A comparative study of cosmology and its dynamics in Zhang Zai and Max Scheler

Shi, Y.

doi:doi:10.60602/1887-4293605

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/4293605

View statistics

Documents

- Download
- Dissertation
- open access
- Full Text
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Download
- Title Pages_Abstract_Contents
- open access
- Chapter 1
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part I: Chapter 2
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part I: Chapter 3
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part I: Chapter 4
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part II: Chapter 5
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part II: Chapter 6
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part II: Chapter 7
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Part III: Chapter 8
- under embargo until 2027-08-25
- Download
- Bibliography_Acknowledgements_Curriculum Vitae
- open access
- Download
- Propositions
- open access

In Collections

This item can be found in the following collections:

Shi, Y. (2026)

A comparative study of cosmology and its dynamics in Zhang Zai and Max Scheler

Doctoral Thesis

This dissertation examines cosmic dynamics through a comparative study of the Neo-Confucian thinker Zhang Zai (1020–1077) and the German phenomenologist Max Scheler (1874–1928). Using an intercultural hermeneutic “bridge framework,” it places their cosmological accounts in dialogue to clarify how differing conceptions of cosmic motion ground ethical orientation.
The analysis shows that Zhang Zai conceives the cosmos as a self-generating, internally coherent process sustained by the cyclical interaction of polar forces. Cosmic order is thus immanent and continuously renewed, without recourse to a transcendent creator. By contrast, Scheler’s late metaphysics understands the world as a historical process of becoming, structured by a persistent tension between spirit and drive. This tension renders the cosmos open-ended and future-oriented rather than harmoniously closed.
These cosmologies entail distinct ethical orientations. Zhang Zai emphasizes self-cultivation as alignment...Show moreThis dissertation examines cosmic dynamics through a comparative study of the Neo-Confucian thinker Zhang Zai (1020–1077) and the German phenomenologist Max Scheler (1874–1928). Using an intercultural hermeneutic “bridge framework,” it places their cosmological accounts in dialogue to clarify how differing conceptions of cosmic motion ground ethical orientation.
The analysis shows that Zhang Zai conceives the cosmos as a self-generating, internally coherent process sustained by the cyclical interaction of polar forces. Cosmic order is thus immanent and continuously renewed, without recourse to a transcendent creator. By contrast, Scheler’s late metaphysics understands the world as a historical process of becoming, structured by a persistent tension between spirit and drive. This tension renders the cosmos open-ended and future-oriented rather than harmoniously closed.
These cosmologies entail distinct ethical orientations. Zhang Zai emphasizes self-cultivation as alignment with an already meaningful cosmic order, whereas Scheler stresses the creative responsibility of persons to realize values within an unfinished world.
The dissertation argues that these views represent two coherent yet competing paradigms for grounding ethics in a dynamic ontology. By articulating non-anthropocentric perspectives, the study contributes to contemporary debates on disenchantment and ecological crisis, rethinking human responsibility within an interconnected cosmos.
Show less

Intercultural hermeneutics