Tao Encounters the West

Chenyang Li is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Monmouth College.

"Not only does Li discuss the multiple crossings of experience within Chinese philosophy as exemplified by the cosmology of Dao but also compares them with the West … Li has written a provocative and deeply thoughtful book for both experts and novices in Chinese and comparative philosophy. His rich discussion of Aristotle and Heidegger provides grounding for issues of language, ethics, religion, and justice. As such, The Tao Encounters the West is a book that significantly engages and sustains an East-West dialogue, itself an increasingly prominent juncture for philosophy of the 21st Century." — Dao"This work is a study in comparative philosophy that engages modern Western and Chinese thought, and does so quite well. The author obviously is at home in both the Western and Chinese classical and modern material. One of the real strengths of the work is that it deals with a number of complicated comparative issues. The author shows that classical Chinese thought still has something to offer to the modern philosophic debate when its concepts are carefully reviewed and presented in a fashion that makes sense to contemporary readers. I found the work on the comparison of feminist ethics and Confucian ethics appealing. This kind of work really shows one of the main subtexts of the whole project, namely the revivification of Confucian thought." — John H. Berthrong, author of Concerning Creativity: A Comparison of Chu Hsi, Whitehead, and Neville

• Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Being: Perspective versus Substance Being as IdentityThe Being of the OxKnowing What There IsTransformation of the ButterflyOne-Only versus One-Many Identity Chapter 2 Truth: Confucius and Heidegger Truth as an Ontological ConceptEthical ImplicationsTruth and FreedomWhy Semantic Truth Has Been Marginalized Chapter 3 Language: Pragmatic versus Semantic Rectification of NamesRigid DesignationNames as Prescriptions Chapter 4 Ethics: Confucian Jen and Feminist Care Self and Society: The Foundation of Jen and CareJen and Care as the Central Moral IdealsJen and Care: Ethics without General RulesJen and Caring with GradationsHow a Care Ethics Could Have Oppressed Women Chapter 5 Family: Duty versus Rights Critiques of Some Recent TheoriesThe Confucian PerspectiveA Confucian Response Chapter 6 Religion: Multiple Participation versus Exclusionism The Religiousness of Chinese ReligionsThe Difference between Three ReligionsTension and ComplementarityBeing Taoist-Buddhist-ConfucianSome Philosophical Considerations Chapter 7 Justice: Confucian Values and Democratic Values Democracy and China's NeedWhether There Has Been Democracy in Traditional Chinese CultureWhether Confucianism and Democracy Are CompatibleDemocracy as an Independent Value System in China Concluding Remarks Notes Bibliography Index