The Good Life and Conceptions of Life in Early China and Graeco-Roman Antiquity

Editor:
King, R.A.H.

Publication Year:
2015

Publisher:
Berlin: De Gruyter

Abstract:

Chinese and Greek ethics remain influential in modern philosophy, yet it is unclear how they can be compared to one another. This volume, following its predecssor 'How should one live?' (DeGruyter 2011), is a contribution to comparative ethics, loosely centered on the concepts of life and the good life. Methods of comparing ethics are treated in three introductory chapters (R.A.H.King, Ralph Weber, G.E.R. Lloyd), followed by chapters on core issues in each of the traditions: human nature (David Wong, Guo Yi), ghosts (Paul Goldin), happiness (Christoph Harbsmeier), pleasure (Michael Nylan), qi (Elisabeth Hsu & Zhang Ruqing), cosmic life and individual life (Dennis Schilling), the concept of mind (William Charlton), knowledge and happiness (Jörg Hardy), filial piety (Richard Stalley), the soul (Hua-kuei Ho), anddeliberation (Thomas Buchheim). The volume closes with three essays in comparison - Mencius and the Stoics (R.A.H. King), equanimity (Lee Yearley), autonomy and the good life (Lisa Raphals). An index locorum each for Chinese and Greco-Roman authors, and a general index complete the volume.

Table of Contents:

Frontmatter
Pages I-IV

Acknowledgements
Pages V-VI

Table of Contents
Pages VII-VIII

I. Methods

Introduction
King, R.A.H.
Pages 3-20

Models for living in ancient Greece and China
Lloyd, G.E.R.
Pages 21-28

On Comparing Ancient Chinese and Greek Ethics: The tertium comparationis as Tool of Analysis and Evaluation
Weber, Ralph
Pages 29-56


II. China

The Consciousness of the Dead as a Philosophical Problem in Ancient China
Goldin, Paul R.
Pages 59-92

The Ideas of Human Nature in Early China
Yi, Guo
Pages 93-116

Cosmic Life and Human Life in the “Book of Changes”
Schilling, Dennis
Pages 117-144

Good Fortune and Bliss in Early China
Harbsmeier, Christoph
Pages 145-156

Bing-distress in the Zuo zhuan: the not-so-good-life, the social self and moral sentiment among persons of rank in Warring States China
Hsu, Elisabeth
Pages 157-180

Pleasures and Delights, Sustaining and Consuming
Nylan, Michael
Pages 181-210

III. Greece and Rome

Is the Concept of the Mind Parochial?
Charlton, William
Pages 213-226

Taking Thoughts about Life seriously
Hardy, Jörg
Pages 227-246

Filial Piety in Plato
Stalley, Richard
Pages 247-264

The Good Life for Plato’s Tripartite Soul
Ho, Hua-kuei
Pages 265-280

Good counsel and the role of logos for human excellence
Buchheim, Thomas
Pages 281-302

Hedonê in the Poets and Epicurus
Erler, Michael
Pages 303-318

IV. Comparisons

Autonomy, Fate, Divination and the Good Life
Raphals, Lisa
Pages 321-340

Mencius and the Stoics – tui and oikeiôsis
King, R.A.H.
Pages 341-362

The Role and Pursuit of the Virtue of Equanimity in Ancient China and Greece
Yearley, Lee H.
Pages 363-386