New Books Network Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Overview

Episode Title:
Shuchen Xiang, "Chinese Cosmopolitanism: The History and Philosophy of an Idea" (Princeton UP, 2023)

Host: Jessica Zhu (Assistant Professor of Religion, University of Southern California)
Guest: Shu Chen Xiang (Mount Hua Professor of Philosophy, Xidian University)
Date: January 4, 2026

This episode delves into Shu Chen Xiang’s book Chinese Cosmopolitanism: The History and Philosophy of an Idea, a deep exploration of Chinese philosophical traditions and their capacity to provide alternative paradigms for understanding pluralism, difference, cosmopolitanism, and post-racial futures. Xiang critiques Eurocentric thought, reevaluates race and ontology, and advocates for dynamic, comparative philosophy rooted in respectful engagement across traditions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Shu Chen Xiang’s Background and Approach

• Xiang works across world philosophies, including Chinese, Western, Latin American, Africana, and Islamic traditions, with a core concern for how humans deal with difference.
• Exposure to critical philosophy of race during her graduate studies in the US significantly influenced her work.
• Her new book extends earlier work on Confucian views of culture by explicitly addressing politics, race, and difference and using critical race theory tools.

"Chinese philosophy has the conceptual resources to provide alternative paradigms to thinking about pluralism, which has never been more needed than in our current era."
—Jessica Zhu, 08:47

Introductory Themes: Western Racism and Comparative Philosophy (12:10–24:53)

1. Singularity of Western Racism (12:10)

• Xiang frames Western racism as a historical fact, not theoretical assertion.
  • European imperialism caused unprecedented destruction: genocide of Native Americans, transatlantic slave trade, settler colonial exterminations, and global colonial domination.
  • The Greek concept of the barbarian is central to understanding the origins of Western racism.
  • Racism is not a universal or timeless phenomenon but rather a culturally contingent worldview.

"No other tradition...has put so much destruction onto the human species as what we call the Western tradition."
—Shu Chen, 12:16

2. Epistemology of Ignorance and Universalization of Western Racism (18:59)

• Epistemology of Ignorance (term by Charles Mills): A deliberate or unconscious social reality structured along racial lines, obscured by self-deception, which prevents acknowledging white privilege and the history of racial exploitation.
• Universalization: The way Western approaches and worldviews have been internalized globally, including by non-whites, through education and hegemonic knowledge production.
  • Example: Attributing Western/colonial power to "institutions" rather than exploitation of others is a form of this ignorance.

"The epistemology of ignorance is a self-deception that is blind to or denies the reality of how racial hierarchy materially and epistemically shapes our world."
—Shu Chen, 19:42

3. New Model of Comparative Philosophy (24:08)

• Xiang proposes a "company of others" approach:
  1. Respecting the uniqueness of each tradition.
  2. Enriching one another through differences.
  3. Seeing difference as enriching, not threatening.
  4. Maintaining openness to change via engagement.
• Chinese metaphysics (I Ching/Book of Change) is rooted in organic life, interaction, and the necessity of difference for vitality, contrasting with the Greek valorization of permanence.
• Culture and personal identity, from a processual view, are about coherent continuity through change, not static essence.

"Difference equals life, identity equals death."
—Interviewer, 30:08

Ch. 1: Pluralism and the Myth of a Monolithic Chineseness (30:44–36:44)

• Challenges the "fallacy of signification"—the belief in a homogeneous, static Chinese identity.
• Chinese longevity as a civilization is premised on pluralism, not sameness: "harmony out of diversity."
• Harmony in Chinese thought is not about conformity to a pre-given pattern but about creative, mutually beneficial interaction, much like jazz improvisation.

"Whatever China was able to embrace and organize into itself, that becomes Chinese... The Chinese tradition always viewed this ability to embrace difference as foundational to Chinese stability."
—Shu Chen, 32:17, 33:00

Ch. 2: The Barbarian in Western Imagination (36:44–50:43)

• The Greek concept of the "barbarian" established civilization through establishing and destroying an ontological other.
  • The "barbarian" isn't a real group but a conceptual contrast to establish civilization’s radical autonomy.
  • The act of eradicating the other, within this worldview, constituted the identity of the "civilized."
  • This is maintained in modern white supremacist and colonial discourses.

"The barbarian is thus not a relational concept... The destruction of the barbarian takes precedence to civilization and is the more important element..."
—Shu Chen, 41:44

• Baldwin’s existentialist analysis of racism is influential for Xiang: recognition of our universal mortality and relatedness is the antidote to the compulsion to create and destroy the ‘barbarian.’

“The only way to be rid of this kind of racial ideology, racial malaise, is to admit that we are all conditioned and to realize that... we all suffer ... mortality and loss.”
—Shu Chen, 45:43

Ch. 3: Chinese Processual Holism—Animals, Demons, and Human Identity (50:43–56:04)

• Processual holism: All things are defined by their relationships and capacity for change; not by immutable essences.
  • Example: Classic ghost story Nie Xiaoqian—the ghost becomes human through participation in human life, illustrating how identity transforms through interaction and acculturation.
• Mainstream Confucian and Daoist philosophy resists sharp dichotomies between species, races, or types of being.

"Each thing is the focal point of infinite relationships... It becomes impossible to define a thing absolutely."
—Shu Chen, 53:34

• The book’s project is not about replacing one supremacy with another, but advocating mutual learning.

"The only reason the Chinese tradition enjoyed its longevity... was because it was willing to learn from others and not hold on to this purest understanding of itself."
—Shu Chen, 57:10

Ch. 4: The Great Chain of Being—Western Hierarchy and Domination (58:14–62:53)

• The "Great Chain of Being" (GCB): An enduring Western worldview that fixes all beings in a static, eternal hierarchy.
  • Difference is intrinsic, eternal, and always hierarchical.
  • Domination is naturalized; to dominate is proof of being higher on the chain.
• Critiqued through evolutionary and social observations: real-world change and contingency contradicts such static views.
• GCB underlies both historical and modern attitudes toward race, conquest, and value.

"Violent domination within the hierarchy is ontologically justified... Domination is naturalized."
—Shu Chen, 60:57

Ch. 5: War, Power, and Efficacy—Roman/Western vs. Chinese Approaches (63:54–71:02)

• Roman/Western ideologies valorize obliteration (devastate, eradicate, erase) as the highest mark of elite or virtuous power.
• The Chinese tradition’s model (e.g., Sun Tzu) sees efficacy as minimally coercive, operating by predicting, reading, and harmonizing with forces at play—winning with least force.
• Both traditions desire success and power, but their ontologies shape drastically different attitudes toward violence and domination.

"The greatest demonstration of your power or efficacy is to wipe something clean... In the Chinese understanding, everything is, already has a kind of potency... the goal is to do as little as possible and still to win."
—Shu Chen, 65:30

Ch. 6: Harmony as Political Philosophy—The "Empty Center" (72:29–80:53)

• Chinese diplomatic strategy imagines the ‘center’ (China or leadership) as an empty center—a non-coercive axis fostering the flourishing of surrounding diverse entities, echoing the concept of wu wei (non-action).
• Power (de, 德) is realized through co-empowerment—not domination. Social authority accrues to those who enable others’ flourishing.
• Sustainable power comes from empowering others, not imposing upon them.

"The North Star doesn't move, it doesn't do anything. But all the lesser stars revolve around it... That is seen as truly efficacious action."
—Shu Chen, 74:23

• These processual, non-zero-sum metaphysics produce real differences in ethical, social, and political outcomes.

Conclusion & Future Work (80:53–87:17)

• Xiang attributes profound influence to James Baldwin’s existentialist humanism, urging recognition that how we view others reveals our worldview’s deepest commitments.

"How we feel about our fellow human beings is related to the profound philosophical issues, as I hope to have demonstrated. How each tradition sees the other, reveals the heart of its worldview."
—Shu Chen, 81:40

• Upcoming project: Confucian alternatives to "liberal capitalist subjectivity," challenging the naturalization of self-interest, greed, and competitive egoism as human universals.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the singularity of Western racism:
  "No other tradition...has put so much destruction onto the human species as what we call the Western tradition." (12:16)

• On culture and change:
  "Difference equals life, identity equals death." (30:08)

• On harmony:
  "The Chinese conception of harmony is not static... Instead we're talking about particulars resonating or complementing each other to establish a mutually beneficial relationship... It's like two jazz musicians... improvising... because of this harmony that beautiful music results." (34:00–36:14)

• On the epistemology of ignorance:
  "The epistemology of ignorance is a self-deception that is blind to or denies the reality of how racial hierarchy materially and epistemically shapes our world." (19:42)

• On efficacious action:
  "Truly efficacious action... acts without overtly acting in its own interest or imposing itself against the existing disposition of others... the only way to achieve that is co-empowerment." (73:30–74:23)

• On not making Confucianism a new supremacy:
  "If somebody was to understand my project as some kind of supremacism, Chinese supremacism... you're really missing the point." (57:10)

Suggested Entry Points (Timestamps)

• 04:15 – Xiang on what drew her to writing this book
• 12:10 – The singularity of Western racism; historical evidence
• 18:59 – Explaining the epistemology of ignorance and universalization of racism
• 24:08 – The "company of others": a new model of comparative philosophy
• 31:37 – Harmony out of diversity and the roots of pluralism in Chinese civilization
• 39:10 – The invention and function of the 'barbarian' in Western thought
• 50:43 – Processual holism: all beings as defined by relationships, not essence
• 58:14 – The Great Chain of Being and naturalized domination
• 63:54 – War, power, and efficacy: Roman vs. Chinese strategies
• 72:29 – Metaphysics of harmony: the empty center and non-coercive power
• 80:53 – Closing reflections and Baldwin’s influence
• 83:41 – Xiang's upcoming project on Confucian responses to liberal capitalist subjectivity

Takeaways

• Chinese cosmopolitanism represents a rich resource for re-imagining difference, pluralism, and power in ways that counteract Eurocentric, fixed, and racialized ontologies.
• Philosophical paradigms shape not only abstract thought but have profound consequences for politics, social organization, and attitudes toward war, efficacy, and otherness.
• Comparative philosophy is most fruitful when each tradition is approached as an evolving, dynamic system, open to mutual enrichment.
• The book and Xiang’s research promote humility, self-examination, and co-empowerment as necessary for building an anti-racial, sustainable, and genuinely cosmopolitan world.

End of Summary