Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao
Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life
Blackwell Public Philosophy Series

This highly original work 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

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 Key Concepts of Confucianism and Daoism 13

2 Birth 37

3 Childhood 65

4 Work 93

5 Marriage and Family 109

6 Public and Political Life 133

7 End of Life 169

Index 195

Sam Crane is Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Williams College, USA. Conversant in Mandarin, which he began learning while researching his doctoral thesis in the 1980s, he first visited China in 1983, and is a former faculty member of the John Hopkins academic campus in Nanjing. Author of The Political Economy of China’s Special Economic Zones (1990), The Theoretical Evolution of International Political Economy (1991), and the highly personal Aidan’s Way: The Story of a Boy’s Life and a Father’s Journey (2003), about life with his profoundly disabled son, Crane has long been fascinated by ancient Chinese philosophy, particularly the classical texts of the pre-imperial era.