Zhuangzi and Simone Weil on Decreating the Self

Bibliographic Data

ID21792294
AuthorsRyan Harte (Utah Valley University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume14
Issue3
Pages281-294
Publication date2022-09-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative and Continental Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1757-0638 • E-ISSN: 1757-0646
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17570638.2023.2184541
OpenAlexW4323256166
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

This essay thinks through Nanguo Ziqi’s famous “I lost myself” (wu sang wo 吾喪我) remark in the Qiwulun 齊物論 in light of Weil’s notion of decreation. The desire to undo the self is paradoxical, and most philosophical interpretations of the Zhuangzi passage try to avoid the paradox of “I lost myself” by positing various levels of self. Weil’s decreation embraces the paradox, and thereby helps clarify how Nanguo’s “I lost myself” connects with his subsequent metaphor of pipes of Heaven. More broadly, this essay is a first step in drawing together these two uniquely unsystematic and paradoxical thinkers

Epistemology · Heaven · Metaphor · Reflexive pronoun · Self · Theology · Undo · Chinese history and philosophy · Computer Science · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy

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