What is a good life? How does one make ethical choices? How do we create a just society? Two thousand years ago, amidst warfare and chaos, Chinese philosophers debated over the "Dao": the right Way to approach these critical questions. Whether one agrees with them or not--none of them fully agreed with one other--they offer a set of valuable perspectives that often challenge our assumptions and broaden our conceptions of a life worth pursuing. In this course, we will begin by unpacking the ways our contemporary culture tends to conceptualize the self, and how it has shaped our perception of agency and goals. We will then engage with early Chinese philosophers' debates on the conception of the self and human nature, and how it paves the foundation for their ethical and political teachings. In the next three units, we will explore Confucian and Daoist programs for self-cultivation and social transformation. We will also read Mohist and Legalist writings that argues for the state as the sole agent for creating an orderly society, in order to interrogate the consequences of such proposals. In the final weeks of this course, we will reflect on early Chinese philosophical writings as a whole, and how they enter into dialogue with the Western tradition of ethical philosophy. What can we learn from them? Do they change our conception of everyday life? What do we need to becritical of?
Units
3
Grade Basis
Regular Grades