THESIS
2023
Abstract
This thesis aims to expound on the notion of subjectivity in the Zhuangzi through a
comparative analysis by using phenomenology as a theoretical tool. Exegetically, it intends to
outline subjectivity in the Zhuangzi as different selves presented in the commoner and the
sage. Philosophically, it aims to argue against Xunzi’s critique of Zhuangzi being overly
favourable to the value of Heaven over humans. Through a redefinition of the value of
humans as pertaining to the phenomenological features that are essential to humans, and an
investigation of the self of the commoner and the self of the sage, it argues that the self in the
Zhuangzi has two dimensions – the intellectual dimension that accounts for the intellectual
construction of the self, and the phenomenological dimension that und...[
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This thesis aims to expound on the notion of subjectivity in the Zhuangzi through a
comparative analysis by using phenomenology as a theoretical tool. Exegetically, it intends to
outline subjectivity in the Zhuangzi as different selves presented in the commoner and the
sage. Philosophically, it aims to argue against Xunzi’s critique of Zhuangzi being overly
favourable to the value of Heaven over humans. Through a redefinition of the value of
humans as pertaining to the phenomenological features that are essential to humans, and an
investigation of the self of the commoner and the self of the sage, it argues that the self in the
Zhuangzi has two dimensions – the intellectual dimension that accounts for the intellectual
construction of the self, and the phenomenological dimension that underlays the experiential
aspect of the self. Based on this distinction, this thesis contends that Zhuangzi devalues and
rejects the intellectual dimension of the self. In Zhuangzi’s view, it is contradictory to what is
naturally given and it leads to a life of entanglements. The phenomenological dimension of
the self, however, is considered to be the most fundamental and primordial aspect of human
existence. In Zhuangzi’s view, this aspect of the self is part of the naturally given human
features and it is constitutive of the Zhuangzian sagehood. This thesis concludes that this
interpretation of Zhuangzi’s subjectivity as different dimensions of the self accurately
represent Zhuangzi’s endorsement of the value of humans.
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