History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

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”?

An interview on the pervasive use of the yin-yang relational pair in classical Chinese thought generally, and in Daoism in particular.

The concept of wuwei or “non-action”: does it mean that the perfect sage or political ruler simply never does anything?

How the Laozi (Daodejing) applies the lessons of complementarity to the contrast between male and female.

The significance of the Laozi’s use of opposing pairs, which are treated as complementary rather as exclusive dichotomies.

The Laozi (Daodejing) refers to the winds, the rain and the waters. We discuss how these ideas express the Laozi’s views on nature.

The first rule of dao is: don’t talk about dao. We do so nonetheless, focusing on its role in metaphysics and language.

What does “Daoism” refer to in a range of contexts, and how have excavated texts changed our understanding of the tensions between Daoism and Confucianism?

We conclude our series on Mohism with an interview that looks at the Mohists' dialectic and its relationship to their ethics.