Skill and Mastery - Philosophical Stories From the Zhuangzi

This valuable collection of illuminating analysis of skill stories from the Zhuangzi, a 4th century BCE Daoist text opens up new lines of inquiry in comparative East-West philosophical debates on skill, cultivation and mastery, as well as cross-disciplinary debates in psychology, cognitive science and philosophy.

List of contents

Introduction (Karyn Lai and Wai Wai Chiu)

Part I Reflections on Skill

1 Skilful Performances and the Zhuangzi's Lessons on Orientation (Wai Wai Chiu)

2 Skill and Nourishing Life (Franklin Perkins)

3 Skill and Emotions in the Zhuangzi (David Machek)

4 Zhuangzi's Politics from the Perspective of Skill (Timothy Connolly)

5 Elusive Masters, Powerless Teachers and Dumb Sages: Exploring Pedagogic Skills in the Zhuangzi (Romain Graziani)

6 Skill and Embodied Knowledge: Zhuangzi and Liezi (Steven Coutinho)

7 The Unskilled Zhuangzi: Big and Useless and Not So Good at Catching Rats (Eric Schwitzgebel)

Part II The Stories

8 Cook Ding: A Meditation in Flow (James Sellman)

9 Wheelwright Bian: A Difficult Dao (Lisa Raphals)

10 The Cicada-Catcher: Learning for Life (Karyn Lai)

11 The Ferryman: Forget the Deeps and Row! (Chris Fraser)

12 The Unresponsive Fighting Cocks: Mastery and Human Interaction in the Zhuangzi (Wim De Reu)

13 The Swimmer: (Albert Galvany)

14 Woodworker Qing: Matching Heaven with Heaven (Kim-chong Chong)

15 The Naked Scribe: The Skill of Dissociation in Society (Hans-Georg Moeller)

16 The Forger: The Use of Things (Wai Wai Chiu)

About the author

Karyn Lai is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities and Languages. She specialises in comparative Chinese-western philosophical research, drawing insights from Chinese philosophies to engage in debates in areas including moral philosophy, environmental ethics, reasoning and argumentation, and epistemology.

Wai Wai Chiu is Assistant Professor at Lingnan University. His interests include pre-Qin Daoist and Mohist philosophy, especially epistemology and ethics. He has published articles on Zhuangzi's conception of knowledge, language and efficacious action; as well as Mozi's conception of benefit.

Product details

• Authors: Karyn Lai, Karyn Chiu Lai
• Assisted by: Wai Wai Chiu (Editor), Karyn Lai (Editor)
• Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2019
• EAN: 9781786609137
• ISBN: 978-1-78660-913-7
• No. of pages: 308
• Series: CEACOP East Asian Comparative Ethics, Politics and Philosophy of Law; Ceacop East Asian Comparative; CEACOP East Asian Comparative Ethics, Politics and Philosophy of Law
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Other world religions; PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Translating & Interpreting, PHILOSOPHY / Eastern, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / General, Ethics & moral philosophy, Translation & interpretation, Ethics and moral philosophy, Topics in philosophy, East Asian and Indian philosophy, Oriental & Indian philosophy, Translation and interpretation