Why be moral? What is the best way to live? Should we follow tradition or nature, or neither? Classical Chinese philosophers wrestled with these fundamental questions against a backdrop of political turmoil and social change. In this course, we will examine how various philosophical schools have developed distinct, often competing visions of personal and political life. Structured in three units, the course begins with Confucianism, turns to Daoism, and concludes with a set of other influential schools, including Mohism, Legalism, and the Logicians, covering philosophical texts written roughly between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE. We will explore how each school articulates its own philosophical vision on topics ranging from moral cultivation and good governance to skepticism and language.

This is a course in the history of Chinese philosophy. As a philosophy course, we will examine the philosophical positions and arguments presented by Chinese thinkers. As a history of philosophy course, we will engage in the sympathetic reconstruction of these philosophers’ positions and arguments; this will require that we take into consideration their philosophical motives and intellectual contexts. Successful completion of this course will enable you to:

• understand the central concepts and arguments of major Chinese philosophical traditions.

• recognize the historical and cultural contexts that shaped Chinese philosophical thought.

• improve your ability to articulate, analyze, evaluate, and criticize philosophical arguments in discussion and writing.

• develop your skills in cooperative philosophical discussion aimed at the shared goal of better understanding texts, positions, and arguments.

• Attendance: We meet twice a week, but each time we focus on different topics. If you miss class, you will miss some critical discussions, and the rest of us will miss your contributions. That said, I realize that even the most diligent students have to miss a class on occasion due to illness or some other emergency. Please notify me if you have such an issue.

• Participation: While there will most likely be a lecture component in every class meeting, your discussion will also drive each meeting to a significant degree. So, your participation constitutes a significant portion of your course grade. Active participation includes things like attentively listening, asking questions, offering supporting evidence for someone’s claim, and even clarifying what someone else has said. Of course, not everyone is equally comfortable talking in front of the class. If that is you, then talk with me, and we will work on ways to help you participate in class but potentially also outside of class.

• Preparation: Because participation in discussion is central to this course, it is important that you come to the class prepared: carefully read the required texts, take notes on them, and formulate questions about them for the discussion.

• Weekly Online Correspondence: To help you prepare for the course and review course materials after it, you will participate weekly online discussions with your classmates. You will be divided into two groups. Group 1 will post a thought-provoking question about the reading due by 5 p.m. on [The Day Before the Class]. The question should be well-developed: cite or quote the relevant text, state the question, explain why the question seems important to answer, and perhaps suggest possible ways to answer the question. Group 2 will post a considered response to one or more of Group 1’s posts by 9 a.m. on [The Days After the Class]. OPTION: Group 1 may, if it likes, get together to construct a single group question for Group 2. And Group 2 can, if it likes, get together to construct a single group answer for Group 1.

• Review Quizzes: The review quizzes are designed to keep you actively engaged with the readings by encouraging you to review the arguments critically and identify any points of disagreement or questions you might have. These quizzes will be manageable if you have completed the readings and participated in all in-class activities. Each quiz will consist of five questions: Three factual questions requiring only short answers based on the readings. Two evaluation questions asking you to provide your own assessment of the arguments presented in the readings. All quizzes will be take-home and distributed six times throughout the semester. Only the five highest quiz scores will be counted towards your final grade.

• Final Exam: A comprehensive final exam will assess your understanding of the material covered throughout the course. The exam will include a combination of multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay questions.

See the Syllabus