Genuine Pretending

Genuine Pretending
Author: Hans-Georg Moeller
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2017-10-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231545266

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Genuine Pretending is an innovative and comprehensive new reading of the Zhuangzi that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D’Ambrosio show how this Daoist classic, contrary to contemporary philosophical readings, distances itself from the pursuit of authenticity and subverts the dominant Confucianism of its time through satirical allegories and ironical reflections. With humor and parody, the Zhuangzi exposes the Confucian demand to commit to socially constructed norms as pretense and hypocrisy. The Confucian pursuit of sincerity establishes exemplary models that one is supposed to emulate. In contrast, the Zhuangzi parodies such venerated representations of wisdom and deconstructs the very notion of sagehood. Instead, it urges a playful, skillful, and unattached engagement with socially mandated duties and obligations. The Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of what Moeller and D’Ambrosio call “genuine pretending”: the paradoxical skill of not only surviving but thriving by enacting social roles without being tricked into submitting to them or letting them define one’s identity. A provocative rereading of a Chinese philosophical classic, Genuine Pretending also suggests the value of a Daoist outlook today as a way of seeking existential sanity in an age of mass media’s paradoxical quest for originality.

Genuine Pretending

Genuine Pretending
Author: Hans-Georg Moeller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2017
Genre:
ISBN: 9780231183987

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This book presents an innovative reading of Daoist philosophy that highlights the critical and therapeutic functions of satire and humor. Moeller and D'Ambrosio show how the Zhuangzi expounds the Daoist art of "genuine pretending" the paradoxical skill of enacting social roles without submitting to them or letting them define one's identity.

You and Your Profile

You and Your Profile
Author: Hans-Georg Moeller
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2021-05-25
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231551592

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More and more, we present ourselves and encounter others through profiles. A profile shows us not as we are seen directly but how we are perceived by a broader public. As we observe how others observe us, we calibrate our self-presentation accordingly. Profile-based identity is evident everywhere from pop culture to politics, marketing to morality. But all too often critics simply denounce this alleged superficiality in defense of some supposedly pure ideal of authentic or sincere expression. This book argues that the profile marks an epochal shift in our concept of identity and demonstrates why that matters. You and Your Profile blends social theory, philosophy, and cultural critique to unfold an exploration of the way we have come to experience the world. Instead of polemicizing against the profile, Hans-Georg Moeller and Paul J. D’Ambrosio outline how it works, how we readily apply it in our daily lives, and how it shapes our values—personally, economically, and ethically. They develop a practical vocabulary of life in the digital age. Informed by the Daoist tradition, they suggest strategies for handling the pressure of social media by distancing oneself from one’s public face. A deft and wide-ranging consideration of our era’s identity crisis, this book provides vital clues on how to stay sane in a time of proliferating profiles.

Pretending to Be Erica

Pretending to Be Erica
Author: Michelle Painchaud
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2015-07-21
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1101618108

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We Were Liars meets Heist Society in a riveting debut! Seventeen-year-old Violet’s entire life has revolved around one thing: becoming Erica Silverman, an heiress kidnapped at age five and never seen again. Violet’s father, the best con man in Las Vegas, has a plan, chilling in its very specific precision. Violet shares a blood type with Erica; soon, thanks to surgery and blackmail, she has the same face, body, and DNA. She knows every detail of the Silvermans’ lives, as well as the PTSD she will have to fake around them. And then, when the time is right, she “reappears”—Erica Silverman, brought home by some kind of miracle. But she is also Violet, and she has a job: Stay long enough to steal the Silverman Painting, an Old Master legendary in the Vegas crime world. Walking a razor’s edge, calculating every decision, not sure sometimes who she is or what she is doing it for, Violet is an unforgettable heroine, and Pretending to be Erica is a killer debut.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Let's Pretend This Never Happened
Author: Jenny Lawson
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2012-04-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101573082

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The #1 New York Times bestselling (mostly true) memoir from the hilarious author of Furiously Happy. “Gaspingly funny and wonderfully inappropriate.”—O, The Oprah Magazine When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame-spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it. In the irreverent Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments—the ones we want to pretend never happened—are the very same moments that make us the people we are today. For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives. Readers Guide Inside

Daoism, Dandyism, and Political Correctness

Daoism, Dandyism, and Political Correctness
Author: Thorsten Botz-Bornstein
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 143849453X

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How would Zhuangzi, a Chinese philosopher who lived in the fourth century BCE, have reacted to the recent linguistic reforms commonly referred to as "political correctness"? Zhuangzi was a language skeptic, which means that he did not believe that language could convey the true meanings of the world. Might Zhuangzi have argued that political correctness creates but a dream world made of rules, policies, and words—no more real than when he "dreamt he was a butterfly"? Written in a provocative tone, this book looks at political correctness through the lens of ancient Chinese philosophy, as well as through Brummell's and Wilde's aesthetic philosophy of dandyism. Several scholars have established links between Zhuangzi and dandyism, and Wilde wrote one of the first reviews of Herbert Giles's English translation of the Zhuangzi. Like Daoism, dandyism does not engage in a Confucian "correction" of language, instead preferring aimless roaming and rambling. The Daoist "carefree wanderer" is a flâneur, and both Daoist and dandy deconstruct the puritanism and correctness sought by Confucianism, Victorianism, and our contemporary neoliberal culture. Instead of seeking to induce correct opinions, they seek to liberate the mind.

The Moral Fool

The Moral Fool
Author: Hans-Georg Moeller
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2009-07-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231519249

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Justice, equality, and righteousness these are some of our greatest moral convictions. Yet in times of social conflict, morals can become rigid, making religious war, ethnic cleansing, and political purges possible. Morality, therefore, can be viewed as pathology-a rhetorical, psychological, and social tool that is used and abused as a weapon. An expert on Eastern philosophies and social systems theory, Hans-Georg Moeller questions the perceived goodness of morality and those who claim morality is inherently positive. Critiquing the ethical "fanaticism" of Western moralists, such as Immanuel Kant, Lawrence Kohlberg, John Rawls, and the utilitarians, Moeller points to the absurd fundamentalisms and impracticable prescriptions arising from definitions of good. Instead he advances a theory of "moral foolishness," or moral asceticism, extracted from the "amoral" philosophers of East Asia and such thinkers as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Niklas Luhmann. The moral fool doesn't understand why ethics are necessarily good, and he isn't convinced that the moral perspective is always positive. In this way he is like most people, and Moeller defends this foolishness against ethical pathologies that support the death penalty, just wars, and even Jerry Springer's crude moral theater. Comparing and contrasting the religious philosophies of Christianity, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism, Moeller presents a persuasive argument in favor of amorality.

I Quit

I Quit
Author: Geri Scazzero
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2010
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310321964

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Geri Scazzero discovered real life and joy with Christ really began when she stopped pretending everything was fine. Summoning the courage to quit that which does not belong to Jesus' kingdom launched her on a powerful journey that changed her and everyone around her. (Practical Life)

Just Pretending

Just Pretending
Author: Leah Rooper
Publisher: Entangled: Crush
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2018-11-05
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 164063715X

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It's not easy being royal. Sixteen-year-old Evangeline wears her crown proudly, but between her duties and her overprotective big brother, the idea of romance is just a dream. But a chance encounter in Chicago changes all that.... Sure, seventeen-year-old Tyler Evans loves playing hockey, but he's more concerned about providing for his dad and little sister. Then he meets Eva--and falls head-over-heels in love—and he has two more problems. One, she's his best friend's little sister. Two, she wears a crown. But then Eva accidentally mistakes Tyler for a visiting prince, and for the first time, Tyler doesn't feel like a nobody. He knows he has to tell her the truth...but not yet. His plan? To keep up the royal charade as long as it takes to convince Eva he’s the guy for her. Even if he’s lying to everyone...including himself. Disclaimer: May cause disillusionment. Those girls looking to find their Prince Charming might consider scouting out hockey rinks. Each book in the Chicago Falcons series is STANDALONE: * Just One of the Boys * Just One of the Royals * Just Pretending

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit
Author: Jaye Robin Brown
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2016-08-30
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062271016

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"A sweet, sexy, honest teen romance that just happens to involve two girls—all the more charming for being so very ordinary.”—Kirkus A Kirkus Best Book of the Year! A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year! A Bustle Best Young Adult Book of the Year! 3 starred reviews! Joanna meets the perfect girl for her and must decide whether to break a promise that could change everything for her and her family or lose out on love in this charming young adult romance that’s perfect for fans of Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’ and Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. And Jo reluctantly agrees. Although it is (mostly) much easier for Jo to fit in as a straight girl, things get complicated when she meets Mary Carlson, the oh-so-tempting sister of her new friend at school. But Jo couldn’t possibly think of breaking her promise to her dad. Even if she’s starting to fall for the girl. Even if there’s a chance Mary Carlson might be interested in her, too. Right?