Freedom in Zhuangzi _ Using Freedom as a hermeneutical key to reconstructing the philosophy of the Zhuangzi
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Valmisa, Mercedes
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the conception of Freedom in the Zhuangzi. The Zhuangzi understands Freedom as Liberation – namely, as the state of the person who has achieved liberation from a set of substantialistic views and is able to behave in a corresponding way. Thus I firstly conduct a reconstruction of the process of liberation in the Zhuangzi, which includes both epistemological and behavioral practices and can be structured in three steps: becoming aware of “perspectivism”, achieving self-regard as “non-self”, and situating oneself in “the axis of reality”. Secondly, I explore the implications of the state of Freedom to which this process of self-transformation and liberation leads, as well as the features of the liberated person. I use a wide range of texts from the Zhuangzi’s Inner, Outer and Miscellaneous chapters for this purpose, and an equally wide range of topics is discussed in dealing with the idea of Freedom. I propose that approaching the philosophy of the Zhuangzi from the point of view of Freedom is helpful in providing a consistent and comprehensive explanation of the Zhuangzian philosophical system as a whole in which all topics find a new interrelated meaning. This dissertation thus challenges the argument that the Zhuangzi does not elaborate a coherent conception of Freedom, showing that Freedom not only is a central topic in the Zhuangzi, but is also a privileged hermeneutical key to meaningfully reconstruct its philosophy.
Subjects
Zhuangzi
Freedom
Liberation
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-100-R98124013-1.pdf
Size
23.54 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):ec46ba7c629b4f6945aa8800cb168d87