Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China

A.C. Graham's Disputers of the Tao became an instant classic when it was published in 1989. Graham was the foremost scholar in his field in his day, and this book is still the standard study of early Chinese philosophy. (My understanding was that this title is out of print, so if it is still available, snatch it up quickly.)However, the book is becoming more and more out of date with every passing year. This process of obsolescence is not due to any fault in the work itself, but to the continual discovery of new texts that Graham could not have taken into account, and to the improvement in our understanding of the received texts that the new ones have made possible.

A. C. Graham's "Disputers of the Tao" is an excellent introduction to pre-Qin philosophical argumentation. I would highly recommend it for personal study; it would serve well as a textbook for an advanced-level seminar in Chinese thought. The chapter on "The Cosmologists" has a thought-provoking response to the oft-debated question of why, after such a promising, world-leading start in science, the Chinese fell behind the West in later centuries of the Common Era. My major criticism of this book is that the editing could have been a lot tighter: there are a number of inelegant and often nearly incomprehensible sentences. Perhaps it was thought to honor Professor Graham by giving him free rein to his personal expression, but if so, that was a mistake. Otherwise, this is a wonderful book.