Who is a wise person? Zhuangzi and epistemological discussions of wisdom

• Main Authors: RYAN, Shane, LAI, Karyn
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
• Subjects: Chinese philosophy; Daoism; Zhuangzi; wisdom; Epistemology; Theory and Philosophy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3661; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4919/viewcontent/Who_is_a_Wise_Person_Zhuangzi_and_Episte.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This essay articulates the contribution that the Zhuangzi can make to contemporary epistemological discussions of wisdom. It suggests that wisdom in the Zhuangzi involves, in part, correctly distinguishing the "heavenly" (or the naturally given) from human artifice. It is important for humanity to understand naturally given conditions (e.g., seasons, climate, forces, mortality) to grasp what is within, and what beyond, our initiatives. To enable this, we need to be openly engaged with the world, rather than approach it with rigid convictions about outcomes or goals. We characterize such openness and readiness to engage as an attitude, that of "epistemic humility." In building up our position, we assess two themes in analytic philosophical debates on wisdom: the epistemic component of wisdom and the domain of wisdom. This helps establish what we believe is an important contribution of the Zhuangzi to the discussion on wisdom, that is, the wise person's epistemic humility.