Abstract
The present article presents Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (1619-1692 C.E.)’s reading of the eighteenth chapter of the Zhuang-Zi 莊子 (ZZ) by looking at his entry from Zhuang-Zi-Tong 莊子通 and other key glosses from Zhuang-Zi-Jie 莊子解. The philosophical upshot, I aim to show, is that Wang takes ZZ as presenting the consummation of “the greatest joyousness” (zhi-le 至樂) as requiring getting rid of joyousness as one’s desideratum. Using Derek Parfit’s work as a point of reference, I aim to show that this is not paradoxical or even inconsistent or even (directly or indirectly) self-defeating but is instead an interesting instance of a self-effacing theory.
Recommended Citation
WILLIAMS, John R.
(2023)
"Zhuang Zi and the “Greatest Joyousness”: Wang Fuzhi’s Approach,"
Comparative Philosophy: Vol. 14:
Iss.
2, Article 10.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/comparativephilosophy/vol14/iss2/10
Included in
Chinese Studies Commons, Comparative Philosophy Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, History of Philosophy Commons
