SYLLABUS: PHILOSOPHY 263.01 FALL 2013 CHINESE PHILOSOPHY
Class meeting times and place: MW 11:45am – 1:00pm in Biddle 086
Instructor: David Wong, Susan Fox Beischer and George D. Beischer Professor of Philosophy
Office 203E West Duke Building / Hours: M 1:10 – 2:10pm & by appointment / Tel. 660-3046 / Email address:
d.wong@duke.edu or dbwong@duke.edu (please take note of these exact addresses—there’s another David Wong at
Duke).
Teaching assistant: Lok Chan lok.chan@duke.edu
Course Description
This course will be an exploration in major schools of classical Chinese philosophy: Confucianism, Mohism,
Daoism (Taoism), and Legalism. Topics include Confucianism’s vision of moral development as a kind of selfcultivation in which one refines and reshapes one’s emotions, Mohism’s advocacy of an ethic in which everyone is
to be accorded impartial concern, Daoism’s rejection of the idea that the “Truth” can be captured in a logically
consistent set of doctrines and its advocacy of “non-action,” and Legalism’s pragmatic rejection of moral idealism in
its conception of government. We shall see how the advocates of these different philosophies debated and borrowed
ideas from each other. We will often view these philosophies from a comparative perspective, addressing the
questions, “To what extent do these Chinese philosophies touch on problems and issues addressed in Western
philosophy, and can the two philosophical traditions have something to learn from each other? Texts will be read in
English translation, with some reference to Chinese terms and phrases that does not presuppose familiarity with the
language.
Textbooks and Other Readings
The following are available at the bookstore and on reserve at Lilly library; some are also available as Kindle books
from Amazon.
The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation, trans. Roger T. Ames and Henry Rosemont Jr. (also
available as Kindle book @ Amazon)
Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy, 2nd edition, ed. P.J. Ivanhoe and B. Van Norden (also available as Kindle
book at Amazon)
The Tao of the Tao Te Ching, translated and commentary by Michael LaFargue
Other readings will be available through the “Resources” link on Sakai.
Sakai webpage
On the left-hand side of the Sakai page, under “Syllabus,” there is a copy of this syllabus. If and when I update or
revise the syllabus, the new version will be there. I’ll email you about any such changes. Under “Assignments,” we
will make available suggested topics for essays required in this course, and you are requested to upload your essays
and final examinations there. For readings that are not in the textbooks, look under “Resources” and under the
subfolder “Readings.” Also under “Resources,” you will find the subfolder “PowerPoint Slides,” which will contain
the notes I work from in each class session. I will post them before class (sometimes at least the night before;
sometimes just before class starts).
Course Requirements and grading
Two papers of 5-6 (double-spaced typescript) pages each. I will give you suggested topics at least two weeks
before each due date. Each paper counts for 30% of the course grade. The due dates are October 4 and November
22. Missed paper deadlines due to illness: please submit the short-term illness notification form found on
http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-requirements?p=policy-short-term-illness-notification.
A take-home final examination covering material for the whole course, lectures, class
discussion and reading assignments. It is a short answer exam (one page per answer). You will have to
choose from groups of questions that cover the range of the course with added emphasis to material not covered by
essay topics. This is due December 11, 5 pm and is 40% of the course grade.
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Class attendance and participation in class discussion. Class attendance is expected and you should
be prepared to be called upon for your thoughts on the reading of the day. Unexcused and sustained absence from
class (2 or more in a row) is not accepted. If you miss class because of illness, please submit the short-term illness
notification form found on http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-requirements?p=policy-short-term-illness-notification.
Participation will be judged on 1) grasp of and depth of reflection on the assigned reading material and 2) ability to
listen and respond relevantly to the comments of other students in the course. Consistent and constructive
participation will weigh in favor of the better grade in case you end up on the borderline of two final course grades
based on your other work.
Use of computers during class. Please, no multitasking unrelated to what we are discussing in class.
Instructors and your fellow students deserve your full attention.
Schedule of Topics, Readings, Due Dates for Essays and Final Exam (please finish and be
prepared to discuss the readings by the date indicated)
Aug 26: Introduction to course.
Aug 28: Confucius (Kongzi, K’ung Tzu—for an explanation of why a Chinese name or term has different spellings,
see the “Notes on the Chinese Language” at the end of this syllabus). Start reading The Analects of Confucius: A
Philosophical Translation, introduction (both the part on historical and textual background and the part on
philosophic and linguistic background) by Ames and Rosemont and Books 1-4.
Note: Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy contains another very good translation by Edward Slingerland.
Reading this translation is entirely optional, but you may want to compare them as you go along, or if you are
puzzled or intrigued by a certain passage, you might want to go to Slingerland to see how he translates it.
Slingerland also provides lots of notes suggesting meanings of various passages, but if you read these, try not to take
them as authoritative, because many of the most important passages are eminently susceptible to multiple
interpretations. The same goes for Ames and Rosemont’s introduction and commentary. Their interpretations are
often provocative and controversial, which is part of the reason I chose their translation, as spurs to discussion and
not as the final word on the meaning of the Analects.
Sept 2: Analects Books 5-12; Olberding, “The Educative Function of Personal Style in the Analects” (available on
and printable from “Resources/readings” on Sakai; hereafter abbreviated as “RS”).
Sept 4: Fingarette, Chapter 1 (“Human Community as Holy Rite”) in Confucius--The Secular as Sacred;
Whitehouse, “Human Rites” (both on RS)
Sept 9: The Analects Books 13-20.
Sept 11: Is the Confucian Dao (Tao) an ideal that transcends culture and tradition, or is it constituted by
tradition? Fingarette, Chapter 2 ("A Way without Crossroads") of Confucius--The Secular as Sacred; pp. 226-37 &
pp. 307-13 from Hall and Ames, Thinking Through Confucius (both on RS).
Sept 16: Persons, situations, and Confucianism. Harman, “No Character or Personality;” Sarkissian, “Minor
Tweaks, Major Payoffs” (both from RS).
Sept 18: Slingerland, “The Situationist Critique and Early Confucian Ethics” (RS).
Sept 23: Mozi (Mo Tzu) as the major rival to Confucianism during the classical period. Readings in Classical
Chinese Philosophy—read in the Mozi section the introduction and chapters 8 “Honoring the Worthy,” 16
“Impartial Caring,” 17” A Condemnation of Aggressive War,” 20 “For Moderation in Expenditure,” 25 "For
Moderation in Funerals," and 32 "A Condemnation of Musical Performances.”
Sept 25: Read in Mozi chapters 11 “Obeying One’s Superior,” 26 “Heaven’s Will,” 31 “On Ghosts,” and 35 “A
Condemnation of Fatalism.”
Sept 30: Mengzi (Meng Tzu, Mencius) as the first great theorist of Confucianism. Readings in Classical
Chinese Philosophy—read in the Mengzi (Mencius) section the introduction and Books One, Two and Seven.
Oct 2: Mengzi’s defense against Yang Zhu and Mozi. Read in the Mengzi section Book Three; Asma, "The Myth
of Universal Love;" Li, “Does Confucian Ethics Integrate Care Ethics with Justice Ethics?” (both on RS)
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Oct 4: 1st essay due anytime this day preferably submitted through the assignment link on Sakai (if you’re
having trouble with electronic submission, email your paper to d.wong@duke.edu or dbwong@duke.edu
because there is another David Wong with a very similar email address at Duke).
Oct 7: Mengzi’s conception of ethical reasoning. In the Mengzi section read Books Four and Five; Wong,
“Reasons and Analogical Reasoning in Mengzi” (RS).
Oct 9: Mengzi’s conception of human nature as containing the sprouts of goodness. In the Mengzi section read
Book Six; Wong, “Growing Virtue: The Theory and Science of Developing Compassion from a Mencian
Perspective” (RS).
Oct 14: Fall Break
Oct 16: The Daodejing (Tao Te Ching). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy—read in the Laozi section the
introduction and chapters 1-40.
Oct 21: In the Laozi section read chapters 41-81; Welch, “Tao Today” (RS).
Oct 23: An alternative approach to interpreting the Daodejing. LaFargue's The Tao of the Tao Te Ching,
"Hermeneutics: A Reasoned Approach to Interpreting the Tao Te Ching" (pp. 189-216), and chapters 1-4.
Oct 28: The Tao of the Tao Te Ching, chapters 5-7.
Oct 30: Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy—read in the Zhuangzi section the
introduction and chapters 1-3.
Nov 4: In the Zhuangzi section read chapters 4-7.
Nov 6: Hansen, “Discriminating About Discriminating ;” Eno, “Cook Ding’s Dao and the Limits of Philosophy”
(both available from RS).
Nov 11: Wong, “Zhuangzi and the Obsession with Being Right” (RS); finish reading the Zhuangzi section.
Nov 13: Wong, “The Meaning of Detachment in Daoism, Buddhism, and Stoicism;” Baggini, “Would Philosophy
Help When My Father Died ?” Parks, “Is the Sound of Silence the End of the Self ?” (all on RS)
Nov 18: Xunzi’s synthesis of earlier Confucianism and Daoism. Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy—read
the entire Xunzi section; Bell, “Hierarchical Rituals for Egalitarian Societies” (RS).
Nov 20: Xunzi, review chapter 23 “Human Nature is Bad;” Wong, “Xunzi as Moral Craftsman” (RS).
Nov 22: 2nd essay due anytime this day preferably submitted through the assignment link on Sakai (if you’re
having trouble with electronic submission, email your paper to d.wong@duke.edu or dbwong@duke.edu . Be
sure to use one of these email addresses because there is another David Wong with a very similar email
address at Duke).
Nov 25: Discussion of Xunzi continued.
Nov 27 : Thanksgiving break
Dec 2: Legalism and Han Feizi (Han Fei Tzu). Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy—read entire Han Feizi
section.
Dec 4: Discussion of legalism continued.
Dec 11: Take-home exam due by 5 p.m.; preferably submitted via course assignment link on the Sakai site or
if necessary by email to d.wong@duke.edu or dbwong@duke.edu.
Some Notes on the Chinese Language
1. The Chinese written language is not an alphabetic language. Sometimes its words or characters originally
designated things by “picturing” them. Examples: the word for person, (pronounced ‘ren’ in Mandarin) and written
as 人 is a highly stylized and schematic “stick figure” of a person. The word for big (pronounced ‘da’ in Mandarin)
might look like a person with arms outstretched 大. The word that is usually translated as “heaven” (not a place but
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a ruling force on high, if you will) might look like a big person under the sky 天 (ok, you might have to get creative
to get a picture). The character for the number two (‘er’ in Mandarin) is 二。The word for heart (pronounced ‘xin’
in the spoken dialect of Mandarin, where ‘x’ stands for an ‘hs’ sound) is derived from a picture of the four lobes of
the heart 心. But many words are not pictographic, such as the word for power or virtue 德 (pronounced ‘de’ in
Mandarin). However written Chinese words come to refer to things, they have no inherent association with the way
these words are spoken in any particular dialect. This means that the Chinese written language can correspond to
different dialects that sound very unlike (e.g., a Mandarin and a Cantonese speaker will not understand each other
except by passing notes.
2. In discussions of Chinese philosophy, we will need to refer to crucial Chinese words used in the texts, and we will
need to refer to them without translating them. This is because it will be a matter of controversial interpretation how
exactly to translate these words. Example: the word 仁 (also pronounced ‘ren’ like the word for person), stands for
a highly desirable character trait in Confucianism. It has been translated as ‘benevolence’, ‘humanity’, ‘goodness’,
and more unconventionally by Rosemont and Ames, as ‘authoritative conduct’ or ‘authoritative personhood’ (see
their introduction in their translation of the Analects for their interesting explanation). We can refer to a Chinese
word by producing the written character, e.g., ‘仁 ‘or by using the English alphabet to produce an approximation
of the way the word sounds when spoken in Mandarin, e.g., ‘ren’. Complication: different systems have been
invented to produce these approximations, called “romanizations.”
3. The different systems produce different romanizations of the same written Chinese word. Example: person
人 is ‘jen’ in Wade-Giles and ‘ren’ in Pinyin. In this particular case, Pinyin gives us a better intuitive idea of how
the word sounds, because the word does begin with more of an ‘r’ sound. Under the Wade-Giles system, you are
supposed to learn that the ‘j’ is in fact meant to be pronounced more like an ‘r’ sound as in ‘run’. Another example:
道(way, path) is ‘tao’ in Wade-Giles and ‘dao’ in pinyin. Under Wade-Giles, you must know that ‘t’ when it is not
followed by an apostrophe is pronounced more like a ‘d’ as in ‘dad’. Another example: 孔子(Master Kong, known
in the West as ‘Confucius’ is rendered ‘K’ung Tzu’ in Wade-Giles and ‘Kongzi’ in Pinyin. The deferential form of
address 子(Tzu or zi, Master) comes after the family name in Chinese, instead of before it, as in English. A final
example: 莊子 is the great Taoist (Daoist) philosopher rendered in Wade-Giles as “Chuang Tzu” and in Pinyin as
“Zhuangzi.” Neither rendering intuitively tells us that the beginning sound of his name is more of a ‘j’ sound as in
“Joe.” For a guide on the way that Pinyinized words should sound, see http://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-pinyinchart.php.
By the way, this is not anything you need to know for this course, but for your information: unlike English, Chinese
is spoken with different tones, such that two words that are spoken with different tones but that sound otherwise the
same will have totally different meanings. E.g., ‘ma’ spoken in a high even tone, sometimes symbolized by ‘mā’,
can mean “mother,” but ‘ma’ spoken with a falling and then rising tone, sometimes symbolized by ‘mǎ’, can mean
‘horse’. You can cause unintended hilarity or serious offense by getting your tones wrong.
4. The translations we will use and the scholarship we’ll read employs a mix of Wade-Giles and Pinyin. Most
of the older translations and scholarships employ Wade-Giles (e.g., ‘Tao Te Ching’ rather than ‘Daodejing’). Newer
translations tend to employ Pinyin (e.g., ‘Zhuangzi’ instead of ‘Chuang Tzu’).