Adapting

This book is the first monograph dedicated to the exploration and rigorous reconstruction of relational action devised by Classical Chinese philosophers who attempted to account for the interdependent and embedded character of human agency-what Mercedes Valmisa denominates "adapting" or "adaptive agency" (yin). As opposed to more unilateral approaches to action conceptualized in the Classical Chinese corpus, such as forceful and prescriptive
agency, adapting requires heightened awareness of self and others, equanimity, flexibility, creativity, and response. Valmisa explores the core conception of adapting both on autochthonous terms and by cross-cultural comparison, drawing on the European and Analytic philosophical traditions as well as on scholarship from
other disciplines, opening a brand-new topic in Chinese and comparative philosophy.