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Vital Nourishment: Departing from Happiness
The philosophical tradition in the West has always subjected life to conceptual divisions and questions about meaning. Although this process has given rise to a rich history of inquiry, it proceeds too fast, contends François Jullien. In its anxiety about meaning, Western thinkers since Plato have forgotten simply to experience life.
In Vital Nourishment , Jullien slows down and begins to think about life from a point outside of Western inquiry, using the third- and fourth-century BCE Chinese thinker Zhuanghi as a foil in this installment of his continuing project of plumbing the philosophical divide between Eastern and Western thought.
The question of how to “feed life,” or nourish it, is the point of departure for the Chinese tradition that Jullien locates in Zhuanghi. Life is something that passes through each of us, and we have a duty to become amenable to its ebbs and flows. We must cultivate a sense of being adequate to it so that we can house it.
Exploring notions of breath, energy, and immanence, Jullien reopens a vibrant space of intellectual exchange between East and West. In doing so, he refuses to commit to a rigid thesis of meaning, and his text unfolds as an elegant process that begins to mirror the very type of thought he explores.
While his inquiry is certainly weighted toward reinvigorating Western thought with ideas from the East, Jullien points out that this approach is intellectually and politically imperative at present. Against the self-help industry, which pursues an opportunistic simulacrum of this type of intellectual exchange, Jullien seeks to create a space of mutual inquiry that maintains the integrity of both Eastern and Western thinking. Vital Nourishment is therefore both a rich intellectual historical journey and a text very much attuned to the philosophical politics of the present.
In Vital Nourishment , Jullien slows down and begins to think about life from a point outside of Western inquiry, using the third- and fourth-century BCE Chinese thinker Zhuanghi as a foil in this installment of his continuing project of plumbing the philosophical divide between Eastern and Western thought.
The question of how to “feed life,” or nourish it, is the point of departure for the Chinese tradition that Jullien locates in Zhuanghi. Life is something that passes through each of us, and we have a duty to become amenable to its ebbs and flows. We must cultivate a sense of being adequate to it so that we can house it.
Exploring notions of breath, energy, and immanence, Jullien reopens a vibrant space of intellectual exchange between East and West. In doing so, he refuses to commit to a rigid thesis of meaning, and his text unfolds as an elegant process that begins to mirror the very type of thought he explores.
While his inquiry is certainly weighted toward reinvigorating Western thought with ideas from the East, Jullien points out that this approach is intellectually and politically imperative at present. Against the self-help industry, which pursues an opportunistic simulacrum of this type of intellectual exchange, Jullien seeks to create a space of mutual inquiry that maintains the integrity of both Eastern and Western thinking. Vital Nourishment is therefore both a rich intellectual historical journey and a text very much attuned to the philosophical politics of the present.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
8 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
François Jullien
174 books112 followersFrançois Jullien, né en 1951 à Embrun (Hautes-Alpes), est un philosophe, helléniste et sinologue français. Ancien élève de l’École normale supérieure et agrégé de l’université (1974), François Jullien a ensuite étudié la langue et la pensée chinoises à l'université de Pékin et à l'université de Shanghai (1975–1977). Il a été ensuite responsable de l'antenne française de sinologie à Hong-Kong (1978–1981), puis pensionnaire de la Maison franco-japonaise à Tokyo (1985–1987).
Il a été successivement président de l'Association française des études chinoises (de 1988 à 1990), directeur de l'UFR Asie orientale de l'université Paris-Diderot (1990–2000), président du Collège international de philosophie (1995–1998), professeur à l'université Paris-Diderot et directeur de l'Institut de la pensée contemporaine ainsi que du centre Marcel-Granet.
Il a été successivement président de l'Association française des études chinoises (de 1988 à 1990), directeur de l'UFR Asie orientale de l'université Paris-Diderot (1990–2000), président du Collège international de philosophie (1995–1998), professeur à l'université Paris-Diderot et directeur de l'Institut de la pensée contemporaine ainsi que du centre Marcel-Granet.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 7, 2015
Vital Nourishment, Indeed.
Jullien's work really is "vital nourishment," and throughout, his philosophies of processive-ness are - in fact - mirrored by the text itself. In other words, this book is not merely an "end" product, "about" his theme, but an evolution, gradually and gradually the book seems to cease being a noun, and become a verb, a flow, in which the reader participates and is informed by.
The above - the book becoming a verb - it is really remarkable to read, and the best evidence of the strengths of his thesis and importance thereof.
His sentences are dense, and you will need to read closely. It is well worth the effort. At the back, he has a useful index of the Chinese words he references, which are an illuminating aid if you can read Chinese characters.
Jullien's work really is "vital nourishment," and throughout, his philosophies of processive-ness are - in fact - mirrored by the text itself. In other words, this book is not merely an "end" product, "about" his theme, but an evolution, gradually and gradually the book seems to cease being a noun, and become a verb, a flow, in which the reader participates and is informed by.
The above - the book becoming a verb - it is really remarkable to read, and the best evidence of the strengths of his thesis and importance thereof.
His sentences are dense, and you will need to read closely. It is well worth the effort. At the back, he has a useful index of the Chinese words he references, which are an illuminating aid if you can read Chinese characters.
April 10, 2020
Une ardue mais lumineuse analyse de la pensee chinoise de ce qu'est une bonne vie, et de comment la nourrir- par opposition à la pensée occidentale issue de la philosophie grecque.
Pour la pensee chinoise ancienne, la vie est un processus, sans but. 'La vie est comme flotter'. Par opposition, la pensee occidentale envisage la vie sous l'angle d une objectif final.
Une analyse rigoureuse philosophique, dense.
Une belle introduction qui donne envie d'aller plus loin !
Pour la pensee chinoise ancienne, la vie est un processus, sans but. 'La vie est comme flotter'. Par opposition, la pensee occidentale envisage la vie sous l'angle d une objectif final.
Une analyse rigoureuse philosophique, dense.
Une belle introduction qui donne envie d'aller plus loin !
February 28, 2015
One of the top ten most important books for my own mental health. Jullien is known for explaining how Eastern thought diverges from Western thinking. The content of this book is very applicable and could almost be classified as "self-help" if read in that way...
July 7, 2008
One of the best books I've read in a decade.
July 24, 2021
A considered comparative work that successfully tries to avoid falling into the easy trap of interpreting Taoist work (in this case the Chuang Tzu) within a western philosophical metaphysical framework. The approach here is precisely to see how Chinese thought challenges our presumed notions of body, soul, and mind. It does so in some quite surprising ways.
February 24, 2025
safeguard your vitality instead of saving your soul. life force is in subtlety and flux. abandon life in order to live long. vitality unfolds on its own into immanence. everything is decided at a subtle stage of pure processivity. life will decide; life concentrates within us and then dissolves at death, we don't have "a life." success should be a result, like the dropping of a fruit, not a goal achieved. relinquish your will!
October 6, 2024
Il tema è molto interessante, nutrire la vita, idem i collegamenti ed i paragoni fra la concezione cinese e e quella europea sempre riguardanti il benessere ed il nutrire la vita. Sulla chiarezza e immediatezza della scrittura ho i miei dubbi, ma è la prima opera che leggo del Jullien.
December 26, 2015
Il solito Jullien che in modo elegante ci accompagna in un viaggio senza precedenti che si snoda fra il pensiero occidentale e quello cinese. Evita accuratamente omologazioni e confronti superficiali. La narrazione è appesantita dall'eccesso di sintassi ipotattica che rende poco scorrevole la lettura.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews