THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Welcomes:
ERIC SCHWITZGEBEL (University of California, Riverside)
With responses from:
CHRISTOPHER GOWANS (Fordham University)
Please join us at Columbia University's Religion Department on *THURSDAY*, OCTOBER 13th at 5:30PM for his lecture entitled:
"Death and Self in the Incomprehensible Zhuangzi”
The ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi defies interpretation. This is an inextricable part of the beauty and power of his work. The text – by which I mean the “Inner Chapters” of the text traditionally attributed to him, the authentic core of the book – is incomprehensible as a whole. It consists of shards, in a distinctive voice. Despite repeating imagery, ideas, style, and tone, these shards cannot be pieced together into a self-consistent philosophy. This lack of self-consistency is a positive feature of Zhuangzi. It is part of what makes him the great and unusual philosopher he is, defying reduction and summary. In this talk, I will look at Zhuangzi's inconsistent remarks about death and the self.
*THURSDAY*, OCTOBER 13
5:30-7:30 pm
Rm. 101, 80 Claremont Ave, Columbia University
