The Butterfly, the Mole and the Sage
Asian Philosophy 19 (3):213-223 (2011)
| Abstract | Zhuangzi chooses a butterfly as a metaphor for transformation, a sighted creature whose inherent nature contains, and symbolizes, the potential for transformation from a less valued state to a more valued state. If transformation is not to be valued; if, according to a recent article by Jung Lee, 'there is no implication that it is either possible or desirable for the living to awake from their dream', why not tell a story of a mole awakening from a dream? This would be a more perfect story. There would be no point of a mole awakening since (setting aside tactile, olfactory, auditory and taste sensations for the purpose of the example), there is no way to distinguish between the world of the mole's imagination and the real world that is forever unavailable to a mole. In addition, Zhuangzi relates the story of the coming of a great sage in which it is clearly stated that 'Only at the ultimate awakening shall we know that this is the ultimate dream'. Such textual evidence both from the choice of metaphors and evidential passages indicates that the message of the Zhuangzi is not epistemological relativity, but one of transformation from a state of intellectual blindness to a state of true understanding | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesEwing Y. Chinn (1997). Zhuangzi and Relativistic Scepticism. Asian Philosophy 7 (3):207 – 220.
Amy Olberding (2007). Sorrow and the Sage: Grief in the Zhuangzi. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 6 (4):339-359.
Robert W. Gaskins (1997). The Transformation of Things a Reanalysis of Chuang Tzu's Butterfly Dream. Journal of Chinese Philosophy 24 (1):107-121.
Xiaoqiang Han (2009). Interpreting the Butterfly Dream. Asian Philosophy 19 (1):1 – 9.
Robert E. Allinson (1988). A Logical Reconstruction of the Butterfly Dream: The Case for Internal Textual Transformation. Journal of Chinese Philosophy 15 (3):319-339.
Xiaoqiang Han (2010). A Butterfly Dream in a Brain in a Vat. Philosophia 38 (1):157-167.
Xiaomei Yang (2005). Great Dream and Great Awakening: Interpreting the Butterfly Dream Story. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 4 (2):253-266.
Hans-Georg Möller (1999). Zhuangzi's "Dream of the Butterfly": A Daoist Interpretation. Philosophy East and West 49 (4):439-450.
Jung H. Lee (2007). What is It Like to Be a Butterfly? A Philosophical Interpretation of Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream. Asian Philosophy 17 (2):185 – 202.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-07-27Total downloads20 ( #61,533 of 549,087 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,317 of 549,087 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
