Hearts, desires and behavioural patterns
Debating human nature in ancient China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2808798 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert H Gassmann (University of Zurich, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 237-273 |
| Publication date | 2011-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0041977x11000048 |
| OpenAlex | W2315591628 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Thinkers in the Zhànguó period of Chinese history debated intensely whether men were by nature "good" or "bad". This debate has for many years been an important focus of sinological interest, but usually these properties were not attributed to men, but rather to so-called "human nature" (xìng 性) - thus, in effect, mirroring well-known (and problematic) "European" positions and discussions. The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to redirect attention to the original Zhànguó positions and to explore the reasons for their variance by offering novel and close historical readings of relevant passages, and on the other, to propose a viable historical reconstruction of the common anthropological assumptions underlying these positions by blending it with the traces of a dominant cognitive image present in the texts. This calls for a systematic rethinking of the role of hearts (in the plural), desires, and behavioural patterns in their interplay and as elements of a concept of the psychological build of human beings current in early China
Aesthetics · Archaeology · China · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Focus (optics) · Linguistics · Mirroring · Period (music) · Plural · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · History of Emotions Research · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |