Although Steve Coutinho's book serves as a basic introduction to pre-Qin Daoist thought, its hermeneutic strategies and philosophical implications cannot be overlooked. Through an overview of fundamental concepts of three Daoist texts, Coutinho offers not only a textual commentary but also a perceptive interpretation of early Daoism's philosophical dimensions. His account allows us to comprehend both Daoism's “philosophical essence” in its diverse historical forms and its continuing potential as an existentially relevant philosophy.
After introducing the fundamental ideas of early Chinese philosophy in a lexical manner, Coutinho investigates the central concepts of three classic texts, the Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. The concepts are not arbitrary but follow a definite order: “from the cosmological and ontological to the existential, epistemological, and political” (p. ix). Coutinho focuses on how relations between the cosmos and humanity are construed in these texts and analyzes their responses to questions of realizing a genuine way of life within the all-embracing cosmos (p. 93).
Coutinho deliberately adopts the methods of hermeneutics and “textual phenomenology” while avoiding Western philosophical terminology. He does not assume that any one central Daoist doctrine is applicable to all Daoist texts. He carefully offers a direct and comprehensible interpretation of Daoist concepts within their own context. This allows Coutinho to articulate differences between these texts. For example, wuwei in the Laozi means “abandoning the artificially imposed structure of controlling things so that their natural tendencies can flourish.” It operates in the Laozi as a political concept. Wuwei in the Zhuangzi means “openness to multiple possibilities for encountering and understanding things.” It functions as a multi-perspectival epistemological concept.
In light of such differences, Coutinho concludes that there is no single essential teaching called Daoist philosophy; there is not “one set of doctrines, an essence, that all forms of Daoism share” (p. 187). The Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi express different configurations of thought that encompass multiple philosophical tendencies. For instance, the Zhuangzi can be classified into “a Zhuangzian mainstream,” “the Utopians,” and “the Syncretists” (p. 188). These diverse philosophies lack one common doctrine but share affinities and family resemblances. For instance, reflections on the potency of the cosmos can be found in the Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Liezi. “Anarchistic” political ideals are suggested in utopian passages of the Laozi and Zhuangzi. The focus on skill, free and easy wandering “beyond,” life and death, waking and dreaming, and not knowing are found in the Zhuangzi and Liezi (p. 188).
The variety of topics and concerns does not imply that Daoism is a chaotic aggregate of proverbs. Coutinho finds a philosophically unifying explanation of Daoist diversity: “circumstances can always develop in unexpected ways, and even produce radically opposed consequences” (p. 187). The underlying message is that awareness of the ever-changing circumstances and transformations of life is a central Daoist concern. Daoism is simultaneously diverse and unified; it discloses multiple perspectives and is unified in its openness.
If there is a central Daoist concern, the basic question is how to be open to all possible answers. The philosophy of skill, developed by Coutinho based on the Zhuangzi and Liezi, provides a good illustration: “the skill that Daoists praise is intuitive, natural, fluid, and of the sort that is essentially nonverbal. It involves the ability to sense, interpret, and respond to the subtle tendencies of the phenomena one is engaged with” (p. 175). Coutinho's phenomenological analysis reveals the basic structure of having a skill: its rootedness in natural abilities and the immediate experience of the thing encountered, and its interconnection with our bodily-perceptual field and the conditions of performing this skill. If the whole life-world is the circumstance to be encountered, then it can orient the art or “skill of living.” In this sense, a Daoist philosophy of skill can become an existentially significant philosophy: a philosophy that orients and enriches our intuitive engagement with our existential condition. This is one possible way for Daoism to be a living philosophy.
Coutinho's textual phenomenology, which attempts to make classical texts comprehensible and meaningful in relation to contemporary philosophical concerns, is thought-provoking and refreshing. This work could benefit from a more nuanced interdisciplinary and historical contextualization of pre-Qin Chinese philosophy. Though it can be useful to distinguish Daoism's philosophical and religious dimensions, they cannot be radically separated without distortion given early Daoism's religious contexts and biospiritual tendencies. The alternative cosmological conceptions found in recently published excavated or discovered manuscripts make it appear problematic to maintain that Daoism's distinctiveness is due to its shift of emphasis “from the human to the cosmic, or from the artificial to the natural” (p. viii). Such historical claims should be interpreted in light of the controversies concerning the complex origins and roles of early Daoist texts in the nexus of pre-Qin thought, as a more multifaceted picture of their backgrounds and family relationships begins to emerge.
