Introduction to Chinese Philosophy

This open educational resource contains PowerPoint slides for a lifelong learning course which introduces the major schools of classical Chinese philosophy, including Confucianism and Daoism. Philosophical texts are approached in English translation, focusing on how the ancient Chinese thought about philosophical topics which concern us today. The course is intended for adult learners and taught at university foundation level (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 7).

Introduction to Chinese Philosophy is offered as part of the Short Courses programme at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Open Learning. More information on our Short Courses can be found on our website.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course, students will be able to:

• identify different approaches in classical Chinese philosophy;
• describe the positions of Chinese philosophers on philosophical issues;
• read and analyse extracts of Chinese philosophical texts in English translation.

Content

This resource bundle includes four PowerPoint presentations. Please click the links below to download them.

• Confucianism I: General Background and the Analects
• Confucianism II: Mencius and Xunzi
• Daoism I: Daodejing
• Daoism II: Zhuangzi

Author: Lee Wilson

All content is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Cover image: silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon, public domain image on Wikimedia Commons.