Abstract
This essay argues for a new interpretation of the notion of “unity” in Yangming’s 王陽明 famous doctrine of the “unity of knowledge and action” (zhi xing he yi 知行合一). I distinguish two parts of Wang’s doctrine: one concerning training (gong fu 工夫), and one concerning the “original natural condition” of knowledge and action (ben ti 本體). I focus on the latter aspect of the doctrine, and argue that Wang holds, roughly, that a person exhibits knowledge in its original natural condition if and only if the person exhibits action in its original natural condition. Moreover, I argue that Wang denies that knowledge in its original natural condition is identical to action in its original natural condition.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to Suhyun Ahn, P. J. Ivanhoe, Justin Tiwald, and Hwa Yeong Wang for detailed comments. Thanks also to two referees and especially Huang Yong as editor of this journal for many suggestions and criticisms.
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Lederman, H. What Is the “Unity” in the “Unity of Knowledge and Action”?. Dao 21, 569–603 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-022-09853-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-022-09853-9