Yang Guorong is one of the most prominent Chinese philosophers working today and is best known for using the full range of Chinese philosophical resources in connection with the thought of Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Heidegger. In The Mutual Cultivation of Self and Things, Yang grapples with the philosophical problem of how the complexly interwoven nature of things and being relates to human nature, values, affairs, and facts, and ultimately creates a world of meaning. Yang outlines how humans might live more fully integrated lives on philosophical, religious, cultural, aesthetic, and material planes. This first English translation introduces current, influential work from China to readers worldwide.

Yang Guorong is one of the most prominent Chinese philosophers working today and is best known for using the full range of Chinese philosophical resources in connection with the thought of Kant, Hegel, Marx, and Heidegger. In The Mutual Cultivation of Self and Things, Yang grapples with the philosophical problem of how the complexly interwoven nature of things and being relates to human nature, values, affairs, and facts, and ultimately creates a world of meaning. Yang outlines how humans might live more fully integrated lives on philosophical, religious, cultural, aesthetic, and material planes. This first English translation introduces current, influential work from China to readers worldwide.

More and more, we present ourselves and encounter others through profiles. A profile shows us not as we are seen directly but how we are perceived by a broader public. As we observe how others observe us, we calibrate our self-presentation accordingly. Profile-based identity is evident everywhere from pop culture to politics, marketing to morality. But all too often critics simply denounce this alleged superficiality in defense of some supposedly pure ideal of authentic or sincere expression. This book argues that the profile marks an epochal shift in our concept of identity and demonstrates why that matters. You and Your Profile blends social theory, philosophy, and cultural critique to unfold an exploration of the way we have come to experience the world. Instead of polemicizing against the profile, Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D'Ambrosio outline how it works, how we readily apply it in our daily lives, and how it shapes our values-personally, economically, and ethically. They develop a practical vocabulary of life in the digital age. Informed by the Daoist tradition, they suggest strategies for handling the pressure of social media by distancing oneself from one's public face. A deft and wide-ranging consideration of our era's identity crisis, this book provides vital clues on how to stay sane in a time of proliferating profiles.

More and more, we present ourselves and encounter others through profiles. A profile shows us not as we are seen directly but how we are perceived by a broader public. As we observe how others observe us, we calibrate our self-presentation accordingly. Profile-based identity is evident everywhere from pop culture to politics, marketing to morality. But all too often critics simply denounce this alleged superficiality in defense of some supposedly pure ideal of authentic or sincere expression. This book argues that the profile marks an epochal shift in our concept of identity and demonstrates why that matters. You and Your Profile blends social theory, philosophy, and cultural critique to unfold an exploration of the way we have come to experience the world. Instead of polemicizing against the profile, Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D'Ambrosio outline how it works, how we readily apply it in our daily lives, and how it shapes our values-personally, economically, and ethically. They develop a practical vocabulary of life in the digital age. Informed by the Daoist tradition, they suggest strategies for handling the pressure of social media by distancing oneself from one's public face. A deft and wide-ranging consideration of our era's identity crisis, this book provides vital clues on how to stay sane in a time of proliferating profiles.

Genuine Pretending is an innovative and comprehensive new reading of the Zhuangzi that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D'Ambrosio show how this Daoist classic, contrary to contemporary philosophical readings, distances itself from the pursuit of authenticity and subverts the dominant Confucianism of its time through satirical allegories and ironical reflections. With humor and parody, the Zhuangzi exposes the Confucian demand to commit to socially constructed norms as pretense and hypocrisy. The Confucian pursuit of sincerity establishes exemplary models that one is supposed to emulate. In contrast, the Zhuangzi parodies such venerated representations of wisdom and deconstructs the very notion of sagehood. Instead, it urges a playful, skillful, and unattached engagement with socially mandated duties and obligations. The Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of what Moeller and D'Ambrosio call "genuine pretending": the paradoxical skill of not only surviving but thriving by enacting social roles without being tricked into submitting to them or letting them define one's identity. A provocative rereading of a Chinese philosophical classic, Genuine Pretending also suggests the value of a Daoist outlook today as a way of seeking existential sanity in an age of mass media's paradoxical quest for originality.

For centuries, the ancient Chinese philosophical text the "Daodejing (Tao Te Ching)" has fascinated and frustrated its readers. While it offers a wealth of rich philosophical insights concerning the cultivation of one's body and attaining one's proper place within nature and the cosmos, its teachings and structure can be enigmatic and obscure.

Hans-Georg Moeller presents a clear and coherent description and analysis of this vaguely understood Chinese classic. He explores the recurring images and ideas that shape the work and offers a variety of useful approaches to understanding and appreciating this canonical text. Moeller expounds on the core philosophical issues addressed in the "Daodejing," clarifying such crucial concepts as Yin and Yang and Dao and De. He explains its teachings on a variety of subjects, including sexuality, ethics, desire, cosmology, human nature, the emotions, time, death, and the death penalty. The "Daodejing" also offers a distinctive ideal of social order and political leadership and presents a philosophy of war and peace.

An illuminating exploration, The "Daodejing" is an interesting foil to the philosophical outlook of Western humanism and contains surprising parallels between its teachings and nontraditional contemporary philosophies.

Genuine Pretending is an innovative and comprehensive new reading of the Zhuangzi that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D'Ambrosio show how this Daoist classic, contrary to contemporary philosophical readings, distances itself from the pursuit of authenticity and subverts the dominant Confucianism of its time through satirical allegories and ironical reflections. With humor and parody, the Zhuangzi exposes the Confucian demand to commit to socially constructed norms as pretense and hypocrisy. The Confucian pursuit of sincerity establishes exemplary models that one is supposed to emulate. In contrast, the Zhuangzi parodies such venerated representations of wisdom and deconstructs the very notion of sagehood. Instead, it urges a playful, skillful, and unattached engagement with socially mandated duties and obligations. The Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of what Moeller and D'Ambrosio call "genuine pretending": the paradoxical skill of not only surviving but thriving by enacting social roles without being tricked into submitting to them or letting them define one's identity. A provocative rereading of a Chinese philosophical classic, Genuine Pretending also suggests the value of a Daoist outlook today as a way of seeking existential sanity in an age of mass media's paradoxical quest for originality.

The Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) or Laozi (Lao Tzu) is the most fundamental scripture of Daoism and a classic of world literature. This new English translation is based on the most recent scholarship in the field and takes into account the ancient manuscripts of the text that were discovered in 1973 (Mawangdui) and 1993 (Guodian) and which date back to the 3rd and 4th century B.C.E. While academically sound and as close to the original as possible, this translation also presents the text in highly readable contemporary English. The introduction explains the poetic imagery of the Daodejing within the context of ancient Chinese symbolism, and a brief philosophical analysis accompanies each of the 81 translated chapters of the Daodejing. In these commentaries, Moeller explains the meaning of the often-cryptic verses in a clear and concise way.

What are systems? What is society? What happens to human beings in a hypermodern world? Niklas Luhmann addressed these questions in depth. This book introduces his social systems theory which explains specific functions like economy and mass media from a cybernetic perspective, integrating various schools of thought including sociology, philosophy, and biology. "Luhmann Explained explores the great thinker's radical analysis of "world society." The book gives special attention to the present-day relevance of Luhmann's theory with respect to globalization, electronic mass media, ethics, and new forms of protest.

Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998) was a German sociologist and system theorist who wrote on law, economics, politics, art, religion, ecology, mass media, and love. Luhmann advocated a radical constructivism and antihumanism, or "grand theory," to explain society within a universal theoretical framework. Nevertheless, despite being an iconoclast, Luhmann is viewed as a political conservative. Hans-Georg Moeller challenges this legacy, repositioning Luhmann as an explosive thinker critical of Western humanism.

Moeller focuses on Luhmann's shift from philosophy to theory, which introduced new perspectives on the contemporary world. For centuries, the task of philosophy meant transforming contingency into necessity, in the sense that philosophy enabled an understanding of the necessity of everything that appeared contingent. Luhmann pursued the opposite -- the transformation of necessity into contingency. Boldly breaking with the heritage of Western thought, Luhmann denied the central role of humans in social theory, particularly the possibility of autonomous agency. In this way, after Copernicus's cosmological, Darwin's biological, and Freud's psychological deconstructions of anthropocentrism, he added a sociological "fourth insult" to human vanity.

A theoretical shift toward complex system-environment relations helped Luhmann "accidentally" solve one of Western philosophy's primary problems: mind-body dualism. By pulling communication into the mix, Luhmann rendered the Platonic dualist heritage obsolete. Moeller's clarity opens such formulations to general understanding and directly relates Luhmannian theory to contemporary social issues. He also captures for the first time a Luhmannian attitude toward society and life, defined through the cultivation of modesty, irony, and equanimity.

Justice, equality, and righteousness--these are some of our greatest moral convictions. Yet in times of social conflict, morals can become rigid, making religious war, ethnic cleansing, and political purges possible. Morality, therefore, can be viewed as pathology-a rhetorical, psychological, and social tool that is used and abused as a weapon.

An expert on Eastern philosophies and social systems theory, Hans-Georg Moeller questions the perceived goodness of morality and those who claim morality is inherently positive. Critiquing the ethical "fanaticism" of Western moralists, such as Immanuel Kant, Lawrence Kohlberg, John Rawls, and the utilitarians, Moeller points to the absurd fundamentalisms and impracticable prescriptions arising from definitions of good. Instead he advances a theory of "moral foolishness," or moral asceticism, extracted from the "amoral" philosophers of East Asia and such thinkers as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Niklas Luhmann. The moral fool doesn't understand why ethics are necessarily good, and he isn't convinced that the moral perspective is always positive. In this way he is like most people, and Moeller defends this foolishness against ethical pathologies that support the death penalty, just wars, and even Jerry Springer's crude moral theater. Comparing and contrasting the religious philosophies of Christianity, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism, Moeller presents a persuasive argument in favor of amorality.

1. Warum mussen wir fur die drahtloseTelegraphie elektromagnetische Wellen verwenden? Fur die drahtlose Telegraphie mussen wir uns elektrischer und magnetischer Felder bedienen, die von Ladungen oder Stroemen ausgehen, die wir am Sende ort herstellen, und die bis zum fernen Empfangsort laufen. Statische Felder 3 nehmen mit der Entfernung r wie 1/r ab. Das gilt sowohl fur elektrische wie auch fur magnetische Dipole. Die ubertragene Leistungsdichte (foe berechnet sich nach POYNTING zu ~ = [Q:. -9]. 6 Sie nimmt bei Benutzung statischer Felder wie 1/r mit der Entfernung ab. Die von H. HERTZ entdeckten elektromagnetischen Wellen sind ihrer Natur nach Lichtwellen. Sie unterscheiden sich von letzteren nur durch die groessere Wellenlange. Die ubertragene Leistung nimmt, wie wir aus der Photometrie 2 wissen, mit 1/r ab. Um die UEberlegenheit der Hertzschen Wellen zu zeigen, wollen wir 2 Stationen vergleichen, die in 1 km Entfernung die gleiche Leistung haben und von denen die eine mit statischen Feldern, die andere mit Wellen arbeitet. In 10 km Entfernung ist die Leistung der Wellenstation auf 1/100, die der "sta tionaren" auf 1/1000000 abgesunken. Die Wellen sind den stationaren Feldern um das 10 000 fache uberlegen. 2. Warum mussen wir hochfrequente Wechselfelder verwenden? Wir werden in dem Kapitel uber die Abstrahlung elektrischer Wellen von einer Antenne die Formel kennenlernen : Hierbei bedeutet: Cf = Feldstarke am Empfangsort AE = Wellenlange r = Entfernung heff = effektive Antennenhohe :;J = Stromstarke am Fusspunkt der Antenne.

Daoism Explained offers an interpretation of the tenets of Daoist philosophy on the basis of the imagery employed in various Daoist texts. The author explains the significance of such images as water and the female and allegories such as the "Dream of the Butterfly," and shows how they connect to each other and how ancient Chinese philosophers understood them. The book also sheds new light on many important allegories by showing how modern translations often conceal the wit and humor of the Chinese original. Written for those who are interested in Asian beliefs and religions as well as for specialists in the field of comparative and Chinese philosophy, Daoism Explained is a comprehensive and fascinating - yet easy-to-follow - introduction to Daoist thought.

Beim Kurzwellen-Funkverkehr ausserhalb der Bodenwellenreichweite wird der fur die Ubertragung brauchbare Frequenzbereich durch den jeweiligen Zustand der Ionosphare bestimmt. Die Elektronenkonzentration und ihre Hohenverteilung in den reflektierenden Schichten bestimmen die hochste brauchbare Frequenz. Die Ionisation in den tiefer liegenden Schichten begrenzt den Bereich durch Dampfung nach tieferen Frequenzen. Die entsprechenden Daten werden von einem weltweiten Netz von Ionospharenstationen durch senkrechte Echo lotungen und Absorptionsmessungen laufend bestimmt. Diese Messergebnisse benutzt die Praxis, um die ubertragungswege fur Funksignale zu berechnen, die von einem Sender ausgestrahlt werden und nach Reflexion an der Ionosphare am Boden in einer Entfernung D empfangen werden sollen. Insbesondere interessieren die Grenzen des Frequenzbereichs, in dem eine Funk verbindung moglich ist. Nach der im angelsachsischen Schrifttum ublichen Bezeichnung wird die obere Grenze dieses Bereiches MUF (maximal usable frequency) und die untere Grenze LUF (lowest usable frequency) genannt. Je flacher die Ubertragungswege verlaufen, desto hoher ist die MUF im Vergleich zur kritischen Frequenz f, die bei der Senkrechtlotung als hochste Frequenz c an einer Schicht reflektiert wird. Bei der Berechnung der ube1tragungswege wird zur Vereinfachung angenommen, dass die Elektronenverteilung in der Ionosphare nur eine Funktion der Hohe ist. Ausserdem werden die Krummung der Ionosphare, der Einfluss des Erdmagnet feldes und die Dampfung vernachlassigt."

1. Warum mussen wir fur die drahtlose Telegraphie elektromagnetische Wellen verwenden ? Fur die drahtlose Telegraphie mussen wir uns elektrischer und magnetischer Felder bedienen, die von Ladungen oder Stroemen ausgehen, die wir am Sende- ort herstellen, und die bis zum fernen Empfangsort laufen. Statische Felder 3 nehmen mit der Entfernung r wie 1jr ab. Das gilt sowohl fur elektrische wie auch fur magnetische Dipole. Die ubertragene Leistungsdichte 0 berechnet sich nach POYNTING zu 6 Sie nimmt bei Benutzung statischer Felder wie 1jr mit der Entfernung ab. Die von H. HERTZ entdeckten elektromagnetischen Wellen sind ihrer Natur nach Lichtwellen. Sie unterscheiden sich von letzteren nur durch die groessere Wellenlange. Die ubertragene Leistung nimmt, wie wir aus der Photometrie 2 wissen, mit 1jr ab. Um die UEberlegenheit der Hertzsehen Wellen zu zeigen, wollen wir 2 Stationen vergleichen, die in 1 km Entfernung die gleiche Leistung haben und von denen die eine mit statischen Feldern, die andere mit Wellen arbeitet. In 10 km Entfernung ist die Leistung der Wellenstation auf 1j1oo, die der "sta- tionaren" auf 1j1oooooo abgesunken. Die Wellen sind den stationaren Feldern um das wooofache uberlegen. 2. Warum mussen wir hochfrequente Wechselfelder verwenden? Wir werden in dem Kapitel uber die Abstrahlung elektrischer Wellen von einer Antenne die Formel kennenlernen: Q; = 120 n Q:: J;.h;u. Hierbei bedeutet: Q: =Feldstarke am Empfangsort AE = Wellenlange r = Entfernung hefi = effektive Antennenhoehe:3 = Stromstarke am Fusspunkt der Antenne.

1. Warum miissen fur die drahtlose Telegraphie Hochfrequenzstrome verwendet werden? Zur drahtlosen Nachrichteniibermittlung miissen wir uns elektrischer oder magnetischer Felder bedienen, die von Ladungen oder Stromen ausgehend in die Ferne reichen. Statische, elektrische und magnetische Felder sind dazu 3 ungeeignet, denn ihre Wirkung nimmt mit 1/r abo . Wir erkennen das am Falle eines elektrischen Dipoles. 1m freien Raum befinde sich eine Stange von der Lange 2 h. An ihren Enden trage sie zwei Kugeln mit den Ladungen +Q und -Q Coulomb. Berechne die Feldstarke im Aufpunkte P. Jede Ladung erregt nach dem COULOMBschen Gesetze eine Feldstarke (\: = _ . _I ""1 4nEo1'2, be ide setzen sich nach dem Krafteparallelogramm zusammen (5. Abb. 1). Die resultierende Feld starj{e wird dann -2Qh (if = 4 n Eo r . Abb. 1. FeldstArke des Dipols. \Venn man in einer schragen Richtung, z. B. unter dem Winkel -D, zum Antennen 3 draht fortschreitet, so erhalt man ebenfalls eine Abnahme der Feldstarke mit 1/r Zwischenrechnung: Das Potential des Dipols ist a l' -hQz 271: 0f/J = hQ az = ----, a-. Als Koordinaten fiihren wir z in Richtung der Antenne und e senkrecht zur Antenne ein. Wir erhalten fiir die Feldstarkekomponenten arp hQ3zt 3hQ. 271: 0(if = 271: 0 at = ] -, -i--= ---ya sm-D cos-D und 271: o(f. = 271: 0 = Q e1' 2 -1) = 1 (3 cosZ-D - 1)] Man erhalt eine solche Abnahme auch fiir statische Magnetfelder strom durchflossener Leiter."

1. Warum mussen fUr die drahtlose Telegraphie Hochfrequenzstrome verwendet werden? Zur drahtlosen Nachrichtenubermittlung mussen wir uns elektrischer oder magnetischer Felder b'edienen, die von Ladungen oder Stromen ausgehend in die Ferne reichen. Statische, elektrische und magnetische Felder sind dazu 3 ungeeignet, denn ihre Wirkung nimmt mit 1/r abo Wir erkennen das am Falle eines elektrischen Dipoles. 1m freien Raum befinde sich eine Stange von der Lange 2 h. An ihren Enden trage sie zwei Kugeln mit den Ladungen +Q und -Q Coulomb. Berechne die Feldstarke im Aufpunkte P. Jede Ladung erregt nach dem COuLOMBSchen Gesetze eine Feldstarke Q: = _Q_ . _ 1 4nEor2, beide setzen sich nach dem Krafteparallelogramm zusammen (s. Abb. 1). Die resultierende Feld starke wird dann -2Qh = 4 n EO, a Abb. t. Feldstarke des Qipols. Wenn man in einer schragen Richtung, Z. B. unter dem Winkel 0., zum Antennen 3 draht fortschreitet, so erhalt man ebenfalls eine Abnahme der Feldstarke mit 1/r Zwischenrechnung: Das Potential des Dipols ist o r -hQz 2ne lfJ = hQ BE = -----;a-. o Ais Koordinaten fUhren wir z in Richtung der Antenne und ( senkrecht zur Antenne ein. Wir erhalten fur die Feldstarkekomponenten orp hQ3z( 3hQ. 2neo = 2ne O( = ] -, . . --= rs smo. coso. o und 2 2neoG: . = 2neo:: = e 2 -1) = hJ (3cos 0. -1)]. Man erhalt eine solche Abnahme auch fUr statische Magnetfelder strom durchflossener Leiter. Nun gibt es a: ber noch eine dritte Mog- . . ."

1. Warum mussen f"lir die drahtlose Telegraphie Hochfrequenzstrome verwendet werden? Zur drahtlosen Nachrichtenubermittlung mussen wir uns elektrischer oder magnetischer Felder bedienen, die von Ladungen oder Stromen ausgehend in die Ferne reichen. Statische, elektrische und magnetische Felder sind dazu 3 ungeeignet, denn ihre Wirkung nimmt mit 1/r ab. Wir erkennen das am Falle eines elektrischen Dipoles. Im freien Raum befinde sich eine Stange von der Lange 2 h. An ihren Enden trage sie zwei Kugeln mit den Ladungen +Q und -Q Coulomb. Berechne die Feldstarke im Aufpunkte P. Jede Ladung erregt nach dem CouLOMBSehen Gesetze eine Feldstarke __ Q_. 1 2 - 4nB r ' 0 beide setzen sich nach dem Krafteparallelogramm zusammen (s. Abb. 1). Die resultierende Feld starke wird dann -2Qh = --_-_ . Abb. 1. Feldstarke des Dipols. 4nB: r- 0 Wenn man in einer schragen Richtung, z. B. unter dem Winkel {}, zum Antennen 3 draht fortschreitet, so erhalt man ebenfalls eine Abnahme der Feldstarke mit 1/r Zwischenrechnung: Das Potential des Dipols ist a_ _ r -hQz 2ne0rp = hQ oz = ----;a- Als Koordinaten fuhren wir z in Richtung der Antenne und e senkrecht zur Antenne ein. Wir erhalten fur die Feldstarkekomponenten Brp hQ3ze 3hQ . 2ne0 e = 2ne0 Be = ] r5 = ----ys smD cosiJ und 2 2 2 eo z = 2 Eo: = h:: e - 1) = ' .? (3 COS1J-1)] . Man erhalt eine solche Abnahme auch fur statische Magnetfelder strom durchflossener Leiter."

Wisdom and Philosophy: Contemporary and Comparative Approaches questions the nature of the relationship between wisdom and philosophy from an intercultural perspective. Bringing together an international mix of respected philosophers, this volume discusses similarities and differences of Western and Asian pursuits of wisdom and reflects on attempts to combine them. Contributors cover topics such as Confucian ethics, the acquisition of wisdom in pre-Qin literature and anecdotes of stupidity in the classical Chinese tradition, while also addressing contemporary topics such as global Buddhism and analytic metaphysics. Providing original examples of comparative philosophy, contributors look at ideas and arguments of thinkers such as Confucius, Zhuangzi and Zhu Xi alongside the work of Aristotle, Plato and Heidegger. Presenting Asian perspectives on philosophy as practical wisdom, Wisdom and Philosophy is a rare intercultural inquiry into the relation between wisdom and philosophy. It provides new ways of understanding how wisdom connects to philosophy and underlines the need to reintroduce it into philosophy today.

Wisdom and Philosophy: Contemporary and Comparative Approaches questions the nature of the relationship between wisdom and philosophy from an intercultural perspective. Bringing together an international mix of respected philosophers, this volume discusses similarities and differences of Western and Asian pursuits of wisdom and reflects on attempts to combine them. Contributors cover topics such as Confucian ethics, the acquisition of wisdom in pre-Qin literature and anecdotes of stupidity in the classical Chinese tradition, while also addressing contemporary topics such as global Buddhism and analytic metaphysics. Providing original examples of comparative philosophy, contributors look at ideas and arguments of thinkers such as Confucius, Zhuangzi and Zhu Xi alongside the work of Aristotle, Plato and Heidegger. Presenting Asian perspectives on philosophy as practical wisdom, Wisdom and Philosophy is a rare intercultural inquiry into the relation between wisdom and philosophy. It provides new ways of understanding how wisdom connects to philosophy and underlines the need to reintroduce it into philosophy today.

Philosophical reflections on journeys and crossings, homes and habitats, have appeared in all major East Asian and Western philosophies. Landscape and travelling first emerged as a key issue in ancient Chinese philosophy, quickly becoming a core concern of Daoism and Confucianism. Yet despite the eminence of such reflections, Landscape and Travelling East and West: A Philosophical Journey is the first academic study to explore these philosophical themes in detail. Individual case studies from esteemed experts consider how philosophical thought about places and journeys have inspired and shaped major intellectual and cultural traditions; how such notions concretely manifested themselves in Chinese art, particularly in the genres of landscape painting and garden architecture. The studies present a philosophical dialogue between Confucianism and Daoism on issues of social space and belonging and include discussion on travel and landscape in Buddhism as well as Japanese and Tibetan contexts. Approaching the topic from an inter-cultural perspectives, particularly East Asian philosophies, and using these to enrich contemporary reflections on space, the environment, and traversing, this unique collection adds an important voice to present philosophical, political, and cultural discourses.

Imagination: Cross-Cultural Philosophical Analyses is a rare intercultural inquiry into the conceptions and functions of the imagination in contemporary philosophy. Divided into East Asian, comparative, and post-comparative approaches, it brings together a leading team of philosophers to explore the concepts of the illusory and illusions, the development of fantastic narratives and metaphors, and the use of images and allegories across a broad range of traditions. Chapters discuss how imagination has been interpreted by thinkers such as Zhuangzi, Plato, Confucius, Heidegger, and Nietzsche. By drawing on sources including Buddhist aesthetics, Daoism, and analytic philosophy of mind, this cross-cultural collection shows how the imagination can be an indispensable tool for the comparative philosopher, opening up new possibilities for intercultural dialogue and critical engagement.

For anyone working in aesthetics interested in understanding the richness of the Chinese aesthetic tradition this handbook is the place to start. Comprised of general introductory overviews, critical reflections and contextual analysis, it covers everything from the origins of aesthetics in China to the role of aesthetics in philosophy today. Beginning in early China (1st millennium BCE), it traces the Chinese aesthetic tradition, exploring the import of the term aesthetics into Chinese thought via Japan around the end of the 19th century. It looks back to early practices of art and craftsmanship, showing how the history of Chinese thought provides a multitude of artefacts and texts that give rise to a wide range of aesthetic creations and notions. Introducing various perspectives on traditional arts in China, including painting, ceramics, calligraphy, poetry, music and theatre, it explores those aesthetic traditions not included in “canonic” art forms, such as martial arts, rock gardening, and ritual performance. Written by Chinese, European, and American theoreticians and practitioners, this authoritative research resource enhances contemporary aesthetics by revealing the possibilities of a Chinese philosophy of art.

Justice, equality, and righteousness--these are some of our greatest moral convictions. Yet in times of social conflict, morals can become rigid, making religious war, ethnic cleansing, and political purges possible. Morality, therefore, can be viewed as pathology-a rhetorical, psychological, and social tool that is used and abused as a weapon.

An expert on Eastern philosophies and social systems theory, Hans-Georg Moeller questions the perceived goodness of morality and those who claim morality is inherently positive. Critiquing the ethical "fanaticism" of Western moralists, such as Immanuel Kant, Lawrence Kohlberg, John Rawls, and the utilitarians, Moeller points to the absurd fundamentalisms and impracticable prescriptions arising from definitions of good. Instead he advances a theory of "moral foolishness," or moral asceticism, extracted from the "amoral" philosophers of East Asia and such thinkers as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Niklas Luhmann. The moral fool doesn't understand why ethics are necessarily good, and he isn't convinced that the moral perspective is always positive. In this way he is like most people, and Moeller defends this foolishness against ethical pathologies that support the death penalty, just wars, and even Jerry Springer's crude moral theater. Comparing and contrasting the religious philosophies of Christianity, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism, Moeller presents a persuasive argument in favor of amorality.

Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998) was a German sociologist and system theorist who wrote on law, economics, politics, art, religion, ecology, mass media, and love. Luhmann advocated a radical constructivism and antihumanism, or "grand theory," to explain society within a universal theoretical framework. Nevertheless, despite being an iconoclast, Luhmann is viewed as a political conservative. Hans-Georg Moeller challenges this legacy, repositioning Luhmann as an explosive thinker critical of Western humanism.

Moeller focuses on Luhmann's shift from philosophy to theory, which introduced new perspectives on the contemporary world. For centuries, the task of philosophy meant transforming contingency into necessity, in the sense that philosophy enabled an understanding of the necessity of everything that appeared contingent. Luhmann pursued the opposite -- the transformation of necessity into contingency. Boldly breaking with the heritage of Western thought, Luhmann denied the central role of humans in social theory, particularly the possibility of autonomous agency. In this way, after Copernicus's cosmological, Darwin's biological, and Freud's psychological deconstructions of anthropocentrism, he added a sociological "fourth insult" to human vanity.

A theoretical shift toward complex system-environment relations helped Luhmann "accidentally" solve one of Western philosophy's primary problems: mind-body dualism. By pulling communication into the mix, Luhmann rendered the Platonic dualist heritage obsolete. Moeller's clarity opens such formulations to general understanding and directly relates Luhmannian theory to contemporary social issues. He also captures for the first time a Luhmannian attitude toward society and life, defined through the cultivation of modesty, irony, and equanimity.