Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
7-2021
Abstract
This essay articulates the contribution that the Zhuangzi can make to contemporary epistemological discussions of wisdom. It suggests that wisdom in the Zhuangzi involves, in part, correctly distinguishing the "heavenly" (or the naturally given) from human artifice. It is important for humanity to understand naturally given conditions (e.g., seasons, climate, forces, mortality) to grasp what is within, and what beyond, our initiatives. To enable this, we need to be openly engaged with the world, rather than approach it with rigid convictions about outcomes or goals. We characterize such openness and readiness to engage as an attitude, that of "epistemic humility." In building up our position, we assess two themes in analytic philosophical debates on wisdom: the epistemic component of wisdom and the domain of wisdom. This helps establish what we believe is an important contribution of the Zhuangzi to the discussion on wisdom, that is, the wise person's epistemic humility.
Keywords
Chinese philosophy, Daoism, Zhuangzi, wisdom
Discipline
Epistemology | Theory and Philosophy
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Philosophy East and West
Volume
71
Issue
3
First Page
665
Last Page
682
ISSN
0031-8221
Identifier
10.1353/pew.2021.0046
Publisher
University of Hawaii Press
Citation
RYAN, Shane, & LAI, Karyn.(2021). Who is a wise person? Zhuangzi and epistemological discussions of wisdom. Philosophy East and West, 71(3), 665-682.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3661
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.2021.0046