What is it like to be a butterfly? A philosophical interpretation of zhuangzi's butterfly dream
Asian Philosophy 17 (2):185 – 202 (2007)
Abstract
This paper attempts to recast Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream within the larger normative context of the 'Inner Chapters' and early Daoism in terms of its moral significance, particularly in the way that it prescribes how a Daoist should live through the 'significant symbol' of the butterfly. This normative reading of the passage will be contrasted with two recent interpretations of the passage - one by Robert Allinson and the other by Harold Roth - that tend to focus more on the epistemological and mystical concerns of the text. As will be argued, the undue emphasis on the epistemological and mystical significance of the passage not only comes to grief when considered in light of philosophical and textual concerns but also obscures the moral dimensions of the passage that are more congruent with the 'Inner Chapters' as a whole.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1080/09552360701445141
My notes
Similar books and articles
The butterfly effect and the virtues of the american dream.Laura Cannon - 2003 - Journal of Social Philosophy 34 (4):545–555.
The Butterfly, the Mole and the Sage.Robert Elliot Allinson - 2009 - Asian Philosophy 19 (3):213-223.
A logical reconstruction of the butterfly dream: The case for internal textual transformation.Robert E. Allinson - 1988 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 15 (3):319-339.
Great dream and great awakening: Interpreting the butterfly dream story.Xiaomei Yang - 2005 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 4 (2):253-266.
The transformation of things a reanalysis of Chuang tzus butterfly dream.Robert W. Gaskins - 1997 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 24 (1):107-121.
Zhuangzi’s “Dream of the Butterfly‘: A Daoist Interpretation.Hans-Georg Möller - 1999 - Philosophy East and West 49 (4):439-450.
Analytics
Added to PP
2009-01-28
Downloads
97 (#129,131)
6 months
4 (#184,465)
2009-01-28
Downloads
97 (#129,131)
6 months
4 (#184,465)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
Sleeping Beauty and the Dreaming Butterfly: What Did Zhuangzi Doubt About?Thomas Ming - 2012 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 11 (4):497-512.
On Becoming a Rooster: Zhuangzian Conventionalism and the Survival of Death.Michael Tze-Sung Longenecker - 2022 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 21 (1):61-79.
The Butterfly, the Mole and the Sage.Robert Elliot Allinson - 2009 - Asian Philosophy 19 (3):213-223.
References found in this work
Philosophical Investigations.Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein - 1953 - New York, NY, USA: Wiley-Blackwell.
After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory.Alasdair C. MacIntyre - 1983 - University of Notre Dame Press.
Thick Description: Towards an Interpretive Theory of Culture.Clifford Geertz - 1973 - In The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books.