Abstract

This dissertation addresses the fundamental philosophical issues regarding personal identity by exploring the Chuang Tzu's views regarding an apparent conflict between the principles of individuation and interdependence; this apparent contradiction is resolved in Chuang Tzu's organic view of part/whole relations. Also, I contrast Taoist holism with absolute monism on the one hand, and pure reductionism on the other. Both the conclusion regarding personal identity, and the above comparisons are connected with my exegesis of the Taoist concept of wu --which I think scholars have heretofore been unable to explain; my main theoretical conclusion is that for Chuang Tzu "Non-Being" is the indeterminacy of the world--when individuated in the particular person , it is called te . The implications for ethics, psychology, and epistemology are discussed in separate chapters. Further, I show that Chuang Tzu's style and purpose of philosophizing are radically different from our own today in academia; Chuang Tzu is a "dialectical deconstructionist", who declines to offer one simple answer to any given philosophical problem. Rather, Chuang Tzu provides us with a method, which I compare to Derrida, Wittgenstein, and Zen, by "speech act" analysis of their language use. I try to clarify what "philosophy" might be. I suggest that philosophy for Chuang Tzu , is investigation of "the possible", rather than "the actual"; and "comparative philosophy" is progressive synthesis of paradigmatic problems--as inspiration to further thinking and living. I defend the unpopular view that Chuang Tzu is a mystic. These theoretical explorations lead me to compare Maslow, Mead, and Chuang Tzu on the practical level. ;As for methodology, by close study of the Chinese text , I have discovered that Chuang Tzu frequently uses the words shou , nei , shih , and fan in a certain pattern--to argue that there is in each natural entity some genuine core which is "received from Heaven", and "internalized", but is unfortunately "lost", and must be "regained" or "restored". This core is "empty"--and thus mirrors the Tao; in both cases, it is the lack of definition/determination which onto-logically grounds all potentiality