Steven Burik
Biographic Data
| ID | 456428 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Steven Burik |
| GIVEN NAMES | Steven |
| FAMILY NAME | Burik |
| SIGNATURE | BURIK S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Singapore Management University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7323-0427 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Heidegger’s Phusis (φύσις) and Daoist Ziran (自然)
This article explores a key notion of classical Daoism, ziran 自然, through Martin Heidegger's interpretation of the Greek word phusis. I discuss whether a comparison between these terms allows us to understand ziran differently, and whether a “ziranist” reading sheds more light on how Heidegger understands phusis. I argue that Heidegger challenged the dominance of metaphysics as dualist representational thinking, and that his phenomenological chal…
Heidegger’s Gelassenheit , Daoist Wuwei 無為, and Non-Willing
This article explores a key notion of Classical Daoism, namely wuwei 無為, through the lenses of Martin Heidegger’s Gelassenheit. My aim is to ask the question of whether a Heideggerian reading allows us to understand wuwei as a notion that circumvents the subject-object distinction characteristic of the Western metaphysical tradition. That distinction is, according to Heidegger, representative of the obsession in Western thought to “represent” (Vo…
Deconstruction of a Dialogue
It is common knowledge that Martin Heidegger’s attempts at engaging non-Western philosophy are very much a construct of his own making. This article in no way seeks to disagree with those observations, but argues two things: first, that Heidegger’s “dialogue” with his two main other sources of inspiration, the ancient Greek thinkers and the German poets, is not different in kind or in principle from his engagement with East Asia. One can of cours…
Derrida and Asian Thought
More than fifteen years after Jacques Derrida passed away, he remains a controversial figure in philosophy. Much maligned, both when he was alive and after his death, Derrida’s relation to philosop
Tracing Dao
This paper draws a comparison between Derrida’s “trace” and the idea of dao in classical Daoism (Laozi and Zhuangzi). It is argued that if dao is read in a non-metaphysical way, then the Derridean idea of “trace” will show large overlaps with dao. I then show how, despite some obvious differences, a “trace” reading of dao enables a clearer understanding of dao that would see it not as a metaphysical principle, ineffable but transcendent nonethele…
Chinese and Buddhist philosophy in early twentieth-century German thought
Eric Nelson has written a very comprehensive study of the reception of Chinese and Eastern Buddhist philosophy in Western thought, with a special focus on the German thinkers of the early twentieth
Comparative Resources
I argue that continental philosophical resources are more appropriate for comparative philosophy regarding classical Daoism since they in various ways challenge the dominant metaphysical orientation of Western thought and give us a better and more appropriate vocabulary to make sense of important Daoist ideas within the confines of Western languages. Since classical Daoism is largely non-metaphysical or at least not metaphysical in the same way a…
Sinologism
Reviewed by: Sinologism: An Alternative to Orientalism and Postcolonialism by Ming Dong Gu Steven Burik (bio) Sinologism: An Alternative to Orientalism and Postcolonialism. By Ming Dong Gu. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2013. Pp. xxii + 269. isbn 978-0-41-562654-5. In his new book, Sinologism: An Alternative to Orientalism and Postcolonialism, Ming Dong Gu critically discusses the process of knowledge production about China and Chinese civili…
The End of Comparative Philosophy and the Task of Comparative Thinking
Thinking on the Edge
Many philosophical interpretations of the Daoist classics have proceeded, or continue to proceed, to read into these works the quest for a transcendental, foundational principle, a permanent moment of rest beyond the turmoil of everchanging things. The metaphysics that may be understood to be at work in such interpretations is what Heidegger and Derrida have called philosophy as ontotheology. It is argued here that Heidegger, Derrida, and the cla…
Self and Other
Traditionally, metaphysical notions of self and other presuppose a dualism that underlies much of Western philosophy. This dualism is opposed by accounts of self and other in recent continental philosophy and classical Chinese philosophy, which I compare. I argue that the self is seen in continental and Chinese thought as embedded in (ethical) relations and language, and not as transcendent or prior in the metaphysical sense to them. I argue for …
The end of comparative philosophy and the task of comparative thinking
No prominent works on this page.
The end of comparative philosophy and the task of comparative thinking
The End of Comparative Philosophy and the Task of Comparative Thinking
Thinking on the Edge
Many philosophical interpretations of the Daoist classics have proceeded, or continue to proceed, to read into these works the quest for a transcendental, foundational principle, a permanent moment of rest beyond the turmoil of everchanging things. The metaphysics that may be understood to be at work in such interpretations is what Heidegger and Derrida have called philosophy as ontotheology. It is argued here that Heidegger, Derrida, and the cla…
Self and Other
Traditionally, metaphysical notions of self and other presuppose a dualism that underlies much of Western philosophy. This dualism is opposed by accounts of self and other in recent continental philosophy and classical Chinese philosophy, which I compare. I argue that the self is seen in continental and Chinese thought as embedded in (ethical) relations and language, and not as transcendent or prior in the metaphysical sense to them. I argue for …
Sinologism
Reviewed by: Sinologism: An Alternative to Orientalism and Postcolonialism by Ming Dong Gu Steven Burik (bio) Sinologism: An Alternative to Orientalism and Postcolonialism. By Ming Dong Gu. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2013. Pp. xxii + 269. isbn 978-0-41-562654-5. In his new book, Sinologism: An Alternative to Orientalism and Postcolonialism, Ming Dong Gu critically discusses the process of knowledge production about China and Chinese civili…
Comparative Resources
I argue that continental philosophical resources are more appropriate for comparative philosophy regarding classical Daoism since they in various ways challenge the dominant metaphysical orientation of Western thought and give us a better and more appropriate vocabulary to make sense of important Daoist ideas within the confines of Western languages. Since classical Daoism is largely non-metaphysical or at least not metaphysical in the same way a…
Chinese and Buddhist philosophy in early twentieth-century German thought
Eric Nelson has written a very comprehensive study of the reception of Chinese and Eastern Buddhist philosophy in Western thought, with a special focus on the German thinkers of the early twentieth
Derrida and Asian Thought
More than fifteen years after Jacques Derrida passed away, he remains a controversial figure in philosophy. Much maligned, both when he was alive and after his death, Derrida’s relation to philosop
Tracing Dao
This paper draws a comparison between Derrida’s “trace” and the idea of dao in classical Daoism (Laozi and Zhuangzi). It is argued that if dao is read in a non-metaphysical way, then the Derridean idea of “trace” will show large overlaps with dao. I then show how, despite some obvious differences, a “trace” reading of dao enables a clearer understanding of dao that would see it not as a metaphysical principle, ineffable but transcendent nonethele…
Deconstruction of a Dialogue
It is common knowledge that Martin Heidegger’s attempts at engaging non-Western philosophy are very much a construct of his own making. This article in no way seeks to disagree with those observations, but argues two things: first, that Heidegger’s “dialogue” with his two main other sources of inspiration, the ancient Greek thinkers and the German poets, is not different in kind or in principle from his engagement with East Asia. One can of cours…
Heidegger’s Gelassenheit , Daoist Wuwei 無為, and Non-Willing
This article explores a key notion of Classical Daoism, namely wuwei 無為, through the lenses of Martin Heidegger’s Gelassenheit. My aim is to ask the question of whether a Heideggerian reading allows us to understand wuwei as a notion that circumvents the subject-object distinction characteristic of the Western metaphysical tradition. That distinction is, according to Heidegger, representative of the obsession in Western thought to “represent” (Vo…
Heidegger’s Phusis (φύσις) and Daoist Ziran (自然)
This article explores a key notion of classical Daoism, ziran 自然, through Martin Heidegger's interpretation of the Greek word phusis. I discuss whether a comparison between these terms allows us to understand ziran differently, and whether a “ziranist” reading sheds more light on how Heidegger understands phusis. I argue that Heidegger challenged the dominance of metaphysics as dualist representational thinking, and that his phenomenological chal…
Chinese history and philosophy (9 works) · Philosophy (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Linguistics (5 works) · Literature (5 works) · Metaphysics (4 works) · History (3 works) · Japanese History and Culture (3 works)