A food safety factory shutdown has Americans hunting for baby formula. Readying themselves for a covid-19 lockdown, Chinese in Beijing emptied store shelves. Emerging from lockdown, some in Shanghai are visiting well-provisioned markets. U.S.-China agricultural trade is booming, but many are still being left hungry. Food security, sustainability and safety remain issues.
Professor Sam Crane Discusses "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life"
Sam Crane of Williams College talks to USCI about his book examining contentious social issues in the US (abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia) using concepts drawn from pre-Qin Confucianism and Daoism.
October 31, 2014
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life introduces the ideas and arguments of the ancient Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism to some of the most intractable social issues of modern American life, including abortion, gay marriage, and assisted suicide.
- Introduces the precepts of ancient Chinese philosophers to issues they could not have anticipated
- Relates Daoist and Confucian ideas to problems across the arc of modern human life, from birth to death
- Provides general readers with a fascinating introduction to Chinese philosophy, and its continued relevance
- Offers a fresh perspective on highly controversial American debates, including abortion, stem cell research, and assisted suicide
Sam Crane is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Williams College where he teaches, among other topics, contemporary Chinese politics and ancient Chinese philosophy. He blogs at The Useless Tree. He gave a talk at USC titled "Teaching Confucius in Beijng" on October 16. 2014. Click here to watch the video.
Click here for the full list of book interviews.
This video is also available on the USCI YouTube Channel.
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