Wandering the Way: A Eudaimonistic Approach to the Zhuāngzǐ

Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 13 (4):541-565 (2014)
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Abstract

The paper develops a eudaimonistic reading of the Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 on which the characteristic feature of a well-lived life is the exercise of dé 德 in a general mode of activity labeled yóu 遊 . I argue that the Zhuāngzǐ presents a second-order conception of agents’ flourishing in which the life of dé is not devoted to predetermined substantive ends or activities with a specific substantive content. Rather, it is marked by a distinctive manner of activity and certain characteristic attitudes. Zhuangist eudaimonism differs from virtue ethics, I suggest, since dé is not moral virtue nor is it normatively basic. The paper discusses textual evidence that the Zhuāngzǐ presents eudaimonistic ideals, develops the Zhuangist conception of “wandering” in detail, and explores connections between wandering and the Zhuangist interest in skill. It surveys the justification for Zhuangist eudaimonism and sketches how the wandering ideal affects the substantive content of a good life

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Chris Fraser
University of Hong Kong (PhD)

Citations of this work

Freedom and agency in the Zhuangzi: navigating life’s constraints.Karyn Lai - 2021 - Tandf: British Journal for the History of Philosophy:1-21.
Zhuangzi on ‘happy fish’ and the limits of human knowledge.Lea Cantor - 2020 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 28 (2):216-230.
Creativity and Yóu: the Zhuāngzǐ and scientific inquiry.Julianne Chung - 2022 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 12 (2):1-26.
Philosophy and the Good Life in the Zhuangzi.Pengbo Liu - 2020 - Metaphilosophy 51 (2-3):187-205.

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References found in this work

The Morality of Happiness.Julia Annas - 1993 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Mencius.D. C. Lau - 1984 - Penguin Classics. Edited by D. C. Lau.
The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu.Burton Watson (ed.) - 1968 - Columbia University Press.

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