Ohne-Tun und Selbstwandel

In the text “The Principles of a Liberal Social Order”, Friedrich A. von Hayek quotes from Chapter 57 of the Daoist classic Lǎozǐ 老子 (alternative transliterations are Lao Tzu, Laotse, etc.; the text is also known under the title Dàodéjīng or Tao Te King 道德經). Appearing in a text devoted primarily to the concept of “spontaneous order”, the quote opens up questions regarding the relationship between liberalism and Daoism, which I address in this essay. The discussion comprises three parts. In the first part, I turn to the translation cited by Hayek and, by way of a commentary to the translation, I attempt to gain access to the motifs of “effortless action/without doing” (wúwéi 無為), “self-transformation” (zìhuà 自化) and “self-government” (zìzhì 自治); the second part offers a hermeneutic commentary through which I discuss interpretative approaches found in the Chinese commentarial tradition; finally, the third part outlines transcultural correspondences which explore the political meaning of the Daoist “without doing” and the idea of “spontaneous order” in the context of the discursive struggle between the “democratic West” and “authoritarian China”.

MOLECULAR INCOHERENCE, CONTINUITY, AND THE PERFECTION OF THE LAOZI

The Laozi is a well-loved and oft-translated ancient text, whose popularity with interpreters and translators seems to have hardly ebbed in over two thousand years. This is attested in part by the number of bamboo and silk manuscript versions of the text unearthed in recent years from the Warring States (475–221 b.c.e.) and Western Han (221–206 b.c.e.), such that few transmitted Chinese texts have so many corresponding manuscript versions. The Laozi's popularity and relative abundance have also made the text instrumental in shaping theoretical approaches to book formation in early Chinese manuscript culture. In particular, the Laozi has been central to the study of how books were assembled out of pre-existent, stable, coherent molecules of text, or zhang 章 (chapters). Emerging from a case study of Laozi chapter 13, in which interpretive problems of the written commentarial tradition are shown to be continuous with those in manuscript culture, this article re-examines the theory of molecular coherence in the Laozi's formation, showing ultimately that the textual and rhetorical patterns by which zhang cohere internally are created by the same forces that deposit zhang in proximity to one another. Moving from the molecular to organismic level, the article also examines the use of conjoining phrases in Peking University's Laozi manuscript to demonstrate how editors, compilers, and interpreters may sacrifice coherence at one level of organization to achieve perfection at another.

Seventeenth-Century Catholic Reception Outside the de auxiliis Controversy

Seventeenth-century Thomists, with the exception of John of St Thomas, are today virtually unknown. Nevertheless, in their day they contributed to the Catholic reception of the thought of the Angelic Doctor not only by continuation of the commentarial tradition but also by engaging in the intramural Catholic debates in which the Holy See intervened. After introducing the reader to some of the more prominent Thomists of the century, this chapter outlines some Thomist responses to intramural Catholic debates concerning the formation of conscience in light of probable opinions, the nature of our desire for the beatific vision and its compatibility with love of God above self, and the role of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Futuwwa as the Noblest Character Traits (Makārim al-Akhlāq) in Anṣārī’s Manāzil al-Sāʾirīn with al-Kāshānī’s Commentary

This paper investigates the Sufi concept of futuwwa (spiritual chivalry) in ʿAbdallāh Anṣārī al-Harawī’s (d. 481/1089) classic manual of spiritual wayfaring, Manāzil al-Sāʾirīn (“Stations of the Wayfarers”). After briefly taking stock of the earliest statements on futuwwa cited in al-Qushayrī’s (d. 465/1073) Risāla, we take a closer look at the Manāzil’s commentarial tradition, offering a complete translation of both Anṣārī’s chapter on the subject and ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Kāshānī’s (d. 731/1330) commentary. In Anṣārī’s view, there are three aspects to futuwwa. The first aspect is in relation to oneself, the second is in relation to others, and the third is in relation to God. Futuwwa in relation to oneself is to accept trials and tribulations in stride. With respect to others, it is to hold oneself but not others accountable, seeing outward injuries as inward blessings. With respect to one’s relation to God, it is to abandon means and ends, relying on God alone through the heart’s reception, not the intellect’s endeavour. The discussion section offers an ontological-ethical investigation through a close reading of the text and its commentary, then offers a broader perspective on futuwwa, which is tantamount to the noblest character traits (makārim al-akhlāq). In the final analysis, futuwwa symbolises the quality of the spiritual warrior who conquers his lower self to attain the makārim al-akhlāq.

Ravad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay

This chapter focuses on Ravad of Posquières, 'the greatest of Maimonidean critics'. Ravad's Hassagot were a sparsely disseminated work. Throughout the medieval period, when Ravad's influence was both massive and decisive, his glosses on the Mishneh Torah were little known and of less influence. It was Ravad's commentaries that first broke free from the geonic moorings, and it was these exegetical works that heralded the intellectual independence of Europe. His work was less definitive than Rashi's and far less comprehensive, but more original. It was his almost unparalleled capacity to confront talmudic texts unaided, to wrest their meaning single-handedly, that allowed Ravad to penetrate into those areas where no commentarial tradition was available — halakhic midrashim, tractates Kinnim, and 'Eduyot — and to range far and wide over the Yerushalmi and the Tosefta.

On the Sāṃkhyakārikā and its Commentarial Tradition: the Suvarṇasaptati, Sāṃkhyavṛtti, and Gauḍapādabhāṣya

Five of the extant commentaries on the Sāṃkhyakārikā bear strong resemblances to each other. These are the Suvarṇasaptati, Sāṃkhyavṛtti, Gauḍapādabhāṣya, Sāṃkhyasaptativṛtti, and Māṭharavṛtti. Therefore, they are generally considered to share a common origin. These commentaries on the Sāṃkhyakārikā, however, also significantly diverge from each other. This article explores the peculiar connections among the Suvarṇasaptati, Sāṃkhyavṛtti, and Gauḍapādabhāṣya. By focusing on passages that feature metaphors, this article discusses how and why the authors of the Suvarṇasaptati, Sāṃkhyavṛtti, and Gauḍapādabhāṣya may have appropriated portions of their texts or to the contrary dissociated from each other.

Confucius

This chapter discusses how the Analects of Confucius is an assemblage of the master's sayings that, while not offering a systematic account of the good, virtue, or just governance, nevertheless propelled the commentarial tradition of China that sought to codify it. The conversations of Confucius are “infinite” in the sense that they have elicited inexhaustible commentary from the time of their compilation. At the same time, the conversations of Confucius are “discontinuous” because of their fragmentary nature: the material upon which they were written—bamboo and silk—contains the merest traces of the original scene of instruction; the received arrangement of individual sayings can be said to be only loosely organized at best.

Dong Zhongshu (195–115 BC)

Tradition hailed Dong Zhongshu as the ‘father of Han Confucianism’ because of his influential theories that posit a perfect congruence between divine and human realms kept in balance by the true king, who functions as mediator, moral exemplar and lawmaker. Undoubtedly the most famous exegete in the ‘Gongyang’ commentarial tradition to the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals), Dong is also credited by convention with the composition of the Chunqiufanlu (Luxuriant Dew of the Annals), though recent scholarship questions this attribution.

Osservazioni sull’esposizione della creazione del corpo fatto di mente (manomaya-kāya) all’interno del Sāmaññaphala-sutta

This article will analyse in detail some features of a passage which describes the creation of a mind-made body (manomaya-kāya) within the Sāmaññaphala-sutta. The study starts from the translation of the term ‘manomaya’, which could have more than one grammatical interpretation. The point at issue is that both the commentarial tradition and a scholar who discussed this problem (Sue Hamilton) understand the compound with the first term (mano/manas) inflected in the instrumental case. I will argue that an interpretation, according to the genitive case, cannot be completely disregarded. Subsequently, the translation of a couple of terms (muñja and isīkā) will be discussed, having a look to modern translation, to the Buddhist world view, and to the use of these terms within some Vedic texts. Finally, an odd wording of a passage will be analysed, and the comparison with the use of the same passage in a later exegetic text will highlight the conservative feature of the tradition of Pāli texts.