Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Transactionalism wikipedia , lookup
Obscurantism wikipedia , lookup
List of unsolved problems in philosophy wikipedia , lookup
History of philosophy in Poland wikipedia , lookup
Philosophical progress wikipedia , lookup
Analytic philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Women in philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Natural philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Perennial philosophy wikipedia , lookup
Tiffany Price Intro to Philosophy Mr. Izrailevsky http://tiffanyprice.yolasite.com Lao-tzu the Chinese Philosopher I chose to write my paper on the extremely amazing Chinese Philosopher Lao-tzu because he is so wise and insightful. Lao-tzu’s philosophies are about great balance and respect. Lao-tzu is a Chinese legend who wrote the second most popular book in all humanity called “Tao-Te-Ching” translation by Stephen Mitchell is filled with extraordinary philosophical poetry. This book is also the most influential book in Chinese History. The Tao is the way of all life, Te is the fit use of life by men, and ching is the text or classic. Lao-tzu didn’t want to write this book because he intended this book to be about a topic that cannot be explained in words at all. But he did write the book due to a promise he made. Many believe that he never existed, all though historians can point out several possible historical identities. His name Lao-tzu means the old master and the teacher. Lao-tzu was around during 6th century B.C. and he retired from working for the government. He became the classical visiting philosophy teacher and Lao-tzu met Confucius who is a much younger philosopher, Lao-tzu didn’t like him at all. Lao-tzu studied the archive’s books avidly and his insights grew when he was the keeper of the Imperial Archives appointed to him by the king of Zhou in Luoyang. Lao-tzu was one of the sages and lived during the Warring States which was total chaos included civil wars, violence, widespread political and social turmoil. During this destructive time period the Asian sages which includes Lao-tzu, Confucius, and the Buddha asked “Where is the way?” The sages wondered if there was a way back to proper conduct and social order? In the book “Archetypes of Wisdom” it explains further that the sages perform a complex social function which includes physician of the soul, prophet, preacher, philosopher, and fellow seeker. Lao-tzu believed a person’s conduct should be managed by instinct and conscience. The first and most important of Lao-tzu’s philosophy is the Tao. The idea of the Tao is that your head chooses a path to go forward on. In the book “Archetypes of Wisdom” for this class it explains that the Tao is “the One that is natural, eternal, spontaneous, nameless, and indescribable. As a way of life, it denotes simplicity, spontaneity, tranquility, weakness, and most important of all, non-action also known as wu wei. By the latter is not meant literally “inactivity” but rather “taking no action that is contrary to Nature”-in other words, letting Nature take its own course.” Lao-tzu identifies the value of inaction which includes restraint, patience, and silence. These inactions are harder to achieve but are far more rewarding to you as a person. Also the value of nothingness includes frugality and simplicity. These values are excellent to live by because most of the world is consumed with things and money which can always be taken away from you. These actions and things are the way of the emptiness metaphor. These actions and things are already clear they are seen mainly as good but are mostly bad. There are three important symbols of the Tao, The first and most commonly used is water which is always happy at the lowest level. It can’t be destroyed and it can overcome rocks and stones with flexibility. Water often represents Yin which is the dark, night, intuitive, passive slow, art, and the female side of Yin and Yang. The second is fire the flame is used in contrast to water and always represents Yang which is the bright, day, logical, aggressive, fast, science, and the male side of Yin and Yang. The Yin and Yang symbol is easily recognizable and well known by the perfect balance and harmony. The last is the uncut block of wood which is the symbol of being able to adjust to situations with no preconceived plan. Life throws us curve balls and how we adjust and deal with these struggles can make or break us. The Tao also has three important treasures which are Benevolence, Frugality, and never trying to be number one. The amazing thing about these treasures are that you can have them now and keep them forever. Unlike the capitalist’s three treasures that include stocks, cash, and debentures which were as useless to Lao-tzu as gold, frankincense, and myrrh were to Jesus. Lao-tzu knows that the most valuable things in life cannot be bought or are worldly but are the good things we do for ourselves and others. Taoism has long been associated with Feng Shui which is Chinese geomancy, alchemy, and astrology because these have been practiced in Taoist temples and institutions for a very long time. Feng Shui, alchemy, and astrology also show great balance and harmony just like the Tao. According to Lao-tzu the greatest leaders are unknown to their people. When these great leaders organize their objectives in harmony with the Tao; their people will work and believe that their projects are accomplished entirely of their own efforts making everyone involved content and happy. This is because people don’t like to be told what to do in a hostile way. This reminds me of the saying you catch more bee’s with honey than with vinegar. The next best leaders are those that praise and love their people. The next are the leaders that are feared. And lastly the worst leaders are hated and despised by all. The Tao is the highest philosophy for a person or a society to achieve, following this is virtue, compassion, and rituals. Without these things there would be anarchy and chaos. It is extremely important to have these great leaders who work in great harmony with the Tao. There is an amazing quote from Lao-tzu in the book “Archetypes of Wisdom” that says “When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty. There arises the recognition of ugliness. When they all know the good as good, there arises the recognition of evil. Therefore: Being and non-being produce each other; Difficult and easy Complete each other; long and short contrast each other; High and low distinguish each other; Sound and voice harmonize with each other; Front and back follow each other.” This quote has so much truth and insight. It gives great examples of excellent harmony of certain attributes that you wouldn’t think would normally go together. Everything is connected whether in a good or a not so good way. When I think about this quote it makes me feel like everyone has each of these things in their life or even within them. Lao-tzu suggests that we adopt an astonishing method of “getting mind out of the way” to stop judging, classifying, arranging, and labeling. Another extremely important philosophy of Lao-tzu is Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang operate together in a never ending cycle of coming together. The sage knows that today’s unfortunate circumstances will change into something good. This is true because everyone has trials and tribulations that are tough to deal with but things do get better. Lao-tzu advises his readers to lean more towards Yin rather than Yang multiple times. This is not surprising because Lao-tzu is known for possibly being a feminist. Earlier in this paper I gave a few examples of Yin and Yang. Here are some more examples of what Yin is? This includes Bent, Soft, Weak, Small, Still, After, Empty, Below, Ignorance, Female, Nothing and Doing Nothing. Here are some more examples of what Yang is? This includes Straight, Hard, Strong, Big, Moving, Before, Full, Above, Knowledge, Male, Something, and Doing Something. According to Lao-tzu Yang should be resisted. It is completely understandable that he leans more towards Yin because it is more connected to wu wei. Wu wei is the value of non-action towards anything that is unnatural or demanding. In the book “Archetypes of Wisdom” it explains that good and bad exist in an everlasting exchange, and the names we give these conditions depends on our temperaments and circumstances. An amazingly good example of this is that rain is good in a time of drought; but rain is extremely bad in a time of a flood. Good and bad are relative opposites that can change according to our reactions to these things. The bad is the necessary other side of good and the good is the necessary other side of the bad. What is intriguing about Lao-tzu is that he preaches his “doctrine without words” as a strategy for surviving in difficult times by turning away from common values and reversing common priorities as explained in the book “Archetypes of Wisdom.” This makes me like Lao-tzu even more because he is unique about how to survive in a bad situation that you can’t control and doesn’t conform to the typical actions and values of the other people living in the same time and situation. Lao-tzu is a positive philosopher who looks on the bright side of things. In conclusion, Lao-tzu was a very peaceful philosopher that is one reason why I enjoy researching and finding out new things about him. It was a really hard decision deciding which philosopher is my favorite and who to write my paper on because there are so many amazingly great philosophers. I didn’t even know what philosophy was and all about until taking this class. I am so grateful to have been able to learn so much about so many amazing people in the history of philosophy. The excellent thing is that all the philosophers have different backgrounds, and grew up so different. Yet they all share one thing which is the love and dedication to philosophy. It is so wonderful to know that some of these philosophers didn’t except any money even when they were struggling immensely financially. They did that all because of their love of teaching and philosophy. And one philosopher named Soren Kierkegaard even chose philosophy over his one true love because he was so compassionate about it. I also like that the philosophers we have talked about are well educated and intelligent. The positive values that they all have are very intriguing. I was pleased to learn that Lao-tzu was the creator of Yin and Yang because I know the symbol very well and had heard of this part of his philosophy before the lecture about him and researching his philosophies further. I am so happy I chose to take this class it has opened my eyes immensely to so many philosophies and points of view. Such as all the different religious views and insights of these philosophers. I would like to continue learning about philosophy and they many different philosophers. I aspire to read Lao-tzu’s book Tao-te-ching translation by Stephen Mitchell, the Meditations written by Markus Anrelins and The varieties of Religious Experience written by William James. Philosophy is a lifelong dedication that these philosophers have all lived of course some more extreme than others. There is a saying that I like that really reminds me of Lao-tzu which is treat others the way you would like to be treated. Therefore treat others good because no one likes be treated badly.