The Useless Tree

Philosophy

  • What is Zhuangzi asking of us?

    I'm reading Zhuangzi with my class.  Always a pleasure, Zhuangzi.  Always a challenge, a joy. The second chapter is one of the most striking expositions of a radical epistemological skepticism that I know (and I admit my knowledge here is… Continue reading

  • David Brooks gets his Confucius on

    In an intriguing op-ed today in the NYT, David Books thinks aloud about the problems of moral philosophy: Socrates talked. The assumption behind his approach to philosophy, and the approaches of millions of people since, is that moral thinking is… Continue reading

  • Is Dao the Sum of All De?

    My posts of late are tending in a rather more philosophical, as opposed to topical, direction.  That is an occupational hazard of teaching Chinese philosophy, I guess.  But I have a rather big Chinese philosophical question to pose: is Dao… Continue reading

  • The Natural Order of Things

    This morning I followed a link posted by Andrew Sullivan that led me to an article by Matt Ridley in The Spectator entitled, "The Natural Order of Things."  Of course you know what I was thinking.  And while I found… Continue reading

  • Arendt and Confucius

    This review in the New Yorker of some books on Hannah Arendt and this post by Peony on Arendt got me to thinking (and that can be dangerous at times).  And that thinking involved Confucius, since I noticed an idea… Continue reading

  • The Politics of Virtue Ethics

         Here's an idea: John McCain is running a virtue ethics political campaign.      Virtue ethics holds that "doing the right thing" is not determined by evaluating the consequences of specific actions or decisions (consequentialism), nor is it a matter… Continue reading

  • Red Star over Purchase

          People sometimes ask me how I first became interested in China and Chinese politics.  Today, C.W Hayford has a post over at Frog in a Well that provides a significant part of the answer: I read a book when… Continue reading

  • “If It Ain’t Broke – Break It”

           We had our graduation here at Williams College yesterday and all the ceremonies went well.  The threatened rain never materialized and all the graduates were duly recognized.  The invited speaker was sculptor Richard Serra, the man who is famous… Continue reading

  • There is a Way to be Good Again

        I watched The Kite Runner last night.  I had not read the book when it appeared a couple of years ago but had noticed the reviews.  The movie is good, if a bit unpersuasive at times.  But what… Continue reading

  • An Epistemological Dissent

          Over at The China Beat, David Porter has a helpful post about the cultural biases that plague American and, more generally Western, perceptions of China.  It is not really a new argument, but a well stated one that… Continue reading