In the West, Confucius may be the most admired of all of the Eastern philosophers. When Westerners are asked to give the name of a non-Western philosopher, Confucius is probably the one that would most often be cited. There has long been some debate in the West, surrounding whether Confucianism is a “philosophy” or a “religion.” Similar debates apply with Taoism – or “Daoism,” as they pronounce it here. Regardless, I might mention that this company (Knowledge Products) actually did another audiobook on this same subject. Specifically, it was called “Confucianism and Taoism.” But, to me, “Confucianism and Taoism” seemed to focus more on the two belief systems as religions. By contrast, this audiobook (“Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chinese Philosophy”) seemed to be approaching both belief systems from a philosophical perspective. And, in many noticeable ways, they were trying to capture the richness of Chinese philosophy.
One notable feature of this audiobook is how it generally decides to adhere to the chronology. That is, their chronology is often switching back and forth between Confucian and Taoist history. It turns out that their stories interact and intersect at many points, as they show here. Nonetheless, it may still be correct to say that they’re trying to tell the stories of both systems in parallel. You might expect that the first half of the audiobook would focus on Confucius, and the other half would focus on Lao Tzu – the founder of Taoism. But they choose to go back and forth between them, to better adhere to the chronology. At times, the listener can find it a little confusing to switch back and forth so often. It can also be somewhat confusing, when they talk about how these two traditions interacted with various other philosophical systems to be found in China. For example, they talk about how both traditions interacted with Buddhism, which was imported from India via the Silk Road. They also examine other native Chinese traditions, such as Legalism. But the focus of this audiobook still seems to be on Confucianism and Taoism. And, in many ways, I believe that this is as it should be. Other systems can be covered elsewhere, including in their separate audiobook on Buddhism.
Confucius
This audiobook often emphasizes parallels between a specific Chinese doctrine, and a particularly interesting counterpart in the West. It’s surprising how often one can find these kinds of parallels between the two traditions. Some political history is occasionally given in this audiobook, to give some context for the philosophical developments. Nonetheless, this audiobook seems to live up to its name. That is, it is indeed a history of Chinese philosophy, rather than of something else. I found this to be a more interesting treatment of the subject … than the other audiobook that I mentioned earlier. That is, I preferred “Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chinese Philosophy” to the other audiobook entitled “Confucianism and Taoism.” I suppose that this was because I particularly enjoy it when a particular belief system is approached from a philosophical perspective. As someone who took a few philosophy classes in college, I particularly enjoyed it when various parallels were drawn between the respective histories of both Western and Eastern philosophy. There are certainly some important differences between them, as this audiobook notes. But it’s remarkable how often one can find some similarities between them.
Lao Tzu
This audiobook is part of a larger series called “The World of Philosophy,” narrated by Lynn Redgrave. That series has just one other installment on Eastern philosophy, which is simply entitled “The Philosophies of India.” In many ways, Western philosophy actually seems closer to Chinese philosophy than it does to Indian philosophy. I personally believe that modern China might do well to get in touch with its rich (and ancient) heritage, which suffered such bitter persecution at the hands of the country’s various communist leaders. In many ways, some of the keys to China’s future (as with other cultures) can be found in their past. It may still turn out to be quite relevant for modern China, which would do well to extend its citizens greater freedom to practice their ancestral traditions. This audiobook is a great introduction to these ancestral traditions of China, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in this subject.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Part of an audiobook series
The World of Philosophy
Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chinese Philosophy
Stoics and EpicureansSee also the audiobook series
Religions, Scriptures, and Spirituality
Others to be covered later
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment