Sense perception in theZhuangzi莊子

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4079741
AutoresMassimiliano Lacertosa (0000-0002-7390-9456, University of Warwick, autor correspondente)
Ano2022
Volume17
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2022-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPhilosophy Compass (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/phc3.12798
OpenAlexW3216114034
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas35

In this essay I explore the controversial issue of sense perception in theZhuangzi莊子. Although scholars have not explicitly addressed this aspect of the Chinese text, a common assumption is that theZhuangziproposes a mysticism that undermines sense perception in favour of a transcendent self. After an overview of this interpretation, and after analysing some key passages of the text that deal with heart fasting (xinzhai心齋), sitting and forgetting (zuowang坐忘) and skill mastery, I demonstrate that some interpreters of theZhuangziread the text as if it has a metaphysical bent, recommending that sense perception be transcended as a prerequisite to perfection. In contrast, my thesis is that the text does not propose a withdrawal from the senses and from the world, but rather warns about the danger of abiding to doctrinal knowledge, which has the consequence of a person losing their responsive awareness. Indeed, in theZhuangzi, sense perception is not an impediment on the way to a supersensible reality, but an integral part of one's own being in the world. Through my analysis, I object to the idea that theZhuangziproposes a mystical union with something not immediately available, which moreover needs to be achieved by transcending the lived world that is encountered through sense perception. My view is that such a move not only postulates union with a transcendent entity, it also forces a dualism between a person's capacities. This is problematic because theZhuangzidoes not point to another world-in a two worlds theory-where one must ideally attain the condition of a transcendent self. On the contrary, in rejecting a univocalethos, the text suggests one should keep responding to changing circumstances without turning one's perceptual awareness into entrenched habits. Thus, theZhuangzishows how sense perception should be seen, not as a "problem" but as an ethical possibility through which the univocity of doctrinal knowledge can be undermined

Aesthetics · Cognitive psychology · Consciousness · Dualism · Epistemology · Forgetting · Linguistics · Metaphysics · Mysticism · Perception · Perfection · Referent · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices