From emotion regulation to the cultivation of existential feelings: A Zhuangzi-inspired perspective on flourishing as an affective being

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This essay challenges the dominant Western model of affective flourishing, which emphasizes regulating emotions through cognitive control and evaluative judgment. Drawing on Zhuangzi’s Daoist philosophy, I propose a Zhuangzi-inspired account centered on two interrelated strategies: a restrictive approach, which highlights the self-regulating nature of emotions when left undisturbed, and a positive approach, which focuses on cultivating existential feelings—pre-reflective orientations that shape emotional experience. Rather than disciplining emotions, Zhuangzi advocates a stance of attunement, allowing emotions to flow naturally in harmony with the Dao. Through close analysis of key passages—such as ‘fasting of the mind’ and ‘following what-is-so-of-itself’—I argue that a Zhuangzi-inspired account of emotion regulation rejects rigid emotional hierarchies and coercive regulation. Instead, the sage’s distinctive affective life emerges from existential feelings nurtured through a non-interventionist engagement with the world.