Daoist Phenomenology - (Daoism and the Human Experience) by Jay Goulding (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Jay Goulding's Daoist Phenomenology represents a lifelong project of interpolating the works of Martin Heidegger with the interweavings of Daoism and Zen.

Illustrating styles of reading complex texts from Europe and East Asia, Goulding moves away from horizontal reading of simple comparisons on a single plain to vertical reading as a deep dive of ideas into ancient worlds.

Vertical Reading is hermeneutic strategy that captures the depth of connection between phenomenology and Daoism, especially Heidegger and classical Daoists Laozi and Zhuangzi. His method reveals Daoist implications of Dogen's Zen and draws on writing and ideas from popular culture including Jules Verne, H. P. Lovecraft, Philip K. Dick, George Lucas' Star Wars universe and martial artist Bruce Lee.

Original and wide-ranging, Goulding's interconnected approach to phenomenology and Daoism enhances and promotes further intercultural dialogues between two great traditions in world philosophies.

Review Quotes

Daoist Phenomenologymay serve as the concluding volume of Bloomsbury's recently published philosophical trilogy that explores the relationship between Heidegger, Dao, and East Asian thought. The intercultural dialogue presented in this book, referred to as a "vertical reading," does not signify the end of the quest; rather, it is a new path mark in the ongoing pursuit of inquiry and questioning.
Qingjie James Wang, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Macau, China

In this highly original and erudite 'vertical reading, ' Goulding deploys various philosophical and cultural contexts so that the Dao ? emerges not as an exotic doctrine, but as the way of all beings. The culmination of decades of thinking, this singular work breaks 'the tyranny of the linearity of reading' in order to 'sink down into the warmth of the words.'
Jason M. Wirth, Professor of Philosophy, Seattle University, USA

Vertical reading, with its rigorous conceptual analysis and delicate textual reading, opens up the depth and breadth of the dialog between Western Philosophy and Chinese Thought, advances philosophical hermeneutics, and becomes an exceptionally bright star in the constellation of cross-cultural philosophical dialogs between Heidegger and Daoism.
Kejun Xia, Philosopher and Professor in Renmin University of China, China

About the Author

Jay Goulding is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Equity Studies at York University, Canada.