Corso di laurea magistrale in Filosofia

This module first introduces several schools of philosophy that were developed in ancient China before 2nd Century BCE, all of which have been fundamental to, and have had enduring relevance for Chinese intellectual history. Students will be guided through core ideas from several of the most influential Chinese philosophers such as Confucius (Kongzi), Mencius (Mengzi), Xunzi, Mozi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Hanfeizi. On the basis of this historical study of ideas, the students will then engage a Chinese-Western comparative investigation of a few important issues such as human personhood, equality, human rights and human well-being, life and death, art and aesthetics.

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Online lessons on Webex

Continuous Assessment (Final essay 80%; Attendance & Participation 20%)

Historical Study

1 Lecture One: INTRODUCTION: The Genesis of “Chinese Philosophy” | Lecture Two: THE SIX PREMIER PRE-QIN SCHOOLS

2 Lecture Three: CONFUCIANISM (I) Defining Confucianism | Lecture Four: CONFUCIANISM (II) Confucian Junzi and Virtues

3 Lecture Five: MOHISM (I) Essential Teaching of the Mozi | Lecture Six: MOHISM (II) Debates: Mohists vs. Confucians

4 Lecture Seven: DAOISM (I) Selected Topics | Lecture Eight: DAOISM (II) & OTHER SCHOOLS: Selected Topics Contemporary & Comparative Studies

5 Lecture Nine & Ten: Relational Personhood: From Human Being to Human Becoming

6 Lecture Eleven: Life and death | Lecture Twelve: Guest Lecture (TBA)

7 Lecture Thirteen：Rights or Rites? | Lecture Fourteen: What is Confucian Meritocracy

8 Lecture Fifteen: Looking for “The People”: Rethinking Populism in a Cross-cultural Context | Lecture Sixteen: Art and Aesthetic Issues

In order to write the essay, student will choose some works from the following list:

English

Lau, D. C. 2002. The Analects. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.

Lau, D. C. 2004. Mencius. London: Penguin Press.

Ames, T. Roger, David Hall. 2001. Focusing the Familiar: A Translation and Philosophical Interpretation of the Zhongyong. Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press.

Gardner, Daniel K.. 2007. The Four Books. The Teachings of the Later Confucian Tradition. Hackett Publishing.

Rosemont, Jr., Henry, Roger T. Ames. 2009. The Chinese classic of family reverence: a philosophical translation of the Xiaojing. Honolunu: University of Hawai’i Press.

Watson, Burton. 1967. Basic writings of Mo Tzu, Hsün Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu. Trans. New York: Columbia University Press.

De Bary, Theodore, et al. 2000. Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600. Columbia University Press.

Chinese Text Project(online resource): ctext.org

 

Chinese

論語集釋. (程樹德, 1990. 北京: 中華書局)

孟子注疏. (趙岐，孫奭. 1999. 北京: 北京大學出版社)

史記. (司馬遷. http://www.guoxue.com/shibu/24shi/shiji/sjml.htm.)

墨子校注. (吳毓江, 1993. 北京: 中華書局)

四書章句集注. (朱熹,1983. 北京: 中華書局)

老子注譯及評介. (陳鼓應, 2009. 北京: 中華書局)

莊子集釋. (郭慶藩. 王孝魚. 1961. 北京: 中華書局)

公孫龍子校釋. (吳毓江, 2001. 上海: 上海古籍出版社)

周易正義. (孔穎達, 王弼. 2000. 北京: 北京大學出版社)

尚書正義. (孔安國, 孔穎達, 1999. 北京: 北京大學出版社)

韓非子集解. (王先慎, 1998. 北京: 中華書局)

 

Secondary Literature

General:

Antonio S. Cua. 2013. Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Bo Mou. 2009. Chinese Philosophy A-Z. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Feng Youlan (or Yulan Fung), translated by Derk Bodde. 1952. A History of Chinese Philosophy I. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

William Theodore De Bary. 2011. Finding wisdom in East Asian classics. New York: Columbia University Press.

Feng, Youlan (or Fung, Yulan). 1966. A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. New York: The Press Press.

Benjamin I. Schwartz. 1985. The World of Thought in Ancient China. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Angus Graham. 1989. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. La Salle, Illinois: Open Court.

Bo Mou, ed. 2009. Routledge History of Chinese Philosophy. London and New York: Routledge.

Karyn L. Lai. 2017. An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy (2nd edition).Cambridge: Cambridge.

 

Specific:

Roger T. Ames, 2021 (forthcoming). Human Becomings: Theorizing “Persons” for Confucian Role Ethics. SUNY Press.

Paul R. Goldin. 2011. Confucianism. Durham: Acumen.

Henry Rosemont Jr, 2013. A Reader‘s Companion to the Confucian Analects. Palgrave Macmillan.

Roger T. Ames, David Hall.1987. Thinking Through Confucius. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Roger T. Ames. 2010. Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.

Henry Rosemont Jr. 2015. Against Individualism: A Confucian Rethinking of the Foundations of Morality, Politics, Family, and Religion. Lanham: Lexington Books.

Henry Rosemont Jr. Roger T. Ames. Confucian Role Ethics: A Moral Vision for the 21st Century?. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press. Kwong-loi Shun. 1997.

Mencius and Early Chinese Thought. Stanford University Press. 

Antonio S. Cua, 2005. Human Nature, Ritual and History: Studies in Xunzi and Chinese Philosophy. Catholic University of America Press.

Hu Shih auth., Chih-Ping Chou eds.2013. English Writings of Hu Shih Chinese Philosophy and Intellectual History Volume 2. Springer.

Hans-Georg Moeller. 2004. Daoism Explained. Chicago: Open Court Publishing.

Hans-Georg Moeller. 2006. The Philosophy of Daodejing. New York: Columbia University Press.

Hans-Georg Moeller, Paul J. D’Ambrosio. 2017. Genuine Pretending: On the Philosophy of The Zhuangzi. New York: Columbia University Press.

Robin R. Wang, 2012, Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press.