The Relatively Happy Fish

The writer discusses Zhuangzi and Hui Shi's exchange about whether Zhuangzi knows "fish's happiness." He notes that this exchange is generally read as humorous miscommunication between a mystic and a logician. He makes the case for a fine inferential analysis that explains the argument in a way that informs Zhuangzi's philosophical lament at Hui Shi's passing. This approach, he maintains, also reverses the dominant image of the two thinkers.