Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science

What does it mean to live a good life—and how did ancient Chinese thinkers answer that question two thousand years before the birth of modern science? In this online, self-directed two course series, UBC Philosophy Professor Edward Slingerland guides you through the foundational schools of early Chinese thought and shows why their debates about ethics, spontaneity, and the nature of the self remain urgent today.

No background in philosophy or Chinese history is required. Each course can be taken individually, or save 10% by signing up for the complete two-course bundle.

Part 1: Introduction and Early Warring States (5th–4th c. BCE)

Professor Slingerland guides you through the foundational schools of early Chinese thought—Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism—and shows why their debates about ethics, spontaneity, and the nature of the self remain urgent today.

Drawing on cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, and close readings of classical texts in translation, the course introduces you to the concept of wu-wei (無為), or “effortless action,” and the paradox at its heart: how can you consciously try to stop trying? From the ritual self-cultivation of Confucius to the radical primitivism of Laozi, each thinker offers a distinct answer, and each answer illuminates something surprising about how human minds and societies actually work.

What You Will Learn

• The major schools of early Chinese thought: Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and their historical context
• The concept of wu-wei and why the “paradox of spontaneity” drove philosophical development across these traditions
• Key texts in translation, including the Analects of Confucius, the Daodejing, and newly discovered Guodian manuscripts
• How to analyze philosophical and religious arguments from a non-Western tradition
• Alternative models of ethics, the self, and the relationship between the individual and society
• Connections between early Chinese thought and contemporary research in cognitive science and evolutionary theory
• How to approach historical materials responsibly—drawing contemporary insight without oversimplification

Part 2: Late Warring States (4th–3rd c. BCE) and Conclusion

How did Confucianism evolve from its origins into a sophisticated theory of moral psychology? What can a Daoist philosopher tell us about the limits of rational control, and how did a hard-nosed “Legalist” ideology help create China’s first empire? Part 2 of this series picks up where Part 1 left off, following the major schools of early Chinese thought through dramatic developments and confrontations.

You’ll explore the moral psychology of Mencius, the irreverent wit of Zhuangzi, the cultural conservatism of Xunzi, and the authoritarian pragmatism of Han Feizi. You’ll see how debates that began two millennia ago still map onto live arguments about human nature, politics, and the good life. The course concludes with a broader reflection on what it means to study another culture’s thought in a globalized world.

Part 2 can be taken as a stand-alone course, though students who complete Part 1 first will find the material more rewarding and the arguments easier to follow.

What You Will Learn

• Later developments in Confucianism, including Mencius’ theory of moral sprouts and his prescient views of the relationship of emotion to reason
• Zhuangzi’s Daoist challenge to systematic morality, including his concept of “fasting the mind” and the importance of embodied skill
• Xunzi’s return to externalism and his functional theory of religion—one of the earliest naturalist philosophies in world history
• Legalism and the thought of Han Feizi, and how it helped lay the foundation for China’s first imperial state
• How the Mencius–Xunzi debate about human nature maps onto enduring tensions between liberal and conservative thought
• How to analyze philosophical and religious arguments and evaluate competing ethical frameworks
• What the study of early Chinese thought offers to anyone living in a contemporary globalized world

Who Is This For

This course series is designed for curious adults with no prior background in philosophy or Chinese history. You may be drawn to questions about ethics, meaning, and human nature. Or you may simply be curious about one of the world’s great intellectual traditions. It is equally suited to:

• Lifelong learners interested in philosophy, history, or Asian cultures
• Professionals in fields such as leadership, psychology, counselling, or education who want fresh frameworks for thinking about human motivation and behaviour
• Yoga practitioners, mindfulness instructors, or others interested in the philosophical roots of contemplative traditions
• Students considering further study in philosophy, Asian studies, or religious studies
• Anyone who has read Professor Slingerland’s book Trying Not to Try and wants to go deeper

Meet Your Instructor

Edward Slingerland is Distinguished University Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia.

He earned his B.A. with Distinction from Stanford University in Chinese (1991), his M.A. in classical Chinese from UC Berkeley (1994), and his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Stanford (1998), where he wrote his dissertation on the topic of wu-wei and the paradox of wu-wei—the first major academic treatment of this topic. His research specialties and teaching interests include Warring States (5th-3rd c. B.C.E.), Chinese thought, religious studies (comparative religion, cognitive science and evolution of religion), cognitive linguistics (blending and conceptual metaphor theory), ethics (virtue ethics, moral psychology), evolutionary psychology, the relationship between the humanities and the natural sciences, and the classical Chinese language.