The Useless Tree

Philosophy

  • The Porosity of Culture

    Just want to add my voice to those others (on Twitter) who have called out the nice little piece in the NYRB on translator Red Pine (aka Bill Porter).  For me, it demonstrates some of what I have been blogging… Continue reading

  • The Dao of Inter-Cultural Commensurability

    I've been thinking more about the possibilities of inter-cultural commensurability since my last post on the topic.  A thought has come to me that I want to posit and explore here: The entire topic of commensurability/incommensurability is, essentially, a Western… Continue reading

  • Reply to Eric X. Li: Cultures are not Incommensurable and the CCP is not Confucuian

    Over at the Huffington Post, Rachel Beitarie interviews Eric X. Li, under the title "Democracy is not the Answer."  Li, who describes himself as a Shanghai venture capitalist (which carries a bit of irony, as I will attempt to demonstrate),… Continue reading

  • Confucianism is not a Religion

    Now, there's an attention-grabbing headline.  It seems almost arrogant to so directly claim a clear answer to the rather complex question: is Confucianism a religion?  But I put it up there to insert myself into the perennial debate, which has… Continue reading

  • Yan Xuetong, History and Philosophy

    Sorry for the blog silence – lots of work and distractions.  But I'm back now… Yesterday's op-ed in the NYT by Chinese international relations academic, Yan Xuetong, has sparked a great deal of discussion on listservs and web sites.  Manyul… Continue reading

  • Chinese Liberalism

    Nice to see the piece over at the WSJ by Liu Junning, "The Ancient Roots of Chinese Liberalism."  Liu is a well known Chinese intellectual, and has worked hard since the 1980's to fashion a contemporary Chinese liberalism.  He argued… Continue reading

  • Tennessee Williams and Chinese Philosophy

    As regular readers (both of you) know: I have an interest in theater and recently appeared in a college production of "Streetcar Named Desire."  So, it was marvelous last night to see the riveting production of the same show put… Continue reading

  • Philosophy as a Way of Life

    Philosophy was featured on the cover of this past Sunday's NYT Book Review: two pieces on new philosophy books.  I was particularly taken with one, Sarah Bakewell's review of Jame Miller's new book: Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche.  Bakewell… Continue reading

  • Chinese Philosophy as Kung Fu (Gongfu)

    A nice essay in the NYT today by Peimin Ni, on "Kung Fu for Philosophers." It is, essentially, a brief contrast of the philosophic sensibilities of ancient China versus those of the West.  He uses Kung Fu as a metaphor… Continue reading

  • Generating Meaning for Ourselves

    As is evident from the last post, I am gearing up to teach the classics.  First up, the Daodejing.  I put this first because I see it as an introduction to a more expansive cosmology (compared to Confucianism).  For me,… Continue reading