The Theory of the Self in the Zhuangzi: A Strawsonian Interpretation

This essay investigates the Zhuangzian theory of the self, which has long been the subject of a heated and controversial debate in Chinese intellectual history. According to an interpretation that has been quite prominent since the 1990s, the self in the Zhuangzi is substantial, persisting self; it is a simple, basic object that is distinct from its properties. A substance, generally speaking, is an object or entity that has properties. Substance metsphysicians claim that substances, as primary units of reality, are unchanging entities in themselves that bear changing properties over time.