Latest Posts
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Romney, Bain, and Sunzi
James Fallows reflects upon the Obama campaign's current line of attack against Mitt Romney's past experience at Bain Capital h/t: Sullivan). He writes that the effort is reminiscent of the "swiftboating" of John Kerry in 2004: The effect of this… Continue reading
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A Confucian Constitution for China: Where’s the Popular Sovereignty?
Daniel Bell and Jiang Qing have a short op-ed in today's NYT outlining what a Confucian political system for China might look like. This is a large and complex topic, and the brevity of the piece really cannot do it… Continue reading
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Busyness: It Doesn’t Work
People are talking about the article that ran in Sunday's NYT: "The Busy Trap," by Tim Kreider. It's a fun piece, but Kreider misses an opportunity here: the obvious link to Daoism. Obvious, at least, for those of us who… Continue reading
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From seven years of archives: Disability and Social Responsibility
So, yesterday was my seven year blog anniversary. That's pretty good. Over sixteen hundred posts and still going. I'm not one to wallow in the past; I don't usually bring posts back from the archives. But I think I will… Continue reading
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The US Supreme Court does the Mencian thing
As everyone knows by now, the US Supreme Court voted today to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA), thus allowing to stand President Obama's signature legislative action on health insurance. In doing so, the Court also, unintentionally I suspect, ratified… Continue reading
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Her life is not a tragedy: Zhuangzi understands this
A nice piece in yesterday's Boston Globe by Beverly Beckham about her grandaughter, who has Down Syndrome, and how she and her family came to see the beauty in this girl's life. It is a familiar tale, to those of… Continue reading
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LeBron James, Daoist Sage
OK, not really. But one aspect of the narrative of his NBA championship did bring Zhuangzi to mind (I'm reading Zhuangzi and the Daodejing closely just now, so many things bring Daoism to mind…). Last year, when he failed, James… Continue reading
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The Northern Wei Dynasty Comes to Williamstown
For anyone in the northeast United States this summer and early autumn, you really need to see the new exhibit at the Clark Art Institute in my hometown, Williamstown, MA, entitled: Unearthed: Recent Archaeological Discoveries from Northern China. The centerpiece… Continue reading
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The Mencian Critique of the Terracotta Warriors
Word comes of a new excavation of even more terracotta warriors and figures at the massive burial site of the first Qin Emperor. But whenever I think of Qin and his subterranean army, Mencius comes to mind. And Mencius gives… Continue reading
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Why We Need Chinese Philosophy
I want to recognize, and expand upon, Justin H. Smith's piece in the NYT, "Philosophy's Western Bias." He makes a case for why academic philosophy departments should incorporate more "non-Western" schools of thought in their curriculum. I am all for… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 