Positive Obsession and Obsessive Positivity: Lessons from Aesthetics in Ming-Qing China

The USF Center for Asia Pacific Studies welcomes Michael Dufresne for a lecture on aesthetics in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when “madness” and “obsession” were all the rage. 

Octavia Butler once said, “Obsession can be a useful tool if it’s a positive obsession.” But what makes an obsession positive? This talk explores that question through the lens of Chinese aesthetics, particularly Ming and Qing dynasty views on passion and devotion. Dufresne argues that two key factors - object and attitude - separate harmful obsession from meaningful engagement. Problematic obsessions, such as addictions or fixations on other people, lack the imagined friendship that defines positive obsession. Drawing on the Ming-Qing cult of feeling and theories of zhījǐ (知己, intimate friendship), the talk examines how certain obsessions enrich lives rather than consume them. Finally, Dufresne contrasts this with Byung-Chul Han’s critique of “excess positivity” in neoliberal society, proposing an alternative: the obsessed life, one centered on deep, meaningful connections with the world around us.

Michael Dufresne is a Kiriyama Postdoctoral Fellow at USF’s Center for Asia Pacific Studies, joining after earning his PhD from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In addition to coordinating the center's Asia Bridge Graduate Fellowship Program, he teaches in the Department of Philosophy. His research focuses on Chinese philosophy, comparative philosophy, aesthetics, and decolonial thought, with additional interests in philosophy of education and alternative epistemologies.

Community Partners: Asian Studies, Chinese Studies, and Department of Philosophy