Francois Jullien is Professor at the Universite Paris VII-Denis Diderot and director at the Institut de la Pensee Contemporaine. He is the author of "Detour and Access: Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece, The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China, " and "In Praise of Blandness: Proceeding from Chinese Thought and Aesthetics" all published by Zone Books.