Mercedes Valmisa's 2021 monograph, Adapting: A Chinese Philosophy of Action, constructs a sophisticated and nuanced account of action—what she calls “adaptive agency”—centered on early Chinese philosophical sources. Valmisa argues that the process of acting is one of the most fundamental topics of concern in early China, and Chinese philosophers had their own assumptions, developed their own vocabulary, and built distinctive conceptual tools to engage questions of how to act and how not to act in a given situation. She argues that “early Chinese philosophy of action aims at developing strategies that enable us to manage our own lives in relation with others and our shifting contexts, which include both human and nonhuman actors; efficaciously achieving our goals; shaping our own lives and controlling the outcomes of our actions; coping with openness, uncertainty, and change in ordinary life; and creating order and harmony with/in nature and society” (1–2).
Valmisa's facility...
