Final Exam Questions

Note: You must use Pin Yin transliteration for everything Chinese word except for the names of 20th Century Chinese thinkers.  You may use any resource you wish in the preparation and writing of the exam/paper.

PAPER IN LIEU OF EXAM. Write a paper engaging Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Mozi, Laozi, and Zhuangzi in lively dialogue on the questions of human nature, the relationship to Heaven, the nature of the Dao, on philosophical method and dialectic, ethics, and issues of premodernism, modernism, and postmodernism. Make the debate lively, avoid long-winded monologues, and assume that your interlocutors have all been brought back into the present time with some knowledge of Western philosophy and history. Your paper should be seven pages long and a style sheet should of course be attached.

For your take-home final exam, I will choose four of the following questions on May 9:

1. Where does Confucian and Mohist philosophy stand on the issues of premodernism, modernism, and postmodernism? Do not forget the two types of postmodernism.

2. Where does the Daodejing stand on the issues of premodernism, modernism, or postmodernism?

3. What are the major differences between the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi? Give references to both texts.  You must address the issues of dialectic and premodernism, modernism, and postmodernism in your answer.

4. Explain the difference between the "modern" and "traditional" reading of the first chapter of Daodejing. (Consult the Ellen Chen commentary.) Which interpretation do you think is better supported? "Modern" in this question simply means "new" or "current."

5.  Discuss the issue of altruism and impartial love in Mozi and religious Daoism. How does Michael Scriven's "agapeism" relate to this question.

6. Write a Daoist response to Confucius' argument that we should not return good for evil. (Recall that the Confucians said that we should remain "true" or "upright" instead.) Make sure that you consult a sufficient number of translations of both the Analects 14:34 (36) and the Daodejing #63.

7.  Read and assess the arguments that P. J. Ivanhoe gives for the existence or nonexistence of skepticism in the Zhuangzi.

8.  Explain the role of correlative thinking in the Chinese philosophy and religion that we have studied.  You should review the reading on rationality, "The Great Norm" (Chan, 8-10), the Yi Jing, the Daoist Temple presentation, and "The Diagram of the Great Ultimate" (Chan, 463-65).

9.  Several variations on Chinese cosmology have been presented in class.  Review them all and then discuss the different approachs to the origin and structure of the Chinese universe.