A comparative study of what the most influential writers of Ancient Greece and China thought it meant to have knowledge and whether they distinguished knowledge from other forms of wisdom. It surveys selected works of poetry, history and philosophy from the period of roughly the eighth through to the second century BCE, including Homer's "Odyssey", the ancient Chinese "Classic of Poetry", Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War", Sima Qian's "Records of the Historian", Plato's "Symposium", and Laozi's "Dao de Jing and the writings of Zhuangzi". The intention, through such juxtaposition, is to introduce the foundational texts of each tradition which continue to influence the majority of the world's population.

'An outstanding example of this approach to comparative philosophy can be found in Steven Shankman and Stephen Durrant's comprehensive study of ancient Greek and Chinese thought, The Siren and the Sage. Shankman and Durrant make an exceptionally valuable contribution to the study of comparative philosophy, for their analysis of the nature of knowledge and wisdom provides a compelling answer to many of the objections that have been raised against it in recent times. They not only show how to do comparative philosophy without "essentializing" a culture, they also demonstrate that the study of comparative philosophy can make a significant contribution to the study of the perennial issues of philosophy.'--Sanford Lakoff

Steven Shankman is a professor at the University of Oregon.

Stephen Durrant is a professor at the University of Oregon.