Dialogue between Chinese and Western Philosophy

Through a dialogue between contemporary Western philosophy and ancient Chinese philosophy, this book reveals significant common ground between the two. Despite their many differences, it argues that they hold considerable potential for integration.

The book presents a philosophical system of its own. In the "universally interconnected" cosmic network, every event, object, or person possesses its currently manifest state and an inexhaustible web of connections as its background. In Chinese aesthetic terms, the former is termed "Xiu" (the manifest), and the latter is termed "Yin" (the hidden). In Western philosophical terms, the former is referred to as "that which is present," while the latter is called "that which is absent" (Heidegger described the former as "presencing" and the latter as "concealing"). The latter constitutes, forms, and fulfills the former; it is the source and origin of the former. Every event, object, and person in the cosmos is a unity of the present and absent, a fusion of manifest and hidden.

This book will be valuable for scholars and students of philosophy, especially those interested in the interaction between Chinese and Western philosophy.

Zhang Shiying was a Professor of the Department of Philosophy at Peking University and served as the Director of the Academic Committee at the University’s Center for Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education. His major works include On Hegel’s Philosophy, On Hegel’s Logic, Into the Clearing: The New Orientation of Philosophy. He also founded and served as the editor-in-chief of two academic philosophy journals: German Philosophy and Chinese and Western Philosophy and Culture. In 2012, he was honored with the Peking University Lifetime Achievement Award in Philosophy Education.