Steven Shankman is a professor at the University of Oregon. Stephen Durrant is a professor at the University of Oregon.

"Their work is fresh and always enjoyable."--Religious Studies Review

• Introduction: previous comparative studies of Ancient Greece and China; the sage; the siren. Part 1 Differentiations of intentionality -the classic of poetry and the Odyssey: poetry and the experience of participation; participation in family and society; participation in the natural world. Part 2 Before and after philosophy - Thucydides and Sima Qian: history and tradition; the structures of written history; the tempest of participation - Sima Qian's portrayal of his own era; Thucydides' tragic quest for objectivity and the historian's irrepressible T. Part 3 The philosopher, the sage and the experience of participation: contexts for the emergence of the sage and the philosopher; from poetry to philosophy; the sage, the philosopher and the recovery of the participatory dimension.