Overview

Different Beasts studies conceptions of human and animal identity as articulated in the ancient Chinese text known as the Zhuangzi and in the works of the seventeenth-century European philosopher Benedict de Spinoza. By examining how, in these very different philosophies, notions of humanness and animality intersect with ideas about human unity and solidarity, social order, and social difference categories (such as gender, descent, and ability), Different Beasts opens new paths for understanding Spinoza and the Zhuangzi while also developing methodological insights into the practice of cross-cultural comparative philosophy. Different Beasts critically engages with a long tradition of reading Spinoza together with Asian

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9780197686386

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The volume, although concise, contains succinct comparative remarks on the very different roles reserved for religious thought and practice in the two traditions. It is a strikingly readable and surprisingly original contribution to an essential topic of religious studies. * Barbara Hendrischke, Religious Studies Review *

Author Information

Sonya Özbey is an assistant professor in the Department of Asian Languages & Cultures and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Michigan.

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