Learning from Chinese Philosophies

Karyn Lai is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

’Karyn Lai’s book Learning from Chinese Philosophies is a wonderful example of current comparative philosophy. The book engages in multiple levels of comparison by detailing the contrasts between Confucianism and Daoism, uncovering the meta-theoretical assumptions of Chinese philosophy, juxtaposing ancient Chinese philosophy with modern ethical theory, and offering new philosophical insights into Confucianism and Daoism as well as into modern ethical theory. Lai offers an interesting and thought-provoking comparison of ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, and Confucian and Daoist philosophies. Managing these many levels of comparison is no small feat, and Lai offers innovative interpretations of Confucianism and Daoism to boot.’ Dao: Journal of Comparative Philosophy

• Introduction; Part I Reviewing the Old; Chapter 1 Self and Society in Confucian Thought; Chapter 2 The Situated Self in Daoist Philosophy; Chapter 3 Elements of Confucian Moral Thinking; Chapter 4 Daoist Meta-ethics: Frameworks and Approaches; Part II Realising the New; Chapter 5 Confucianism as a Skills-Based Ethic; Chapter 6 The Feminist Care Ethic and the Issue of Relationality in Chinese Philosophy; Chapter 7 Tradition, Change and Adaptation; Chapter 8 Harmony and Conflict in Early Chinese Philosophy; conclusion Conclusion;