The Wandering Heart-Mind: Zhuangzi and Moral Psychology in the Inner Chapters

Abstract

This essay examines the concept of the wandering heart-mind (youxin 遊心) in the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi 莊子. This essay examines the problems caused by a collection of behaviors in the heart-mind: the ability to make distinctions (bian 辨), the tendency to fix distinctions and language (chengxin 成心), and the need to act for the sake of fixed ends (wei 為). Zhuangzi treats these problems with emptying (xu 虛), wandering (you 遊), and mirroring (jing 鏡). These techniques release the heart-mind from fixation (chengxin 成心) and conflict, enabling the heart-mind to respond to conditions without acting for fixed ends (wuwei 無為). Letting the heart-mind wander provides the receptivity and creativity necessary for responding to a complex world of constant change. Letting the heart-mind wander also opens the possibility of an intrinsically beneficial moral psychology, one where the heart-mind not only adapts to but enjoys a world of transformation and uncertainty. This interpretation of the heart-mind has important consequences for psychology, language, and ethics. In terms of psychology this interpretation diagnoses the limitations of knowledge and proposes therapeutic techniques to treat uncertainty and fixation. In terms of language this interpretation reveals different linguistic attitudes in the text, such as usefulness (yong 用) and play (you 遊). In terms of ethics this interpretation provides a basis for Zhuangzi’s ethical vision of nourishing living and free-and-easy wandering.