Synthesized answer
The provided passages do not explicitly state the central thesis of "Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings." However, they do mention that Brook Ziporyn's book, "Experiments in Mystical Atheism," finds a critique of theism within the legacies of Daoism, which includes Zhuangzi [1, 2].
Ziporyn's work proposes an alternative to the divide between theism and scientism, suggesting a "deeper, more thoroughgoing, even religious rejection of God" [1]. This "affirmative atheism" is described as being without a creator or finite creatures in need of one, a "mystical atheism" that offers "godless epiphanies" as a way to renew philosophy [1].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
Title: Experiments in Mystical Atheism by Brook Ziporyn Description: A new approach to the theism-scientism divide rooted in a deeper form of atheism. Western philosophy is stuck in an irresolvable conflict between two approaches to the spiritual malaise of our times: either we need more God (the “turn to religion”) or less religion (the New Atheism). In this book, Brook Ziporyn proposes an alternative that avoids both totalizing theomania and atomizing reductionism. What we need, he argues, is a deeper, more thoroughgoing, even religious rejection of God: an affirmative atheism without…
m Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond Brook <b>Ziporyn</b>. 1. <b>Zhuangzi</b>, <b>Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings</b>, trans. Brook <b>Ziporyn</b> (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing, 2020), 272; slightly modified. 2. E3p27 refers to Ethics, Part ...