Edward Slingerland is Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages & Cultures and Religion at the University of Southern California (homepage: www-rcf.usc.edu/~slingerl).
"This provocative work is the most ambitious general study of
pre-Qin thought to appear in more than a decade. ...a rich,
stimulating work, full of interpretive insights that shed light on
conceptions of ethical perfection in early Chinese
thought."--Philosophy East and West
"The scope of Slingerland's discussion and his mastery of the
relevant scholarship make the book a useful and learned
introduction to early Chinese thought."--Harvard Journal of Asiatic
Studies
"Edward Slingerland is one of a group of exciting and creative
young scholars revolutionizing the study of Chinese history,
culture, and religion by applying the recently developed tools of
cognitive analysis, especially conceptual metaphor analysis.
Effortless Action is a remarkable work that explores the meaning of
the crucial concept of wu-wei in a depth never before achievable,
showing how Chinese metaphorical thought forms a nexus around this
most
central of ideas. If you care about China, about its culture,
history, and religion, you will find this book extremely
enlightening. And if you are a humanist seeking a deeper
understanding of culture and
history, this book will open up new worlds to you."--George Lakoff,
Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley
"Slingerland shows that wu-wei is a much richer and more pervasive
notion than anyone has ever imagined. His work will convince even
the most entrenched skeptic that it is an important and often
neglected concern of just about every major religious thinker in
traditional China."--Philip Ivanhoe, author of Confucian Moral Self
Cultivation and Ethics in the Confucian Tradition
"The scope of Slingerland's discussion and his mastery of the
relevant scholarship make the book a useful and learned
introduction to early Chinese thought."--Harvard Journal of Asiatic
Studies
"Slingerland shows that wu-wei is a much richer and more pervasive
notion than anyone has ever imagined. His work will convince even
the most entrenched skeptic that it is an important and often
neglected concern of just about every major religious thinker in
traditional China."--Philip Ivanhoe, author of Confucian Moral Self
Cultivation and Ethics in the Confucian Tradition
"Edward Slingerland is one of a group of exciting and creative
young scholars revolutionizing the study of Chinese history,
culture, and religion by applying the recently developed tools of
cognitive analysis, especially conceptual metaphor analysis.
Effortless Action is a remarkable work that explores the meaning of
the crucial concept of wu-wei in a depth never before achievable,
showing how Chinese metaphorical thought forms a nexus around this
most
central of ideas. If you care about China, about its culture,
history, and religion, you will find this book extremely
enlightening. And if you are a humanist seeking a deeper
understanding of culture and
history, this book will open up new worlds to you."--George Lakoff,
Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley
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