Genuine Pretending: On the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi

by Hans-Georg Moeller, Paul J. D'Ambrosio

Genuine Pretending is an innovative and comprehensive new reading of the Zhuangzi that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D’Ambrosio show how this Daoist classic, contrary to contemporary philosophical readings, distances itself from the pursuit of authenticity and subverts the dominant Confucianism of its time through satirical allegories and ironical reflections.

With humor and parody, the Zhuangzi exposes the Confucian demand to commit to socially constructed norms as pretense and hypocrisy. The Confucian pursuit of sincerity establishes exemplary models that one is supposed to emulate. In contrast, the Zhuangzi parodies such venerated representations of wisdom and deconstructs the very notion of sagehood. Instead, it urges a playful, skillful, and unattached engagement with socially mandated duties and obligations. The Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of what Moeller and D’Ambrosio call “genuine pretending”: the paradoxical skill of not only surviving but thriving by enacting social roles without being tricked into submitting to them or letting them define one’s identity. A provocative rereading of a Chinese philosophical classic, Genuine Pretending also suggests the value of a Daoist outlook today as a way of seeking existential sanity in an age of mass media’s paradoxical quest for originality.

Genres: Philosophy, Taoism, China, Eastern Philosophy, Nonfiction

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Jason Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chinese philosophy (alongside Indian philosophy) is always my central focus because of my dedication to to delivering ancient Eastern thought for modern minds. And when it comes to the ancient Daoist (Taoist) sage Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu) I'll read anything about his philosophy. When people speak about Daoism they often look to Laozi (Lao-tzu) for its gems. But if you have not encountered the genius of Zhuangzi then it is hard to get a complete picture of the depth of Daoism. As soon as I laid my eyes on Genuine Pretending it was immediately on my hit list. And I can tell you that Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul D'Ambrosio did not disappoint. They explain how the classic Zhuangzi text is not a one dimensional text. A lot of people believe the text is either a book on metaphysics, spirituality, strategy, or politics. But the authors believe it is all of the above and much more, especially when we take seriously (or not seriously) the humor component of the text. Genuine Pretending goes into the science behind humor and what that has to do with the spiritual depth of the Zhuangzi text. They have a thorough study of sincerity and authenticity, and how that relates to Confucian thought and Zhuangzi. This book explains that even though Zhuangzi is criticizing Confucian thought somewhat, he is really poking fun at it because of the sincere people we are supposed to become through high moral values and ideals that Confucius believes we should live up to. Zhuangzi skillfully knows these high rationalistic goals are not possible. Zhuangzi explains that in trying to create sincere people we actually create the opposite. Most importantly they introduce the Genuine Pretender, the joker in the pack, which in their opinion is a state of being Zhuangzi recommends for us to be in if we want to be a healthy and sane individual and live in a healthy and sane world. "A genuine pretender develops a capacity to playfully and skillfully enact social personae by looking at things, including oneself, from a 'zero perspective.'"

[Helen Luo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is constructed for the devoted student of the Zhuangzi, and advances a philosophical methodology I am largely sympathetic to: that Classical Chinese philosophy is funny. Indeed, one wonders if the Zhuangzi can ever aptly be interpreted in the absence of its signature quick wit and whimsy. Notwithstanding, the specifics of this thesis were lost on me: I was left unconvinced by the distinction between the Confucian notion of "sincerity" and the contrasting Zhuangzian notion of "authenticity" that propels much of the analysis in the opening chapters, as the argumentative structure of the text was so deeply invested in dense, comparative accounts. Perhaps what was missing in this account was a coherent modern framework on the philosophy of emotion - and moreover a more accessible explanation of what kind of psychological or sociological content 'performativity' has as an ethical system.

The most persistent issue I find in in this work is an issue I see frequently in western approaches to Asian philosophies overall: that they can sometimes entrench an unjustified division between East and West by appealing uniquely to analogical arguments existing within a delimited western canon. In this case, "Genuine Pretending" appeals to classical Greek plays, Freud, German continental thinkers, and so on, without ever really making an effort to situate the Zhuangzi within its sinological context (and thereby also excludes interesting comparatives from every other non-western philosophical tradition).

[E]

Contextualizes & translates parts of the Zhuangzi for the Western audience. But for a book whose main argument hinges on humor, it is written rather too schematically (jokes lose their funniness when explained). Disappointing conclusion on how genuine pretending essentially serves the function of immunity..seems to take the vitality out of humor

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two years ago I took a class on Chinese political theory and the Zhuangzi quickly became one of my favourite books. I think this volume does a great job of delving into the Zhuangzi and articulating my favourite element of it, particularly the playful way the book seems to see the world and the kaleidoscopic way we might wander through it. I enjoyed the contextual contrast between Confucian sincere affiliation with names and social status, which felt applicable to the different sorts of way one might be able to live life in contemporary society. Overall a really enjoyable read and surprisingly unstuffy considering how niche and academic it is.

[Corey Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ludwig Wittgenstein said, “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes."

If this is true, then the Chuangzu is the definitive example. The book is full of humor, the authors argue, and this humor is not merely ornamental but fundamental to its philosophic purpose. Drawing on the philosophy of humor-- including insights from Freud, Kant, Bakhtin and others-- the authors show how the Chuangzu uses incongruence, the carnivalesque, the grotesque, for parody, satire, etc.

This is the book's greatest strength: it not only points out the rather obvious fact of the book's cheekiness, but fully integrates the book's humor into a larger philosophic project.

That philosophic project is to undermine or challenge the Confucian value of "sincerity"-- by which is meant a correspondence between one's roles/names/duties and who one actually or characteristically is (which is to say, a correspondence between names and forms). This project of sincerity is at the heart of Confucius' "rectification of names." For the Daoist (for Chuangzu), this project is doomed from the start because it demands that we "sincerely" adopt as real/natural/normative what is actually socially constructed. The Confucian project of sincerity thereby paradoxically creates hypocrisy, obsessions, stress, and all sorts of other ills.

The Chuangzu thereby employs a whole host of humorous techniques to lampoon and undermine the very idea of Confucian sincerity.

But the goal of the Chuangzu is not to replace Confucian false sincerity with a Daoist true sincerity. It's also not the goal (though many contemporary interpreters assume it is) to replace Confucian "sincerity" with Dapist "authenticity". (The difference between these two seemingly similar terms, described first by Trilling, is that sincerity is public-facing and socially responsible [I.e. to be sincere means to truly be who one projects oneself to be to the public; to truly be, in character, who the social public has assigned one to be, and who one pretends to be in front of that social public] whereas authenticity is inward-facing and private [I.e. one is "true" to one's actual core self, in the face of social pressures to be otherwise]). Instead of "authenticity," the Chuangzu encourages what the authors call "genuine pretending." If authenticity means being true to one's self, "genuine pretending" means that one has no "true" self-- one is entirely empty of some solid, individual core-- and that one can therefore "play at" any and every role without identifying one's self with any role.

This is the spirit of (child's) play, and it is th only way to survive in a hostile world that will conscript you into its violent purposes, try its darnedest to impose a "face" (a fixed social identity) on you, rob you of your freedom, etc. The arch-metaphor for "genuine pretending" is the Joker card: funny and ironic, the card can temporarily assume any value in any particular game, without permanently adopting that value-- it goes back into the deck the same Joker it was before it was drawn. The Joker is the great and flexible opportunist-- the ultimate trump card.

The Chuangtzu is one of my favorite books of all time, and I really enjoyed this accessible academic book!

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another dry scholastic text from some academic paper pusher who needs to justify some wages. The text is also dishonest. It is not a read of Zhuangzi, but the usual what other scholastic writes have assumed on the given theme.

[NosNos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved characters that were "stupid" or "dumb", and now that I can call all of them Daoist sages, my life has been changed for better. I've set myself up the ideal of the wise bimbo, and this was the book that opened up that possibility for me

[Yun Rou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a work of scholarship and as such not to be undertaken either lightly or by the casual reader. It has a particular place in writings about Zhuangzi, at least in my view, in that there is this deep and defining juxtaposition between Zhuangzi (as insurgent) and Confucian teaching and culture. If you think about Confucianists as Imperial folks in the Star Wars universe and Taoists as Jedi, you can inform yourself deeply with this work.

[Seamusin]

Love the idea presented of the genuine pretender, but the intro is enough to see it's dryness will leave me a desert.

[Scipio Akova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.
Loved it.
Go: Read it.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edifying treatise on the Daoist art (and perhaps necessity) of detaching role from self-identity and vice-versa, as illustrated in the Zhuangzi.

[Alex Arcos · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I ever read.