Skill and Mastery: Philosophical Stories from the Zhuangzi

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Skill and Mastery: Philosophical Stories from the Zhuangzi presents an illuminating analysis of skill stories from the Zhuangzi, a 4th century BCE Daoist text. In this intriguing text that subverts conventional norms and pursuits, ordinary activities such as swimming, cicada-catching and wheelmaking are executed with such remarkable efficacy and spontaneity that they seem like magical feats. An international team of scholars explores these stories in their philosophical, historical and political contexts. Their analyses' highlight the stories'underlying conceptions of agency, character and cultivation; and relevance to contemporary debates on human action and experience. The result is a valuable collection, opening up new lines of inquiry in comparative East-West philosophical debates on skill, cultivation and mastery, as well as cross-disciplinary debates in psychology, cognitive science and philosophy.

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The essays assembled in this outstanding and unusuallywell-integrated volume all address the role playedby skill across manychapters of theZhuangzi, drawingboth on evocative stories and on more explicit theorizing. Collectively, thechapters establish a new state-of-the-artunderstanding of this central theme,relevant not just to China scholars but also to all students of performance,embodied knowing, and thecultivation of good lives. -- Stephen C. Angle, Wesleyan University

Author Bio

Karyn Lai is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the School of Humanities and Languages. She specialises in comparative Chinese-western philosophical research, drawing insights from Chinese philosophies to engage in debates in areas including moral philosophy, environmental ethics, reasoning and argumentation, and epistemology. Wai Wai Chiu is Assistant Professor at Lingnan University. His interests include pre-Qin Daoist and Mohist philosophy, especially epistemology and ethics. He has published articles on Zhuangzis conception of knowledge, language and efficacious action; as well as Mozis conception of benefit.