Transcendence and Non-Naturalism in Early Chinese Thought

Contemporary scholars of Chinese philosophy often presuppose that early China possessed a naturalistic worldview devoid of any non-natural concepts such as transcendence. Challenging this presupposition head-on Joshua R. Brown and Alexus McLeod argue that non-naturalism and transcendence have a robust and significant place in early Chinese thought. <br/> <br/>This book reveals that non-naturalist positions can be found in early Chinese texts in topics including conceptions of the divine cosmogony and apophatic philosophy. Moreover by closely examining a range of early Chinese texts and providing comparative readings of a number of Western texts and thinkers the book offers a way of reading early Chinese Philosophy as consistent with the religious philosophy of the East and West including the Abrahamic and the Brahmanistic religions.<br/><br/>Co-written by a philosopher and theologian this book draws out unique insights into early Chinese thought highlighting in particular new ways to consider a range of Chinese concepts including <i>tian</i> <i>dao</i> <i>li</i> and <i>you/wu.</i>