Jay Goulding’s Daoist Phenomenology represents a lifelong project of interpolating the works of Martin Heidegger with the interweavings of Daoism and Zen. Illustrating styles of reading complex texts from Europe and East Asia, Goulding moves away from horizontal reading of simple comparisons on a single plain to vertical reading as a deep dive of ideas into ancient worlds. Vertical Reading is hermeneutic strategy that captures the depth of connection between phenomenology and Daoism, especially Heidegger and classical Daoists Laozi and Zhuangzi. His method reveals Daoist implications of Dogen’s Zen and draws on writing and ideas from popular culture including Jules Verne, H. P. Lovecraft, Philip K. Dick, George Lucas’ Star Wars universe and martial artist Bruce Lee. Original and wide-ranging, Goulding’s interconnected approach to phenomenology and Daoism enhances and promotes further intercultural dialogues between two great traditions in world philosophies.
