Effortless Action: Wu-wei As Conceptual Metaphor and Spiritual Ideal in Early China

This Book Presents A Systematic Account Of The Role Of The Personal Spiritual Ideal Of Wu-wei - Literally No Doing, But Better Rendered As Effortless Action - In Early Chinese Thought. Edward Slingerland's Analysis Shows That Wu-wei Represents The Most General Of A Set Of Conceptual Metaphors Having To Do With A State Of Effortless Ease And Unself-consciousness. This Concept Of Effortlessness, He Contends, Serves As A Common Ideal For Both Daoist And Confucian Thinkers. He Also Argues That This Concept Contains Within Itself A Conceptual Tension That Motivates The Development Of Early Chinese Thought: The So-called Paradox Of Wu-wei, Or The Question Of How One Can Consciously Try Not To Try.--book Jacket. Wu-wei As Conceptual Metaphor. -- At Ease In Virtue: Wu-wei In The Analects. -- So-of-itself: Wu-wei In The Laozi. -- New Technologies Of The Self: Wu-wei In The Inner Training And The Mohist Rejection Of Wu-wei. -- Cultivating The Sprouts: Wu-wei In The Mencius. -- The Tenuous Self: Wu-wei In The Zhuangzi. -- Straightening The Warped Wood: Wu-wei In The Xunzi. -- Appendix 1: The Many-dao Theory -- Appendix 2: Textual Issues Concerning The Analects. -- Appendix 3: Textual Issues Concerning The Laozi. -- Appendix 4: Textual Issues Concerning The Zhuangzi. Edward Slingerland. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 287-345) And Index.