Wandering the Way

Abstract

Abstract The chapter develops a reading of the Zhuāngzǐ on which the characteristic feature of a well-lived life is the exercise of dé (virtue, agentive power) in a general mode of activity the text calls yóu (wandering). The chapter argues that the Zhuāngzǐ presents a second-order conception of agents’ flourishing in which the life of dé is not devoted to predetermined substantive ends or activities with a specific substantive content. Rather, it is marked by a distinctive manner of activity and certain characteristic attitudes. This can be considered a ‘eudaimonistic’ view, insofar as it offers a conception of human flourishing, albeit one that—unlike the views of most Hellenistic schools of thought—may be fulfilled by a broad range of activities and ends. The chapter summarizes the justification for Zhuangist eudaimonism and identifies key features of the Zhuangist conception of wandering. It explores connections between wandering and the prominent Zhuangist interest in the performance of skills, suggesting that skills offer concrete, detailed illustrations of the process of wandering. It wraps up by sketching how the wandering ideal shapes the substantive content of the good life while allowing that such a life may proceed in a plurality of directions.