The play of negativity : an exploration of an apophatic discourse in Daoist philosophy and negative theology

[摘要] This dissertation is an attempt to bring Daoist philosophy and negative theology into conversation. The comparative project itself by no means suggests an identification of the Daoist ;;Dao;; with the Christian ;;God,;; nor does it argue for a contrast between a ;;non-logocentric China;; with a ;;logocentric West.;; However divergent China and the West may be the notion of ;;Dao;; in Daoist philosophy and the notion of ;;God;; in negative theology, share what I call a ;;gesture of negativity.;; My project then is a comparative study of a philosophical/theological discourse which deals with the problem of ineffability. I propose that the apophatic gesture is inevitably paradoxical when speech is deployed in order to surpass itself. I compare the notions of wang and wuwei in Daoism with the notion of Gelassenheit in negative theology, and the Daoist wu with Derrida's denegation. I argue that the play of negativity does not suggest the rejection of meanings as such; rather like many other discourses, it participates in creation, construction, and destruction of meaning within particular philosophical and theological configurations.

[发布机构] Rice University

[效力级别] Theology