HPC 44. Like a Fish Out of Water: Animal Stories in the Zhuangzi

An interview on humor and amoral ethics in a Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi - and its relation to Confucianism and Legalism. 

How is it possible to walk two roads simultaneously? And where does wandering lead us?

Why does the Zhuangzi tell us that death is nothing to fear, to the point that it recommends celebrating the death of loved ones?

How are we to make sense of the different images of Kongzi (Confucius) in the Zhuangzi?

In addition to sages who show us the way, the Zhuangzi features people taking on daily activities such as woodworking and butchering: we discuss how these figures serve as counterpoints to officials in the Zhuangzi’s time.

The many stories about animals in the Zhuangzi encourage us to adopt a perspective that goes beyond the human point of view.

An interview on debates over language and reasoning between the Mohists and the Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi.

The Zhuangzi’s critique of dogmatic approaches to argumentation and governing the state.

We introduce the second great classic of Warring States Daoism, the Zhuangzi, and ask whether it adopts a position of radical skepticism.

Are the methods of warfare proposed in the famous Art of War an example of “applied Daoism”?