The Philosophical Thought of Wang Chong (eBook)

Alexus McLeod is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Asian/Asian-American Studies at the University of Connecticut, USA.  He works primarily in Comparative Philosophy, particularly early Chinese and Mesoamerican Philosophy.

Introduction—Wang Chong and Philosophy in Early China

1.            Background, Writings, and Influence

a.            Life and Historical Background

b.            Texts—Lunheng

c.             Intellectual Background and Han Thought

d.            Convergence

e.            Later Influence

2.            Philosophical and Critical Method

a.            Creation and Transmission

b.            Method and Application

c.             Application of the Critical Method: Appraising Han Feizi

d.            Epistemology—How Do We Gain Knowledge?

e.            Selection from Wenkong (Questioning Confucius)

3.            Truth—Properties and Pluralism

a.            The Development of Shi as a Central Concept of Truth

b.            Wang’s Contribution—A Pluralist Theory?

c.             Dealing With Objections to Pluralism

d.            Substantive Pluralism

e.            The Correspondence Intuition

f.             Non-linguistic Truth in Wang’s Pluralism

4.            Naturalism—Tian and Qi

a.            Nature and Naturalism in Early Chinese Thought: Was Wang a “Naturalist”?

b.            Tian and Ziran in Early Chinese Thought and the Lunheng

5.            Free Will, Allotment, and Inborn Characteristics

a.            Human Agency and Free Will

b.            De (Potency)

c.             Xiu (Cultivation)

d.            Ziran (Spontaneity)

e.            Zhi (Will/Intention)

f.             Three Kinds of Allotment and Inborn Characteristics

 

Conclusion—The Significance of Wang Chong’s Philosophical Thought