Summary by Steven Garner. Edited by Mark Unno. 1/22/2002

Philip J. Ivanhoe, "Zhuangzi on Skepticism, Skill, and the Ineffable Dao" 639-654 (CR 6)

The article begins by questioning other scholars' views of Zhuangzi as a "profound skeptic" as well as a "strong moral relativist". It then counteracts these claims by explaining how Zhuangzi's views differed from four types of skepticism (sense, ethical, epistemological and language skepticism).

Zhuangzi did not believe that the senses failed to contribute to our true knowledge of the world as a sense skeptic would have us believe. The stories of the "butterfly dream" the "ultimate dream" hint that we can know what is really real when we have the "ultimate awakening". Rather than sense skepticism, the ultimate dream passage describes a type of epistemological skepticism where there is something wrong with the way that we are trying to reach knowledge. The problem lies more so in our state of mind than in the state of our senses. Neither the "butterfly dream" nor the "ultimate dream" stories deny that there is a difference between waking and dreaming, nor do they deny that it's possible to distinguish the two. (642)

Thus, although he questions the ability of merely intellectual (discursively derived) knowledge to grasp the ultimate reality of things, he does believe in intuitive knowledge. In this sense he is a n epistemological skeptic in a limited sense. He extends his skepticism of discursive knowledge to language as well, especially to ideas about what is right and wrong. He doesn't believe that words are capable of expressing the ultimate Tao; however, he feels they can be used with skill to hint at deeper meanings. Thus, he is also a language skeptic in a limited sense.

Zhuangzi is not an ethical skeptic either. He thinks that some people understand not only a better way, but also the "Way". He describes many characters that express the "Way" of living in their actions. His view of moral relativism can be compared to that of Nietzsche. Nietzsche uses perspectivalism to expose the falsity of tradition and the dominant intellectual and spiritual paradigms of his day so that he and other "free spirits" can build a new world. Zhuangzi believes there is an underlying pattern behind or beneath traditional social norms. His perspectivalism doesn't lead to nihilism because he believes in an alternate source of knowledge that can be attained through spontaneous intuitions. Ethics is inherent to the scheme of the cosmos (645-646).

Instruction and training play an important role in acquiring a skill, but they do not exhaustively capture a skill. While Zhuangzi admires skill, he doesn't proclaim a particular kind of skill. He describes characters with a inherent morality in tune with the heavenly or cosmic view of the world, not assassins, or criminals. The idea that the cosmos is inherently moral is shared by Confucianism and Taoism, but the two religions disagree profoundly about how to find that morality (650).