{"product_id":"living-chinese-philosophy-zoetology-as-first-philosophy-paperback","title":"Living Chinese Philosophy: Zoetology as First Philosophy - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRoger T. Ames\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eContrasts classical Greek ontology (\"the science of being in itself\") with Confucian \"zoetology\" (\"the art of living\").\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eLiving Chinese Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e, Roger T. Ames uses comparative cultural hermeneutics as a method for contrasting classical Greek ontology (\"the science of being in itself\") with classical Chinese \"zoetology\" (\"the art of living\"), which is made explicit in the \u003ci\u003eYijing\u003c\/i\u003e易經or \u003ci\u003eBook of Changes\u003c\/i\u003e. Parmenides, Plato, and Aristotle give us a substance ontology grounded in \"being \u003ci\u003equa\u003c\/i\u003e being\" or \"being \u003ci\u003eper se\u003c\/i\u003e\" (\u003ci\u003eto on he on\u003c\/i\u003e) that guarantees a permanent and unchanging subject as the substratum for the human experience. This substratum or essence includes its purpose for being (\u003ci\u003etelos\u003c\/i\u003e) and defines the \"what-it-means-to-be-a-thing-of-this-kind\" (\u003ci\u003eeidos\u003c\/i\u003e) of any particular thing, thus setting a closed, exclusive boundary and the strict identity necessary for a particular thing to be \"this\" and not \"that.\" In the \u003ci\u003eBook of Changes\u003c\/i\u003e, we find a vocabulary that makes explicit cosmological assumptions that are a stark alternative to this substance ontology. It also provides the interpretive context for the canonical texts by locating them within a holistic, organic, and ecological worldview. To provide a meaningful contrast with this fundamental assumption of \u003ci\u003eon\u003c\/i\u003e or \"being,\" we might borrow the Greek notion of \u003ci\u003ezoe\u003c\/i\u003e or \"life\" and create the neologism \"\u003ci\u003ezoe\u003c\/i\u003e-tology\" as \"the art of living\" (\u003ci\u003eshengshenglun\u003c\/i\u003e生生論). This cosmology begins from \"living\" (\u003ci\u003esheng\u003c\/i\u003e生) itself as the motive force behind change and gives us a world of boundless \"becomings\" not \"things\" that \u003ci\u003eare\u003c\/i\u003e but \"events\" that are \u003ci\u003ehappening\u003c\/i\u003e, a contrast between an ontological conception of human \"beings\" and a process conception of what the author calls human \"becomings.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRoger T. Ames \u003c\/b\u003eis Humanities Chair Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University. His published works include translations of the Chinese philosophical canons and several interpretive studies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 389\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.87 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 02, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47578663551197,"sku":"9781438499529","price":79.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/jdXTLsG0Xr9781438499529.webp?v=1773508830","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/living-chinese-philosophy-zoetology-as-first-philosophy-paperback","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}