Individualism in early China : human agency and the self in thought and politics

Preface . . ix
Acknowledgments . . xiii
Introduction . . xv

CHAPTER ONE Individual Agency and Universal, Centralized Authority in Early Mohist Writings . . 1
CHAPTER TWO Centralizing Control: The Politics of Bodily Conformism . . 29
CHAPTER THREE Decentralizing Control and Naturalizing Cosmic Agency: Bodily Conformism and Individualism . . 54
CHAPTER FOUR Two Prongs of the Debate: Bodily Agencies vs. Claims for Institutional Controls . . 77
CHAPTER FIVE Servants of the Self and Empire: Institutionally Controlled Individualism at the Dawn of a New Era . . 104
CHAPTER SIX Conclusion . . 121

Postscript: A Note on Chinese Individualism, Human Rights, and the Asian Values Debate . . 131
Notes . . 137
Works Cited . . 189
Index . . 201