Ursula K. Le Guin’s Science Fictional Feminist Daoism

Ursula K. Le Guin Science Fictional Feminist Daoism

Ethan Mills

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Abstract

It is hardly a novel claim that the work of Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) contains influences from philosophical Daoism, but I argue that this influence has yet to be fully understood. Several scholars criticize Le Guin for misrepresenting Daoist ideas as they appear in ancient Chinese philosophical texts, particularly the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi. While I have sympathy for this charge, especially as it relates to Le Guin’s translation of the Dao De Jing, I argue that it fails to understand the extent to which her fiction contains her own philosophical development of Daoist ideas. Looking at some of her most influential works (e.g., The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Lathe of Heaven, A Wizard of Earthsea, etc.), I suggest that Le Guin’s fiction is better seen as a refocusing of Daoist concepts such as complementary contrasts and non-action (wu wei) in the contexts of modern feminism, modern anarchism, science fiction, and fantasy. Le Guin was not trying to represent ancient Daoism as a scholar. Rather, she was trying to reimagine Daoism as a creative artist and philosopher in her own right. This way of viewing Le Guin’s work does not fully exorcise the specter of the possibility of Orientalist cultural appropriation, but it does make the issue more complex in a way that can deepen further conversations. To what extent can an artist be guilty of misrepresentation if representation was not, strictly speaking, her goal? I end with a brief reflection on what is perhaps the deepest philosophical lesson of Le Guin’s work: everything is more complicated than it first appears. On that note, the present article is an attempt not just to do philosophy about Le Guin, but to do philosophy in a Le Guinian fashion, which requires rethinking the metaphor of combat that guides much academic philosophy today.

About the Author

Ethan Mills, PhD (University of New Mexico, 2013), is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His areas of academic specialization are Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, and ancient and modern skepticism (including skepticism in classical India). He is also interested in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, early modern European philosophy, and Chinese philosophy. Mills has previously published articles in journals including Philosophy East & West, Asian Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy, and The International Journal for the Study of Skepticism. His book, Three Pillars of Skepticism in Classical India: Nāgārjuna, Jayarāśi, and Śrī Harṣa, was published by Lexington Books in 2018, with a paperback edition in August 2020. He is a life-long science fiction fan, and in recent years his teaching and research interests have expanded into the intersections of philosophy with science fiction and horror. He is excited to be publishing in the Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy, and he has been teaching courses on science fiction and horror, which include a student film-making component. You can find his blog, Examined Worlds: Philosophy and Science Fiction at examinedworlds.blogspot.com. He also enjoys trying to become a beer and whiskey connoisseur, going for walks, hanging out with friends (online these days), and spending time with his spouse and his cats.

Published: 2020 – 10 – 05