Hans-Georg Moeller

On Zhuangzi and Kierkegaard

themselves entirely from the temporal determinants of life.6 On the basis of our interpretations, the philosophies of the Zhuangzi and Kierkegaard might be further apart than they seem to be in Carr and Ivanhoes understanding. However, we strongly feel, as stated in the beginning of this review, that the authors present us with very interesting and thoughtful insights deserving the attention of all scholars seriously engaged in the field of East-West comparative

»Human Rights Fundamentalism« The Late Luhmann on Human Rights

Abstracts The essay starts by discussing the question if the debate between Luhmann and leftist social theory was primarily ideological in nature or not. It is stated that Luhmann’s own interest in the debate was not so much to pursue a political dialogue, but rather to expose the theoretical flaws of his opponents in order to provoke a paradigm shift in social theory. By referring to Luhmann’s treatment of the issue of human rights in his later works, I tiy to illustrate how he attempted to »deconstruct« the arguments of his intellectual adversaries. Luhmann makes use of semantic-historical and functional analyses of this politically successful concept so that its paradoxical aspects become obvious. This, in turn, »desubstantializes« the concept and shows how it is used as a rhetorical device that expresses a certain value-fundamentalism and is supposed to support the Utopia of all-inclusion.

New Confucianism and the semantics of individuality. a Luhmannian analysis

This article discusses New Confucian views on individuality and related philosophical problems. Special emphasis is given to the position of Tu Wei‐Ming (Du Weiming), a foremost living New Confucian thinker. It is pointed out that many New Confucian philosophers share a vision of a Confucian ‘ideal’ individuality or selfhood based on social integration – as opposed to a Western type of individuality sometimes portrayed as an individuality by isolation. These patterns of individuality are further examined on the basis of Niklas Luhmanns historical analysis of the semantics of individuality and his categories of ‘individuality by inclusion’ and ‘individuality by exclusion’. Finally, some parallels and differences between Confucian and the Luhmannian viewpoints are pointed out, and a suggestion on how a Luhmannian perspective might contribute to reformulations of New Confucian thought is attempted.

Hundun's Mistake: Satire and Sanity in the Zhuangzi

Abstract: This paper discusses various interpretations of the narrative of Hundun’s death which concludes the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi. First, it recapitulates readings of the story from mythological and medicinal as well as from metaphysical and moral perspectives. Then it presents a reading of the story as a satirical parody of failed Confucian and Daoist sages. It is argued that in this way, too, the story addresses medicinal issues of sanity and insanity, albeit from a sociopolitical perspective, and provides insights into a philosophy of “genuine pretending.”

Health in Daoist Philosophy

This paper explores the semantically ambiguous distinctions health/sickness and strength/weakness in ancient Daoist texts. I will introduce and discuss several images in the Daodejing (Laozi) and allegories in the Zhuangzi which illustrate the often paradoxical reversals of these qualities, and then outline their philosophical significance: 1) The Daodejing operates with a number of paradoxical distinctions, among them the soft/hard and the quite parallel weak/strong distinction. Both are paradoxical because, as believed to be the case in both sexuality and warfare, the soft and the weak actually overcome and defeat the hard and the strong. Thus, a reversal takes place: the strong turns out to be weak, and the weak to be strong. Several images illustrate the paradoxical qualities of the soft and the weak, such as water and the infant. In this way, the soft and the weak, “materialized” in the form of water or an infant, are indicators of health and associated with the “thickness of de.” The notion of de represents quite generally the powers of vitalizing efficacy present in nature and capable of being cultivated and accumulated by humans. As a political text, the Daodejing advocates a “health policy” based on a cultivation and accumulation of de. 2) The cases of Cripple Lipless, Pitcherneck, and Uglyface Tuo all point to a paradoxical understanding of health in the Zhuangzi. Unlike commonly assumed, health cannot be equated with immaculate physical appearance or an absence of ailments and physical “handicaps.” The common non-paradoxical conception of health as simply the opposite pole of an unambiguous sick/healthy distinction is wrong, and, most importantly, obstructs one’s capacities for perceiving the extraordinary vigour emanating from the cultivation of one’s de. Often enough, a healthy “form” obscures a sick de, just as a sick form may well obscure a healthy de. The allegories of the cripples in chapter 5 of the Zhuangzi illustrate this, and they particularly advocate a more appropriate understanding of, and, more importantly, a sharpening of our perceptive capacities regarding the paradoxically intertwined sick/healthy distinction.

Vital Nourishment: Departing from Happiness (review)

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