-369 – -286
Zhuangzi (c. 369–286 BCE) was a foundational Daoist philosopher of the Warring States period whose text, the Zhuangzi, ranks among the most philosophically rich and literarily sophisticated works in classical Chinese thought. He developed a radical skepticism about conventional distinctions—between self and other, life and death, waking and dreaming—and argued for a perspectivalist understanding of knowledge that challenged Confucian moral certainties. His influence spans Daoism, Chan Buddhism, and contemporary comparative philosophy.
Authored (or inspired) the Zhuangzi, a canonical text of Daoist philosophy combining parable, argument, and poetry
Developed perspectivalism: the view that all judgments of value and knowledge are relative to a standpoint
Articulated the concept of qi wu (equalizing things), undermining fixed hierarchies of value
Introduced the 'butterfly dream' as a philosophical challenge to the certainty of personal identity
Critiqued Confucian and Mohist ethical frameworks as impositions of artificial distinctions on natural spontaneity