Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Daoism, Dandyism, and Political Correctness

Daoism, Dandyism, and Political Correctness

Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten

Hardcover

Series: Suny Series, Translating China

PhilosophyLiterary CriticismTaoism

ISBN10: 1438494521
ISBN13: 9781438494524
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: Sep 1 2023
Pages: 232
Weight: 1.13
Height: 0.69 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

Argues that Daoism and dandyism, linked by likeminded philosophies of carefree wandering, deconstruct the puritanism and political correctness sought by Confucianism, Victorianism, and contemporary neoliberal culture.

How would Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosopher who lived in the fourth century BCE, have reacted to the recent linguistic reforms commonly referred to as political correctness? Zhuangzi was a language skeptic, which means that he did not believe that language could convey the true meanings of the world. Might Zhuangzi have argued that political correctness creates but a dream world made of rules, policies, and words-no more real than when he dreamt he was a butterfly? Written in a provocative tone, this book looks at political correctness through the lens of ancient Chinese philosophy, as well as through Brummell's and Wilde's aesthetic philosophy of dandyism. Several scholars have established links between Zhuangzi and dandyism, and Wilde wrote one of the first reviews of Herbert Giles's English translation of the Zhuangzi. Like Daoism, dandyism does not engage in a Confucian correction of language, instead preferring aimless roaming and rambling. The Daoist carefree wanderer is a flâneur, and both Daoist and dandy deconstruct the puritanism and correctness sought by Confucianism, Victorianism, and our contemporary neoliberal culture. Instead of seeking to induce correct opinions, they seek to liberate the mind.

1 different editions

Also available

Also from

Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten

View All

Also in

Taoism

View All