This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast Richard Kim and Justin Tiwald

Certain allegories and myths offer profound philosophical insights. In the West, Plato's Allegory of the Cave occupies a key role in the history of philosophy with its marvelous representation of the quest for knowledge and the distinction between illusion and reality. In the East, Zhuangzi's story of the butcher, "Cook Ding" has for over two millennia served as one of the most memorable and stunning illustrations of the Daoist conception of the Way. In this episode we are delighted to be joi...

It seems clear that special relationships give rise to strong attachments and responsibilities that are at the heart of human lives. But it also seems that considerations of justice can require us to give equal consideration to a stranger. What do we do when there is a conflict between considerations of partiality and impartiality? In this episode we explore these questions with a special guest, Professor Tao Jiang who is a professor of religion and philosophy at Rutgers University and also t...

In this episode we discuss Confucius's autobiography as found in Analects 2.4, one of the most famous passages in the Analects and a rich resource for reflection on the process of moral self-cultivation. Among the many topics we explore: what Confucius meant by being "free of doubts" and "understanding Heaven's Mandate," and the relationship between practicing and understanding the Confucian Way. We discuss how traditional commentaries and commentators have interpreted some of the most ...

In this episode we discuss the topic of persuasion by exploring a dialogue between Confucius and his disciple Yan Hui in Chapter Four of the Zhuangzi. Among the questions we explore are: (1) Is persuading someone who disagrees with you even possible? (2) Under what conditions might someone be persuaded to a different viewpoint? (3) What is the concept of "fasting of the mind" as presented by Confucius? (4) What kind of power do philosophical arguments possess? Show notes: We used the tra...

In this episode we explore the fascinating topic of Oneness with our guest Philip J. Ivanhoe, a distinguished scholar and translator of East Asian philosophy. Join the discussion of episode 3 here!We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.Co-hosts:Richard Kim's websiteJustin Tiwald's website

In this episode we introduce ourselves and explore the concept of detachment, focusing especially on the Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu 莊子), a classical Chinese text.Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.Co-hosts:Richard Kim's websiteJustin ...