New Pathways into Early Daoist Philosophy

Dear Colleagues,

Laozi and Zhuangzi are recognized as the important and possibly the exclusive authentic spokespersons for pre-Qin Dynasty Daoist philosophy (先秦道家xianqin daojia), which is often referred to in the West as early Daoist philosophy. Their works led the way to a variety of later Daoist traditions, including Huang-Lao Daoism and Tianshi Daoism, both of which developed throughout the course of the Han Dynasty. Since that time, early Daoist philosophy has mostly become a known quantity as consequence of several long-standing trends: Confucian philosophers have peripheralized it, Westerner philosophers have simplified it, sinologists have separated it (into religion or philosophy), and contemporary practitioners have popularized it.

The 1972 discovery of the Mawangdui Laozi manuscripts, followed by the discovery of the 1992 Guodian Laozimanuscripts, have taken a long time to appreciate, largely as they announced an early Daoist philosophy that was in deep tension with long-standing and familiarized understandings of it. However, the deeper engagements with early Daoist philosophy that these excavated texts have instigated is steadily coming into focus, and the new pathways into its philosophical profundity are opening new avenues of approach for thinkers better equipped to penetrate it than those of the past. These new pathways offer a viable means for early Daoist philosophy to take its long-awaited position at the front ranks of world philosophy, where it promises to make fundamental contributions. 

Central among the many fundamental contributions of early Daoist philosophy is that it calls us to re-evaluate some of our most cherished conceptions about its many components. Early Daoist philosophy begins with the similar understandings of the Dao maintained by Laozi and Zhuangzi: often reckoned among philosophers and sinologists as the unchanging and eternal source and origin of the cosmos, these new pathways into early Daoist philosophy paint a very different picture of the Dao that is radically anti-metaphysical. One consequence of this is to challenge us to rethink the ways in which we apply or deny categories that are intended to demonstrate early Daoist philosophy, including phenomenology, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and well-being and happiness.

We therefore seek articles for this Special Issue which explore, develop, and pursue these new pathways into the early Daoist philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi. We strongly encourage papers that both focus on the original Daoist philosophical thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi and that also demonstrate the values of their potential fundamental contributions to contemporary philosophical issues in the twenty-first century. 

Dr. Thomas Michael
Prof. Dr. Robin Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• early Daoist philosophy
• Laozi and Daodejing
• Zhuangzi