Asian Philosophy Timeline. Lao Tzu! & Tao-Te Ching. Central Concept. Themes. Kupperman & Liu. Central concept of Daoism is dao!

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1 Lao Tzu! & Tao-Te Ching Kupperman & Liu Early Vedas! BCE Upanishads! BCE Siddhartha Gautama! BCE Timeline Bhagavad Gita! BCE 1000 BCE 500 BCE CE 1000 CE I Ching! BCE Confucius! BCE Mencius! BCE Lao Tzu! BCE!1!2 Themes Central Concept Central concept of Daoism is dao! Dao! Live in harmony with one s own nature and the nature of Heaven and Earth! Nature of dao! Passivity and Responsiveness! Role of Ethics and Ethical Behavior! Political and Social Ideal Confucius's conception of dao was to live life with an engrained ethical attitude! The dao of Daoism is not this Confucian conception! Rather, dao is about living in harmony with the order of the natural world! This harmony includes living in harmony with the "basic structures of human emotions"! Daoism stresses passivity and natural ease in living life! Living according to the dao may lead one to become socially unacceptable!3!4

2 What Does "Dao" Mean? What is the Dao? The beginning of the Tao-Te Ching raises more questions about the dao than it answers: (Poem 1)! The original meaning of dao was road! This became way, path, or method! Later, dao came to mean principles or ways of conduct in a moral sense Dao is eternal! "Dao" does not refer to the eternal dao! Dao is the origin of things, the mother of all things! Questions:! How does dao create the universe? Is it temporal creation, physical origins, logical origins?! How is dao currently related to the universe?! Why is dao ineffable? If it's ineffable, then how can one think, talk, or write about it? How can one ever know anything about dao?!5!6 Descriptions of Dao Making Sense of the Descriptions of Dao Dao is non-being! Dao is empty yet inexhaustable! Dao is constant or eternal! Dao exists prior to the universe! Dao is modeled after nature! Dao is feminine On the one hand, the dao is transcendent and prior to the universe! On the other hand, dao is immanent and is the way the world is! Although things come into and go out of existence, dao serves as the generative principle of all things and eternally persists even though things in nature do not! Dao is nameless because it existed before language and language labels and is unable to capture that which is pre-existing and indivisible!7!8

3 Two Claims of Daoism Claim 2 and Style of Life Kupperman sees Daoist philosophy embodied in two claims! "Claim 1: It is possible to become sensitive to a dynamic in events in the world (that is, to the tendency of things to develop in a certain way).! "Claim 2: It is more satisfying and productive to adapt to this dynamic than to go counter to it." (98)! These two claims encourage a life of passivity and responsiveness Claim 2 is an ethical claim about the value of living in a certain way! The argument for Claim 2 is experiential! Through the experience of living life in this fashion or witnessing others living this style of life one learns that it is more satisfying to adapt than confront!9!10 Claim 1 and Acknowledging the Way of Things Lao Tzu's "Law" Lao Tzu thought that knowledge of things consisted in knowing the dynamic nature of things! Dynamic nature of things is found in the recurring patterns of things! With respect to humans, one pattern is the presence of opposites and contraries Kupperman finds a certain "law-like" claim about the development of opposites! Lao Tzu's "Law": "The consequences of pushing for something often will include elements that amount to the opposite of what is pushed for." (99) (see Poem 18)! Virtues arise when there is disharmony in the way of things! When there is harmony, there is no need for virtue! When virtue is needed, vices arise!11!12

4 Virtues Virtues Create Room for Vices Virtues "push" against the world! Virtues divide people into those who meet and those who do not meet ethical standards! Striving for virtuous behavior has unintended consequences, not all of which may be positive! Virtues presuppose a world in which the state of affairs which the virtues are meant to produce cannot be trusted to occur! Daoists think virtues and moral rules would not arise in a "primitive" world in which there is harmony and values are integral to life! The presence of morality and need for virtues indicates a world in disarray Saying some actions are virtuous creates a class of actions that is appropriate! At the same time, it creates a class of actions that are inappropriate or that fall short of the ideal! Once separate classes of appropriate and inappropriate actions are created, it entails that some people will meet the standards and some will not! The creation of the categories did not create the poor performance! But, the creation of categories may create feelings of failure, inadequacy or rebellion against the accepted standards for appropriate living!13!14 Sensitivity to Subtleties Passivity & Responsiveness The act of distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable actions creates a dynamic in human behavior that one must be sensitive to! One must be sensitive to the subtleties of events as they develop! There are no hard and fast rules to understanding these developing events! One should not respond to these developing events by "pushing" at them to get things to turn out the way one wants! Rather, one must "play it by ear"! Kupperman takes these facts about human experience to be an argument for Claim 1 Passivity and responsiveness are the satisfying means of adapting to dynamic events! What kind of action is meant by adapting?! Not conformity to events! Rather, action is to be independent and not confrontational! Adapting requires heightened awareness of and alertness to events! One is not to be rigid, unmoving, or confrontational in response to events!15!16

5 Emotional Responsiveness Passivity & Wu Wei Response to events first requires an emotional modification! Pursuing the way of dao requires the decrease of emotional responses to events! Automatic emotional responses are discouraged! Similarly, applying preconceived formulas or principles to events is also discouraged! Instead, one should be open to events, take them as they come without preconceptions, and respond to them appropriately! Daoists will not respond too quickly or follow the consensus but will respond independently when and if appropriate Wu wei is the concept of Daoist passivity, often translated as "do nothing"! Wu wei has been characterized in three ways:! 1. do nothing, literally! 2. have no intentions or desires in one's actions! 3. do not force one's actions, yield to them! The first interpretation concerns action, the latter two concern one's attitudes in action! One might argue that Lao Tzu has all three meanings in mind, depending on the circumstances! The general idea is that one ought not force one's desires upon things but act in ways that follow the nature of things! Less intervention will allow things to find and act on their own harmony and equilibrium!17!18 Concerns About Dao Liu's View of Lao Tzu's Metaphysics Metaphysical Realism's three theses:! Liu sees the characterization of dao as a form of metaphysical realism 1. "The world consists of a mind-independent reality. This reality is external to our conception and our conceptual schemes."! 2. "Truth involves some sort of correspondence relationship between thought and the way the world is."! 3. "There is exactly one true and and complete description of the way of the world is (though we may never have a language capable of expressing it or may never know it.)" (141)!19!20

6 Dao and Metaphysical Realism Problems with Metaphysical Realism/Dao One can see Daoism as a form of metaphysical realism! Dao as non-being or pre-conceptual being is close to the first thesis. Dao is mind-independent! When our thoughts, understanding, and conduct corresponds to the dao, then our thoughts, understanding, and conduct are true.! Lao Tzu thought there was only one true description of the world, which he tried to make clear in his account of dao Putnam argued that metaphysical realism is incoherent! We are supposed to have a conception of a world that is radically different than what our terms and descriptions refer to! But, how can we have an independent conception radically different than that which is referred to by our terms and descriptions?! We cannot have an independent conception of this thing apart from the beliefs tied to the very terms and descriptions helping us conceive of that which is beyond the conception!21!22 Parallels with Daoism The Political Ideal If dao is prior to all thought and language, then how can it be described or captured in words?! If dao exists independently of the mind, then how can one think about it?! If dao is imperceptible, then how can one see it?! It seems that the Tao-te Ching is paradoxical: it attempts to describe a state of affairs which one is incapable of conceiving!23!24

7 Good Rulership is Like a Good Personal Relationship Changing the World Classic Chinese philosophers stress that the relationship between a ruler and his subjects is a personal relationship! Daoism advocates passivity-in-responsiveness in personal relationships! The most dramatic way to express passivity-in-responsiveness would be in ruling! A good ruler does not draw attention to himself but still brings about change! He anticipates problems and has the mechanisms in place to deal with these problems! He is steady and still in relationships and dealings! The ruler can and does effect change! But, the Daoist ruler's attempts to change things is not forced! Rather, change is brought about inconspicuously, quietly, and without conflict! The Daoist ruler does not "push" at society to incite change! The ruler "steers" events and people! "Steering" events does not entail total control over or denying agent autonomy He is not preoccupied with or worried about the future but is mindful of how events might develop and is prepared to adjust to these changes!25!26 Are We Free? Is A Ruler Manipulative? Are we free? Are we autonomous agents?! In a sense, none of us are free from prior causal influences! Genetics, family, up-bringing, education, society, friends all influence our thinking and actions! At the same time, we are capable of developing skills to act with self-discipline, to consider our actions and words, to think and reason through certain types of problems.! We are influencing and being influenced all the time While a ruler steers events, it is not clear the ruler manipulates events! Manipulation entails that there is some conscious attempt to control another (or events) against the best interests/desires of the one being influenced! But, if a ruler (or individual) is trying to quietly effect change that serves the interests of the individual or society, then it is not clear that the ruler is manipulating events/individuals! Politics is about influencing people to bring about a better society! Are friends manipulative when they try to effect change?! One might have to ask what the intent is behind the "steering"! Is it to take advantage of the other person? Or, is it to create a positive environment free from tension and confrontation?!27!28

8 Inseparability of Politics and Morality The Ideal State Poem 80 describes the ideal state! The moral ideal is what the good ruler should do! In fact, the moral lessons are intended for the ruler or sage, the morally perfected person! In this respect, Lao Tzu is like Confucius and Mencius It is small, primitive, low-tech, self-contained, simple, and asocial! The idea is to keep things simple so that people will not grow discontent! Once people realize what they don't have, then they will become discontent with what they do have! Living a virtuous life requires living as simply and naturally as possible!29!30 Rejecting Learning Knowledge of Social Distinctions Discouraged Daoism states that learning leads to sorrow! But, Lao Tzu is rejecting three types of learning! 1. Knowledge of social distinctions! 2. Knowledge gained from sensory experiences! 3. Moral knowledge! Lao Tzu thinks these forms of knowledge are the root of all evil Knowledge of social distinctions includes the good/bad, valuable/worthless, fine/coarse, desirable/undesirable, haves/ have nots! These distinctions lead people to desire things! The desire of things leads to competition and eventual conflict! Being able to discriminate between things ultimately leads to valuing some things more than others and leads to theft, fraud, murder, etc.! The wise ruler will not exalt or value individuals or things since this will lead to competition and conflict!31!32

9 Knowledge Gained from Sensory Experiences Discouraged Moral Knowledge Discouraged Knowledge gained from sensory experiences, in particular the refinement of the senses (e.g., fine food and wine)! This kind of knowledge results in the mind losing its tranquility! With the ability to make fine discriminations of the senses, one learns to desire things and expands one desires! It is easier to have an indiscriminate state of mind if one has not learned to make fine sensory discriminations! Only the sage is capable of gaining the numbness of mind that allows all experiences to be equally satisfying Moral knowledge of Confucian virtues (humaneness, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom) is to be de-emphasized! Lao Tzu seems to think that moral teachings divert one from the dao! But, did the dao decrease because of moral teachings or did moral teachings arise because of the decrease of dao?! It seems that what Lao Tzu desires is a more primitive moral society!33!34 Wise Ruler Will Not Manipulate the Population One might argue that an informed and educated population will be best able to protect itself from a manipulative and exploitive ruler! But, Lao Tzu argues that the ruler is a sage, unselfish, and thinks of his people first! The wise ruler appears invisible and quietly leads his people with as little conflict and intervention as possible! One might argue that Daoism advocates a type of anarchism, where rules and legal structures are to be eliminated! Anarchism is the position that society should be organized without the coercive structures of a government!35

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