Already hailed in America as 'climactic' and 'monumental', The Way and the Word is the product of a collaboration between an eminent Hellenist and an expert Sinologist. It compares ancient Greek thought and ancient Chinese thought. The period of comparison is officially the six centuries from about 400 BC to about 200 AD, but in fact a considerable part of the Greek material is taken from the fifth century BC. Although the area of comparison is officially the physical sciences, together with the 'physical' part of philosophy, from which ethics and logic are excluded, a substantial part of the Chinese material deals with political and moral reflections.

LRB 23 October 2003 | PDF Download