After Confucius: Studies In Early Chinese Philosophy [Hardcover]

Paul R. Goldin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0824828429 | ISBN-13: 978-0824828424 | Publication Date: January 31, 2005

After Confucius is a collection of eight studies of Chinese philosophy from the time of Confucius to the formation of the empire in the second and third centuries B.C.E. As detailed in a masterful introduction, each essay serves as a concrete example of "thick description"--an approach invented by philosopher Gilbert Ryle--which aims to reveal the logic that informs an observable exchange among members of a community or society. To grasp the significance of such exchanges, it is necessary to investigate the networks of meaning on which they rely. Paul R. Goldin argues that the character of ancient Chinese philosophy can be appreciated only if we recognize the cultural codes underlying the circulation of ideas in that world. Thick description is the best preliminary method to determine how Chinese thinkers conceived of their own enterprise.

Who were the ancient Chinese philosophers? What was their intended audience? What were they arguing about? How did they respond to earlier thinkers, and to each other? Why did those in power wish to hear from them, and what did they claim to offer in return for patronage? Goldin addresses these questions as he looks at several topics, including rhetorical conventions of Chinese philosophical literature; the value of recently excavated manuscripts for the interpretation of the more familiar, received literature; and the duty of translators to convey the world of concerns of the original texts. Each of the cases investigated in this wide-ranging volume exemplifies the central conviction behind Goldin's plea for thick description: We do not do justice to classical Chinese philosophy unless we engage squarely the complex and ancient culture that engendered it.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul R. Goldin is associate professor of Chinese thought at the University of Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 266 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr (January 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824828429
• ISBN-13: 978-0824828424
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,949,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Read, November 13, 2008

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Bao Pu (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: After Confucius: Studies In Early Chinese Philosophy (Hardcover)

After Confucius: Studies In Early Chinese Philosophy by Paul R. Goldin is an interesting book. It is a collection of eight essays which are "piecemeal attempts at the "thick description" of classical Chinese philosophy" (p. 2). Thick description seems to imply a greater understanding of the context of much of what we find in the classical texts. This is aided by "recent" archaeological finds such as texts found at Mawangdui and Guodian. As an example of "thick description" applied to Chinese philosophy, he spends eight pages discussing how many names of persons in ancient texts are epithets which reveal something about the person in question. While interesting, I would have preferred he spent more time showing the connection between phonetically related words and instances of paranomasia.

The first essay, "The Reception of the Odes in the Warring States Era," deals with how the Odes were interpreted in the Warring States period, primarily by Confucians. The second essay, "Xunzi in the Light of the Guodian Manuscripts," shows how "of the surviving literature from the same period, they are closer to the Xunzi than to any other text and indeed anticipate several significant ideas in Xunzi's philosophy" (p. 23-7). This contrasts with the view of some scholars who maintain that the Guodian materials belong to the "school of Zisi." He also discusses Gaozi and the controversy regarding human nature (Xing), suggesting that it was Mencius' notion of Xing that was unorthodox. This essay is excellent.

Essay three is "Han Fei's Doctrine of Self-Interest," which explicates part of Han Feizi's political philosophy. This contains some interesting insights, but fails to convince that there are no irreconcilable inconsistencies in the Hanfeizi. He notes that Han Fei "merely employs themes and phrases borrowed from the Laozi in order to further his arguments" (p. 62), but this is partially true. He makes no mention of chapters 20 and 21 which are commentaries on the Laozi, (and which may not have been written by Han Feizi). Essay four is "Li Si, Chancellor of the Universe," which is an excellent piece on this pivotal person in Chinese history.

Next comes "Rhetoric and machination in Stratagems of the Warring States," which talks about rhetorical devices used in this text (and in Chinese in general), comparing them to Greek and Roman ones. He believes that "the speeches in the text are merely a later author's conjectures as to what the ancients may have said at certain moments of history" (p. 78). He also makes the point that in Greece and Rome, "the main purpose of rhetoric was to convince masses of people" (p. 78), whereas in China the intended audience was the sovereign.

The fifth essay is "Insidious Syncretism in the Political Philosophy of Huainanzi." This essay fails to convince again that there are no inconsistencies in this text, and his examples do not wholly support his views. In fact, they often raise more questions than they answer. "Ban Zhao in Her Time and Ours" is a short essay dealing with how Ban and her book "Nüjie" have been misinterpreted. It's fairly well written.

The final essay is "Those Who Don't Know Speak," and focuses on several poor translations of the Daodejing by translators who don't know Chinese. It's good.

The Appendix is a list of all the Odes quoted in pre-Qin texts. This will be a good reference to those who wish to explore the meanings and interpretations of the Odes. The "Notes" and Bibliography to this book cover over a hundred pages, and while they are often interesting, give the impression that the book is bigger.

Interested buyers might want to wait to see of this book comes out in a cheaper paperback.