Mental illness complicates views of agency and moral responsibility in ethics. Particularly for traditions and theories focused on self-cultivation, such as Aristotelian virtue ethics and many systems of ethics in early Chinese philosophy, mental illness offers powerful challenges. Can the mentally ill person cultivate herself and achieve a level of virtue, character, or thriving similar to the mentally healthy? Does mental illness result from failures in self-cultivation, failure in social institutions or rulership, or other features of human activity? Can a life complicated by struggles with mental illness be a good one? The Dao of Madness investigates the role of mental illness, specifically "madness" (kuang), in discussions of self-cultivation and ideal personhood in early Chinese philosophical and medical thought, and the ways in which early Chinese thinkers probed difficult questions surrounding mental health. Alexus McLeod explores three central accounts: the early "traditional" views of those, including Confucians, taking madness to be the result of character flaw; the challenge from Zhuangists celebrating madness as a freedom from standard norms connected to knowledge; and the "medicalization" of madness within the naturalistic shift of Han Dynasty thought. Understanding views on madness in the ancient world helps reveal key features of Chinese thinkers' conceptions of personhood and agency, as well as their accounts of ideal activity. Further, it exposes the motivations behind the origins of the medical tradition, and of the key links between philosophy and medicine in early Chinese thought. The early Chinese medical tradition has crucial and understudied connections to early philosophy, connections which this volume works to uncover.

The Dao of Madness: Mental Illness and Self-Cultivation in Early Chinese Philosophy and Medicine

Politics & Social Sciences

McLeod, Alexus

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

The philosophy of Mesoamerica – the indigenous groups of precolonial North-Central America – is rich and varied but relatively little-known. In this ground-breaking book, Alexus McLeod introduces the philosophical traditions of the Maya, Nahua (Aztecs), Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and others, focussing in particular on their treatment of language, truth, time, creation, personhood, knowledge, and morality. His wide-ranging discussion includes important texts of world literature such as the K'iche Maya Popol Vuh and the Aztec Florentine Codex, as well as precolonial glyphic texts and imagery. This comprehensive and accessible book will give students, specialists and other interested readers an understanding of Mesoamerican philosophy and a sense of the current scholarship in the field.

An Introduction to Mesoamerican Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy)

Cambridge University Press

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. 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. 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 tian, dao, li, and you/wu.

Brown, Joshua R.

Bloomsbury Academic

This book investigates some of the central topics of metaphysics in the philosophical thought of the Maya people of Mesoamerica, particularly from the Preclassic through Postclassic periods. This book covers the topics of time, change, identity, and truth, through comparative investigation integrating Maya texts and practices—such as Classic Period stelae, Postclassic Codices, and Colonial-era texts such as the Popol Vuh and the books of Chilam Balam—and early Chinese philosophy.

Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time (Studies in Comparative Philosophy and Religion)

History

Americas

Lexington Books

Understanding Asian Philosophy: Ethics in the Analects, Zhuangzi, Dhammapada and the Bhagavad Gita

Understanding Asian Philosophy introduces the four major Asian traditions through their key texts and thinkers: the Analects of Confucius, the Daoist text Zhuangzi, the early Buddhist Suttas, and the Bhagavad Gita. Approached through the central issue of ethical development, this engaging introduction reveals the importance of moral selfcultivation and provides a firm grounding in the origins of Asian thought. Leading students confidently through complex texts, Understanding Asian Philosophy includes a range of valuable features: * brief biographies of main thinkers such as Confucius and Zhuangzi * primary source material and translations * maps and timelines * comprehensive lists of recommended reading and links to further study resources * relevant philosophical questions at the end of each chapter As well as sections on other texts and thinkers in the tradition, there are frequent references to contemporary examples and issues. Each chapter also discusses other thinkers in different traditions in the West, presenting various comparative approaches. With its clear focus on thinkers and texts, Understanding Asian Philosophy is an ideal undergraduate introduction to Chinese, Indian, Buddhist and Daoist thought.

Understanding Asian Philosophy introduces the four major Asian traditions through their key texts and thinkers: the Analects of Confucius, the Daoist text Zhuangzi, the early Buddhist Suttas, and the Bhagavad Gita. Approached through the central issue of ethical development, this engaging introduction reveals the importance of moral self-cultivation and provides a firm grounding in the origins of Asian thought. 
Leading students confidently through complex texts, Understanding Asian Philosophy includes a range of valuable features: • brief biographies of main thinkers such as Confucius and Zhuangzi • primary source material and translations • maps and timelines • comprehensive lists of recommended reading and links to further study resources • relevant philosophical questions at the end of each chapter
As well as sections on other texts and thinkers in the tradition, there are frequent references to contemporary examples and issues. Each chapter also discusses other thinkers in different traditions in the West, presenting various comparative approaches. With its clear focus on thinkers and texts, Understanding Asian Philosophy is an ideal undergraduate introduction to Chinese, Indian, Buddhist and Daoist thought.

Theories of Truth in Chinese Philosophy: A Comparative Approach (Critical Inquiries in Comparative Philosophy)

Theories of Truth in Chinese Philosophy deals with debates surrounding the concept of truth in early Chinese thought, from the earliest periods through to the Han dynasty. Alexus McLeod focuses first on the question of whether there is a concept of truth in early Chinese thought, giving a critical overview of the positions of contemporary scholars on this issue, outlining their arguments and considering objections and possible problems and alternatives. McLeod then goes on to consider a number of possible theories of truth in early Chinese philosophy, giving an overview of what he takes to be the main contenders for truth concepts in the early material, and surrounding concepts and positions.In addition, the author considers how these theories of truth might be relevant in contemporary debates surrounding truth, as well as in the context of theories of truth in the history of philosophy, both in Western and Indian thought.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McLeod, Alexus. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McLeod, Alexus

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McLeod, Alexus. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Dao of Madness: Mental Illness and Self-Cultivation in Early Chinese Philosophy and Medicine

An Introduction to Mesoamerican Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy)

An Introduction to Mesoamerican Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy)

Transcendence and Non-Naturalism in Early Chinese Thought

Transcendence and Non-Naturalism in Early Chinese Thought

Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time (Studies in Comparative Philosophy and Religion)

Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time (Studies in Comparative Philosophy and Religion)

Understanding Asian Philosophy: Ethics in the Analects, Zhuangzi, Dhammapada and the Bhagavad Gita

Understanding Asian Philosophy: Ethics in the Analects, Zhuangzi, Dhammapada and the Bhagavad Gita

Theories of Truth in Chinese Philosophy: A Comparative Approach (Critical Inquiries in Comparative Philosophy)