Edward Slingerland

Professor of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia.

Edward is a Professor of Asian Studies and Canada Research Chair in Chinese Thought and Embodied Cognition at the University of British Columbia. Born in New Jersey and educated at Princeton, Stanford and UC Berkeley, he specialize academically in early Chinese thought, comparative religion and cognitive science of religion, cognitive linguistics, and humanities-science integration. He’s the author of academic monographs and edited volumes from Oxford and Cambridge University Press on these topics, as well as a translation of the Analects of Confucius, and approximately fifty book chapters, reviews, and articles in academic journals in a wide range of fields, from cognitive science and linguistics to Asian studies, philosophy, religious studies and international relations.

PhilosophersNotes on Edward Slingerland's Books All PhilosophersNotes

Trying Not to Try

Ancient China, Modern Science, and the Power of Spontaneity

by Edward Slingerland

Edward Slingerland is one of the world’s leading experts on both ancient Chinese thought AND modern cognitive science. This book is a melding of those two realms. It’s a truly fascinating read. I read it in a day and felt like I was spending the day hanging out with a brilliant thinker—getting privileged access to twenty years of deep thinking. If you’re into ancient wisdom and modern science I think you’ll love the book as much as I did. Big Ideas we explore include defining wu-wei + de (one of the coolest words/concepts ever), what Confucius + Lao Tzu + Mencius + Chuang Tzu have to say about wu-wei, and the spontaneity of mirrors.