| The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China Revised Edition Contributor(s): Jullien, Francois (Author), Lloyd, Janet (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0942299957 ISBN-13: 9780942299953 Publisher: Zone Books OUR PRICE: $25.16 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 1999 Annotation: In this book, his first to appear in English, French sinologist Francois Jullien uses the Chinese concept of "shi"--meaning disposition or circumstance, power or potential--as a touchstone to explore Chinese culture and to uncover the intricate structure underlying Chinese modes of thinking. He follows the concept from one field to another--including military strategy, politics, the aesthetics of calligraphy, and literary theory--and from reflection on history to "first philosophy." At the point where these various domains intersect, a fundamental intuition assumed for centuries to be self-evident emerges, namely, that reality--every kind of reality--may be perceived as a particular deployment or arrangement of things to be relied upon and worked to one's advantage. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | History & Surveys - General - Philosophy | Eastern - History | Asia - China |
| Dewey: 951.001 |
| LCCN: 94030660 |
| Series: Zone Books |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 5.9" W x 8.9" (1.10 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Chinese |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In this strikingly original contribution to our understanding of Chinese philosophy, Fran ois Jullien uses the Chinese concept of shi -- disposition or circumstance, power or potential -- as a touchstone to explore Chinese culture and to uncover the intricate and coherent structure underlying Chinese modes of thinking. This term -- whose very ambivalence and disconcerting polysemy, on the one hand, and simple efficacy, on the other, defy the order of a concept -- insinuates itself into the ordering and conditioning of reality in all its manifold and complex representations. Jullien traces its appearance from military strategy to politics, from the aesthetics of calligraphy and painting to the theory of literature, and from reflection on history to "first philosophy." At the point where these various domains intersect, a fundamental intuition, assumed to be self-evident for centuries on end, emerges: namely, that reality -- every kind of reality -- may be perceived as a particular deployment or arrangement of things to be relied upon and worked to one's advantage. Art or wisdom, as conceived by the Chinese, lies in strategically exploiting the propensity that emanates from this particular configuration of reality. Jullien's analysis of shi and his excursion through Chinese culture ultimately deepen our own comprehension of the world of things and renew the impulse to discover the endless pleasures of inquiry. |
Contributor Bio(s): Lloyd, Janet: - Janet Lloyd is a translator and writer living in England.Jullien, Francois: - François Jullien is Professor at the Université Paris VII-Denis Diderot and director at the Institut de la Pensée Contemporaine. He is the author of Detour and Access: Strategies of Meaning in China and Greece, The Propensity of Things: Toward a History of Efficacy in China, and In Praise of Blandness: Proceeding from Chinese Thought and Aesthetics all published by Zone Books. |