Mind and Body in Early China

Beyond Orientalism and the Myth of Holism

Edward Slingerland

Argues that Orientalist accounts of China as a radical, holistic other are fatally flawed
Uses digital humanities methods to demonstrate that the early Chinese saw the mind and body as separate
Advocates for a view of human cognition and culture that integrates the sciences and the humanities

Mind and Body in Early China

Beyond Orientalism and the Myth of Holism

Edward Slingerland

Description

Mind and Body in Early China critiques Orientalist accounts of early China as the radical, "holistic" other. The idea that the early Chinese held the "strong" holist view, seeing no qualitative difference between mind and body, has long been contradicted by traditional archeological and qualitative textual evidence. New digital humanities methods, along with basic knowledge about human cognition, now make this position untenable. A large body of empirical evidence suggests that "weak" mind-body dualism is a psychological universal, and that human sociality would be fundamentally impossible without it.

Edward Slingerland argues that the humanities need to move beyond social constructivist views of culture, and embrace instead a view of human cognition and culture that integrates the sciences and the humanities. Our interpretation of texts and artifacts from the past and from other cultures should be constrained by what we know about the species-specific, embodied commonalities shared by all humans. This book also attempts to broaden the scope of humanistic methodologies by employing team-based qualitative coding and computer-aided "distant reading" of texts, while also drawing upon our current best understanding of human cognition to transform our basic starting point. It has implications for anyone interested in comparative religion, early China, cultural studies, digital humanities, or science-humanities integration.

Mind and Body in Early China

Beyond Orientalism and the Myth of Holism

Edward Slingerland

Introduction
Chapter One: The Myth of Holism in Early China
PART I: Qualitative Approaches to Concepts of Mind and Body
Chapter Two: Soul and Body: Traditional Archeological and Textual Evidence for Soul-Body Dualism
Chapter Three: Mind-Body Dualism in the Textual Record
PART II: Quantitative Approaches to Concepts of Mind and Body
Chapter Four: Embracing the Digital Humanities: New Methods for Analyzing Texts and Sharing Scholarly Knowledge
PART III: Methodological Issues in the Interpretation of Textual Corpora
Chapter Five: Hermeneutical Constraints: Minds in Our Bodies and Our Feet on the Ground
Chapter Six: Hermeneutical Excesses: Interpretive Missteps and the Essentialist Trap
Conclusion: Naturalistic Hermeneutics and the End of Orientalism

Bibliography
Index

Mind and Body in Early China

Beyond Orientalism and the Myth of Holism

Edward Slingerland

Author Information

Edward Slingerland is Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. His research specialties and teaching interests include early Chinese thought, religious studies, cognitive linguistics, ethics, and the relationship between the humanities and the natural sciences.

Mind and Body in Early China

Beyond Orientalism and the Myth of Holism

Edward Slingerland

Reviews and Awards

"All in all, Mind and Body in Early China is a powerful work of original thought and scholarly prowess, and will undoubtedly take its place among the (modern) classics in the field." -- Jason Morgan, Reitaku University, Kirk Center

"Over the last two decades, Slingerland has established himself as one of the leading voices calling for a greater integration between the sciences and the humanities, and Mind and Body in Early China is an excellent example of an effective implementation of this aspiration." -- Ori Tavor, Journal of the American Academy of Religion