Fanaticism and the <i>Zhuangzi</i>: The Discursive Conditions for Unhealthy Commitments
This article utilizes the <i>Zhuangzi</i>’s critical approach to language to expand contemporary discourse on the philosophy of fanaticism beyond the conceptual categories derived from European Enlightenment-era critiques of religious and political fanaticism. Recognizing some of the pro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/5/560 |
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| Summary: | This article utilizes the <i>Zhuangzi</i>’s critical approach to language to expand contemporary discourse on the philosophy of fanaticism beyond the conceptual categories derived from European Enlightenment-era critiques of religious and political fanaticism. Recognizing some of the problematic tendencies that stem from the method of comparison itself, an articulation of a post-comparative paradigm is proposed, which emphasizes approaches from non-Western sources that are not predicated upon the comparison of similarities or differences with Western sources. The main body of this article explicates the <i>Zhuangzi</i>’s critiques of a linguistically and discursively conditioned fanaticism. These critiques focus on the following: (1) the interdependence of binary linguistic terms that constitute <i>shifei</i> discourse; (2) semiotic chains of cascading distinctions that confound attempts to ground <i>shifei</i> judgements; and (3) the relationship between unhealthy forms of language, thought, and anxieties and a discursively conditioned fanaticism. This article concludes with a brief reflection on how the <i>Zhuangzi</i>’s critiques of a linguistically and discursively conditioned fanaticism might open discourse on the philosophy of fanaticism in more ways than by merely adding a token Chinese voice. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |