The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China

ISBN-13: 9780942299953 / Angielski / Miękka / 1999 / 320 str.

Francois Jullien; Janet Lloyd

Opis

In this book, his first to appear in English, French sinologist Francois Jullien uses the Chinese concept of shi--meaning disposition or circumstance, power or potential--as a touchstone to explore Chinese culture and to uncover the intricate structure underlying Chinese modes of thinking. He follows the concept from one field to another--including military strategy, politics, the aesthetics of calligraphy, and literary theory--and from reflection on history to "first philosophy." At the point where these various domains intersect, a fundamental intuition assumed for centuries to be self-evident emerges, namely, that reality--every kind of reality--may be perceived as a particular deployment or arrangement of things to be relied upon and worked to one's advantage.