Li Zehou’s “Super-Mundane” Approach: On the Philosophical Style of What Is Morality?

Li Zehou is one of the most influential contemporary Chinese thinkers, both in China and abroad. Never easy to pin down, Li’s interests range from aesthetics and shamanism, to ontology and ethics. Some of his writings are centered on specific topics, such as Immanuel Kant’s philosophy or the Analects, while others look at broader issues, including the history of Chinese thought and Marxism in China. This short essay focuses on Li’s least well-known book, What Is Morality?—a collection of dialogues between Li and scholars from around China. We will explore how these conversations, like much of Li’s work, express his “super-mundane” approach to philosophical reflection in terms of both his methodology as well as his actual theories. Here “super-mundane” means both “supermundane” or that which transcends the mundane, as well as the “super mundane” or extremely mundane. The virtues of this “super-mundane” approach are numerous, especially when contrasted to today’s mainstream Western academic philosophical research.