PHIL351, Fall 2010

Dr. S. A. Wawrytko

The Common Ground & Daoism

(200 points) due October 16, MAXIMUM 10 PAGES
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Scientists have long said the only way to restore Louisiana’s vanishing wetlands is
to UNDO THE ELABORATE LEVEE SYSTEM that controls the Mississippi
River, not with the small projects that have been tried here and there, but with a massive diversion that
would send the muddy river flooding wholesale into the state’s sediment-starved marshes.
And most of them have long dismissed the idea as impractical, unaffordable and lethal to the region’s
economy. Now, they are reconsidering. In fact, when a group of researchers convened last April [2006] to
consider the fate of the Louisiana coast, their recommendation was unanimous: divert the river. . . . .
A diversion would send the river’s richly muddy waters into marshes or shallow-water areas where, Dr.
[Denise J.] Reed [coastal geologist at the University of New Orleans] said, “the NATURAL PROCESSES
of waves, coastal currents and even storms can rework that sediment and bring it into the coast.” . . . .
Until PEOPLE INTERFERED WITH ITS FLOW, the Mississippi’s path to the gulf SILTED UP
NATURALLY over time; water flow slowed and the river bed lost its capacity to carry a big flood. When
next the big flood came, the river would suddenly turn one of its distributaries into its new main stem.
This kind of switching has occurred roughly every 1,500 years, geologists say, and since about 1950 the
river has been READY FOR A CHANGE. . . .
“Is it practical? Yes,” [James B. Tripp of the Environmental Defense] said. “Will it be expensive?
Yes. But when you look at the alternatives it’s VERY COST EFFECTIVE,” particularly in an era of rising
sea levels. . . . there is a growing recognition that the COST OF NOT ACTING will be high as well.

In an act of desperation, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has called upon the
expertise of Chinese Philosophy to resolve this issue. Due to your knowledge of the subject, you
have been drafted as translator (aka Creative Hermeneutician) for the chosen panel of Chinese
experts:

1. an Yi Jing scholar─focusing on Change by means of yin and yang energies

2. Professor Thomè Fang─speaking on “the only sound mode of philosophizing”
3. Lao Zi ─addressing viability (what is do-able/dao-able) and wei-wu-wei (in contrast to
wei and bu-wei)
4. Zhuang Zi—on the usefulness of the useless (he loves animal stories!)
5. Applied “Daoists” Sun Zi and Tao Qian

What insights can each contribute on this serious issue of restoring balance in the environment?

You are also invited to add your own views, which may not necessarily be in agreement with the
views of the philosophers.

EXTRA CREDIT: (20 points maximum)

How does the dynamic of Both/And Logic and one’s definition of “Nature” apply to this case?