to these challenges…
Slide7An alternative approach:Use methods that philosophy students are familiar with:Careful
reading and analysis, identifying/constructing and assessing arguments But apply them to unusual themes, themes important to Chinese philosophy
Slide8The Basic IdeaChinese thought deals with themes or topics less discussed in
‘mainstream’ philosophy, and canonical texts. Thus, need to introduce these neglected themes to students By encouraging explicit reflection on these themes, students more deeply engage
with
the
Chinese texts.
Slide9So, what are these themes?
Slide10Examples: 1. Tradition The Analects’ emphasis on the role of history, sage kings, moral exemplars, the appeal of the Zhou dynasty…
Slide11Make students think about ‘tradition’: What is it? How important is it? What
role does it play in determining a person’s identity? How and when should tradition be reformed? Can we ever really escape tradition? Is
the ideal of
individual
freedom
from tradition
just one particular form of tradition
?
What
role does tradition play in contemporary liberal consumer democracy
?
Slide12The Reading:Blend of:Philosophical analysis of ‘tradition’ (non-China) Contemporary Chinese philosophers on traditionClassic text passages on tradition
Slide13Modern work on ‘tradition’ as a philosophical (or intellectual) problem:Edward Shils (2006). Tradition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, ch
. 1.Contemporary philosophers working on Chinese thought who address tradition:Sor Hoon Tan, in Confucius Now
(D. Jones,
ed
)
Other suggestions?
Gadamer
?
Slide14Analects passages on tradition: (Bold passages=priority) Ancestors 1.9 – Sacrifices to Ancestors: Observing the Father’s way 1.11, 4.20, 17.21. Sage Kings; Historical figures and exemplars.
1.12 Harmony the way of the former kings7.15; 16.12, 18.8: Bo Yi and Shu Qi as revered figures of the past
9.5. Confucius as representative of a culture
斯文
Earlier Dynasties:
8.18 -21 Yao, Shun and Yu as exemplary sage rulers.
3.14 Lover of the Zhou
15.11 Creating a viable state using the traditions of earlier states
Learning.
2.15, 7.28: Learning about the past and selecting from it
Role of Ancient texts in Confucius’ teaching.
1.15 Book of Songs, 3.8. 2.21. Book of Documents.
17.9-10 Learning the Songs to express experiences
Problems of tradition?
Mencius 3B2. Gender distinctions – women’s way as marriage and obedience.
Pragmatic attitude towards tradition:
3.21 changing customs?
5.10: Allowing daughter to marry ex-convict – against popular tradition.
9.3 Flexibility on hemp camp
Slide15Some other themes…
Slide162. RitualCommon student starting point: ritual as restrictive and boringAim: make students think
of ritual in much richer ways
Slide17Rethinking ritualFor example:Ritual can include habit your
morning ritualWays of training people to interact with otherslearning to say hello in the
morning
Shaping emotions
and inclinations
saying
hello in the morning to people we don’t care
for
Creating
community by creating
a shared event in which every participant
can contribute
something
Going
to a football match, a
college open day
Slide18Readings for Ritual Texts:‘Canonical’ scholarly texts:Catherine Bell, Ritual
Chinese material (secondary): Michael Ing The Dsyfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism
Herbert
Fingarette
The Secular as Sacred,
ch
. 1
Contemporary snapshots of everyday ritual
New York Times: Ritual makes food taste better
Slide19Analects on 禮 li: 1.13 Ritual and deference; 2.3 shame; 3.4 Ritual and grief, 3.12 Attitudes in ritual, 3.18 Pedantry in ritual
8.2 Ritual and virtues10.4 Bodily dimension of ritual12.1, Ritual as self-restraint 17.11 Ritual as more than ritual objects
Slide20Questions: What is ritual?What role does or should ritual play in contemporary life?What place or role does Fingarette
ascribe to ‘ritual’ in the Confucian vision? What are the attractions and limitations of his account? What role does Li (‘ritual’) play in the AnalectsIs ‘ritual’ the best translation for ‘li
禮
’?
Slide213. The family Contemporary works: Jane English ‘What do grown children owe to their parents?’Christina Hoff
Sommers ‘Filial Morality’Brenda Almond, The Fragmenting Family OUPChina-focused scholarship:
Richard Madsen, ‘Ethics and the Family: China/West’ (20 pages)
Lin
Yutang
??
Slide22Classical texts on familyAnalects:Xiao (family reverence): 1.6, 2.6 Worrying parents, 2.21 Family relations as government Remonstrance (jian): 2.5 Acting contrary, 4.18-21
Problems with the family: 13.18 SheepThe Xiaojing (The Classic of Family Reverence):Chapters 1 Parent-child relation, 2 Emperor and family, 8 Inclusiveness, 15 Remonstrance
Xunzi
, chapter 20
Slide234. Guanxi - Networks of interpersonal relationships
Examining a modern social phenomenon to imagine a contemporary Confucian societyAlso: political philosophy debates over a modern Confucian polityAlso: the importance of ‘face’ (mianzi
)
Questions:
How are the networks of personal connections prevalent in East Asian societies related to Confucian thought?
In what ways are they ethical or unethical?
Reading:
Mayfair Yang
Gifts, Favors and Banquets,
Ch. 3
Andrew
Kipnis
, ‘On face’
Slide245. Aesthetic Experience Analects connects aesthetic experience with personal conductBut traditional aesthetics often limits ‘aesthetic experience’ to the disinterested contemplation of certain objects (art)How can we better understand the ‘aesthetic’ in the Confucian tradition?
Solution: a debate in Anglo-American thought that seeks to describe an enlarged notion of the aesthetic Reading: Sherri Irvin: ‘The pervasiveness of the aesthetic in everyday experience’ British Journal of Aesthetics
Slide25Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean): Sections 1, 2, 3, 15 25 (chengwu
誠物 – bringing events to fruition) Analects on harmony joy and delight: 1.1, 1.12, 6.20, 16.5, 11.26.
Mencius on delight
: 1A2, 1B1, 1B2, 1B4, 3A2, 7B36.
Slide26Limitations of this method?Students find analytical texts too difficult for an introductory course? Danger of failing to let the texts speak for themselves?
Too much scaffolding?Less direct focus on ren 仁 yi 義
etc.
Slide27But: only an introductory method or 100-level courseLater, wider reading in the Chinese corpus will result in students developing a fuller picture of relevant nuances and concepts, incl. ren, yi, etc.
Slide28Summary: Prospects Mirrors exciting cross-fertilisations in research: eg, Everyday aesthetics
, the ethical status of cultivating social connections Philosophers working in areas relevant to articulating Chinese thought providing new ideas and concepts that
make sense of the early
texts
An appealing gateway to Chinese texts:
Identifying issues or concepts in the texts relevant to students’ lives, with which they can identify (ritual, tradition, family, etc).