Summary
Brook Ziporyn's "Beyond Oneness and Difference" argues that understanding the Chinese concept of *Li* challenges fundamental Western philosophical categories. *Li* is presented as a complex term with seemingly contradictory implications, encompassing oneness and differentiation, knowability and transcendence of knowledge, goodness and the transcendence of good/bad, and order and omnipresence. This book traces the historical development of *Li* from its antecedents in Confucian and Daoist thought, as explored in a companion volume, through its influence on Neo-Daoist metaphysics and Chinese Buddhism, culminating in its foundational role in Song and Ming dynasty Neo-Confucianism. By examining *Li*, the book reveals an unsuspected range of human thinking across ontology, metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
The reader learns how *Li* functions as a central organizing principle that bridges seemingly opposed ideas, ultimately shaping the intellectual landscape of late imperial China. The examination of *Li* offers a unique perspective on how coherence, order, and value are conceived, moving beyond conventional Western dichotomies.
Key concepts
- Li — A Chinese intellectual concept with seemingly conflicting implications of oneness and differentiation, knowability and transcendence, goodness and transcendence of good/bad, and order and omnipresence.
- Neo-Daoist metaphysics — A philosophical development that examined and incorporated the concept of *Li*.
- Chinese Buddhism — A religious tradition where *Li* became a significant concept.
- Song and Ming dynasty Neo-Confucianism — The orthodox ideology of late imperial China, built upon the foundational understanding of *Li*.
- Ironies of Oneness and Difference — A concept explored in a companion volume that examines Confucian and Daoist approaches to coherence, order, and value.
From the book
Description: Beyond Oneness and Difference considers the development of one of the key concepts of Chinese intellectual history, Li. A grasp of the strange history of this term and its seemingly conflicting implications—as oneness and differentiation, as the knowable and as what transcends knowledge, as the good and as the transcendence of good and bad, as order and as omnipresence—raises questions about the most basic building blocks of our thinking. This exploration began in the book's companion volume, Ironies of Oneness and Difference, which detailed how formative Confucian and Daoist thinkers approached and demarcated concepts of coherence, order, and value, identifying both ironic and non-ironic trends in the elaboration of these core ideas. In the present volume, Brook Ziporyn goes…
Snippet: In the present volume, Brook Ziporyn goes on to examine the implications of Li as they develop in Neo-Daoist metaphysics and in Chinese Buddhism, ultimately becoming foundational to Song and Ming dynasty Neo-Confucianism, the orthodox ...