Abstract

This dissertation is written under two presuppositions: First, there is a single vision that grounds all three philosophical schools of Chinese thought: the Middle Way. Second, this mystical vision in Chinese philosophy deeply echoes the concept of the Middle in Deleuzian philosophy and thus, can be explicated through a comparison of these two systems. The two Chinese characters signifying the concept of the Middle Way are Zhong Dao. "Zhong" can be translated into English as "Middle," "Between," "Inside," or "Centrality" whereas "Dao" as "Path," "Way," "Course," or "Process." In comparison with Deleuzian concepts such as the Body Without Organs, Desiring Machines, the Fold, etc., the variation of meanings implied in the concept of the Middle Way in Chinese philosophy will be explained in terms of concepts such as Tian in Confucianism, Tao in Taoism, and Kong in Buddhism