Contemporary scholars of Chinese philosophy often presuppose that early China possessed a naturalistic worldview, devoid of any non-natural concepts, such as transcendence. Challenging this presupposition head-on, Joshua R. Brown and Alexus McLeod argue that non-naturalism and transcendence have a robust and significant place in early Chinese thought.
This book reveals that non-naturalist positions can be found in early Chinese texts, in topics including conceptions of the divine, cosmogony, and apophatic philosophy. Moreover, by closely examining a range of early Chinese texts, and providing comparative readings of a number of Western texts and thinkers, the book offers a way of reading early Chinese Philosophy as consistent with the religious philosophy of the East and West, including the Abrahamic and the Brahmanistic religions.
Co-written by a philosopher and theologian, this book draws out unique insights into early Chinese thought, highlighting in particular new ways to consider a range of Chinese concepts, including tian, dao, li, and you/wu.

Alexus McLeod is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Asian/Asian-American Studies at the University of Connecticut, USA.

Introduction: Arguments for a Non-Naturalist Reading of Early Chinese Thought
Part I: Groundwork-Questioning a Naturalistic Interpretation of Early Chinese Thoughts
1. "Naturalism" in Western Philosophy and its Use in Scholarship on Chinese Thought
2. Rethinking Transcendence and Nature
3. The Naturalist Project of the Han
Part II: Transcendence-Readings of Key Concepts and Texts
4. Does Tian Will? The Debate in Warring States and Han
5. The Relationship Between Tian and Humanity
6. Tian and the Grounding of Ritual
7. Dao and the Propensities of Tian
8. Dao and Cosmogony
9. Dao as Action and Natural Law
Part III: Substance-Readings of Key Concepts and Texts
10. Qi as Substance in the Early Han
12. Chapter Twelve: Qi as Essential Spirit
13. An Essential Reading of Xing
14. An Essential Reading of Xin
Bibliography
Index