Oriental Philosophies 2021

On Lao Tzu and the Taoist Tradition

A. Lao Tzu’s Context
Source: John M. Koller, Oriental Philosophies, 2nd Edition (London: MacMillan
Publishers LTD, 1985), 283-291.
Just as Confucianism, Taoism began in a philosophical protest against the
conditions of the times. Approximately a contemporary of Confucius, Lao
Tzu recognizes that poverty and starvation were caused by bad rulers, that
greed and avarice resulted in wars and killings, and that desires for wealth,
power, and glory were bringing about the destruction of society. However,
despite having this inspiration in common, the two philosophies developed
in quite different and even opposing ways.

B. Comparison Between Confucianism and Taoism

Whereas Confucianism stressed the moral goodness of human beings, Taoists stressed the
harmony and perfection of nature. The Taoist sees that the way of human beings lead to evil and
unhappiness, thus, to find peace and contentment humans must follow the Tao (Way of the
Universe) and achieve oneness with this Tao.
In Confucianism a well-developed life is taken to be the ideal but for Lao Tzu the ideal
life is to be simple in living where profit is ignored, cleverness abandoned, selfishness minimized,
and desires reduced.
Confucius advocated rites and music as another means to develop and regulate the desires
and emotions of Ren. To Lao Tzu, however such efforts seemed artificial as it interferes with the
harmony of nature. Rather than organize and regulate things to achieve perfection, Lao Tzu
would let things work to their perfection naturally. This means supporting all things in their
natural state, allowing them to transform spontaneously. In this way no action is needed, no
regulations required, and yet everything is done and all things are regulated.
In Confucianism human beings and nature are differentiated while Taoism sees them in
unity. Taoism analyzes the deficiencies and evils confronting human society and concludes that
they stem primarily from a wrong view of humanity and the universe. Taoist argues that the basis
of humanity is not of our own making but is contained in the being and the function of the totality
of the universe.
Taoism offers a view of the universe and man as a unity. The principles that should guide
life and regulate the actions of human beings are the principles that regulate nature. Life is lived
well only when people are completely in tune with the whole universe and their actions are the
action of the universe flowing through them. Society, too, must be in tune with the universe.

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The word Tao refers to a path or a way, and in Taoism it means the source and principle
of the functioning of whatever exists. When the Tao of humanity and the Tao of the universe are
one, human beings will realize their infinite nature. Then peace and harmony will reign.

C. Synthesis of Lao Tzu’s Tao of human life:

1. People generally act to fulfill their desires.
2. The result of many individuals attempting to satisfy their desires is competition and
conflict.
3. In order to provide peace and harmony among individuals struggling to satisfy their
desires, standards of human rightness and morality are devised.
4. The erection of moral standards does not solve the problem, for competition and conflict
remain. Rules are broken and new rules are devised to protect the old rules. But new rules
and old rules are broken and desires remain unsatisfied while wrongdoing and evil are
fostered.
5. Since devising moral standards does not solve the problem, the solution lies in giving up
moral standards.
6. However, standards can be abandoned only when desires as sources of action are given
up.
7. Actions arising out of desires can be given up only when people adopt the "easy way" of
action.
8. The "easy way" of action presupposes being in tune with the universe and acting in accord
with the universal Tao.
9. Regulation of society and government of the people should be according to the easy and
natural way and should foster the natural way in the people.

D. Morality and the Way of Tao

In attempting to rectify the evils present in his society Lao Tzu recognized the necessity
of understanding the basic causes of these evils. It appeared obvious to Lao Tzu that the choices
and actions of most people proceed from their desires, and are guided by the satisfaction of these
desires. Accordingly, the most basic regulatory principle of action is the fulfillment of desires.
Now if people act in order to fulfill their desires, and if different persons desire the same things,
then, when there aren't enough goods to go around, there will be competing and conflicting
actions. It is, of course, notoriously the case that people are never able to satisfy all of their desires
and that they often desire the same things. Consequently, they compete with each other and
conflicts arise. When competition is unregulated and conflicts are settled through the use of
power and force, the whole fabric of society is threatened. Therefore, to regulate competition and
reduce conflicts moral rules are introduced as guides to human behavior. The primary function

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of moral rules and social institutions is to regulate the actions of the people in order to provide
for a maximum satisfaction of desires for everyone. Lao Tzu believes that the regulation of
competition and conflict through morality would not solve the problem of man.
Lao Tzu saw the failure of Confucian morality to achieve ideal social conditions. Morality
does not attack the problem at its root. By allowing desires to function as legitimate sources of
human action, morality could not remove competition and strife. The best it could do was to
regulate the competition and reduce the strife. But this simply complicates the matter of satisfying
desires in accord with the moral rules, and leads to rule breaking, thereby bringing about
immorality. It does not remove the competition and does not provide for the complete satisfaction
of desires.
Since morality is incapable of providing for peace and happiness, it should be regarded
as an unsuccessful solution to the problem of achieving the ideal society and should be
abandoned in favor of a different solution. But morality cannot be abandoned without changing
the conditions which inevitably lead to the regulation of action by moral rules. These conditions,
a world of competition and strife where the powerful subdue the weak at their pleasure, are the
result of acting for the sake of satisfying desires. Since acting to satisfy desires brings about the
conditions requiring morality, morality cannot be abandoned until desires as a source of actions
are abandoned. The reason why acting out of desires leads to evil is that it is contrary to the Way,
for the great Tao is always without desires. The good is accomplished not by action driven by
desire, but by inaction inspired by the simplicity of Tao, according to Lao Tzu. He says,
"Simplicity, which has no name, is free of desires. Being free of desires it is tranquil. And the
world will be at peace of its own accord" (ch. 3 7).
Advocating giving up desires as sources of action, the important question for Lao Tzu is, How
then should people act? His answer, in brief, is that people should adopt the "easy way" of Tao,
not inflicting their desires upon nature, but following nature's principles. With regard to society,
he advocates a government of the people which is in accord with the easy and natural way of
Tao, and which fosters the natural way in the lives of the people.

A. Lao Tzu’s Description of Tao and Its Manifestation (Te)

To understand this answer of Lao Tzu, it is necessary to turn to his conception of Tao and its
manifestations, te. Prior to Lao Tzu the principles of yin and yang were known. They were
regarded as opposites, and all of the things in the world were considered to be the production of
the interaction between yin and yang. But yin and yang, opposed as light and dark, cold and
warm, being and non-being, etc., being opposite, could not of their own nature either produce
themselves or interact with each other. A third something providing a basis and a context for the
interaction of yin and yang was required. The great contribution of Lao Tzu was his recognition

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of Tao as the source of both being (yin) and non-being (yang) and the function of Tao as the basis
for the interaction of yin and yang.
As the absolutely first principle of existence, Tao is completely without characteristics. It
is itself uncharacterized, being the very source and condition of all characteristics. In this sense it
is non-being. But it is not simply nothing, for it is the source of everything. It is prior to all the
existing things, giving them life and function, constituting the oneness underlying all the
diversity and multiplicity of the world. Lao Tzu says, "The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal
Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of Heaven
and Earth; the named is the mother of all things" (ch. I). The reason Tao cannot be named is that
it is without divisions, distinctions, or characteristics. It is unified, like an uncarved block, being
without change, knowing neither beginning nor end. But if Tao cannot be named, what is named
by "Tao"? Lao Tzu's point in saying that the Tao is beyond all names is that the fundamental
source and principle cannot be named, for it is the very source of names and descriptions.
Consequently, "Tao" is a non-name; it does not refer to any one thing. Rather it points to that
which enables things to be what they are; it is that which gives them existence and allows them
to pass into non-existence. When it is said that Tao is the source of all being, and non-being, the
word Tao functions very much like the word "that" when it is said "the 'that' from which being
and non-being proceed."
The importance of Tao lies in the recognition that there is something which is prior and
anterior to the various particular things that exist in the world, something which gives unity to
all the existing things and which determines the very existence and function of everything. What
that something is cannot, of course, be said, for whatever can be talked about is limited and
determined, whereas it cannot be said that the source is limited and determined, for it is the very
condition of limits and determinations. Although what Tao is cannot be said, but can only be
pointed to, a feeling for what Tao is can be achieved by considering the functioning of Tao. Strictly
speaking the function (te) of Tao cannot be stated, but since Tao supports all things in their natural
state, its function can be seen, at least partially, by looking to nature. The Tao is manifested in the
workings of nature, for what individual things possess of Tao is the te, or function, of Tao. Tao,
as a source, provides for the very existence of things, but the function of Tao provides for their
distinctness.
Examining the workings of things in their natural conditions, Lao Tzu observes that no-
action (wu-wei) is what they inherit from Tao as their function. He says, "Tao invariably takes no
action, and yet there is nothing left undone" (ch. 37). What he means by "taking no action" is not
straining and contriving to accomplish, but letting things be accomplished in a natural and
spontaneous way. Thus, immediately after the remark quoted above he says, "If kings and barons
can keep it, all things will transform spontaneously" (ch.37). The reference here is to Tao. If the
ruler will keep to the way of Tao, government will proceed in a natural and spontaneous way.

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There will be no need for harsh laws, conscriptions, punishment, and wars. Lao Tzu's advice to
the rulers is that they should govern as little as possible, keeping to the natural way, letting people
go their own way. He suggests that the people are difficult to rule because the ruler does too
many things. What the ruler should keep in mind is that "ruling a big country is like cooking a
small fish." In cooking a small fish one must take care not to handle it too roughly for too much
handling will spoil it. In ruling a country care must be taken not to push the people around,
forcing them to rebel. When the people are satisfied there will be no rebellion or wars. Therefore
the easy way of governing is to give the people what they want and make government conform
to the will of the people rather than trying to force the people to conform to the will of the
government.
When Lao Tzu suggests that the ruler should know the mystic Tao, and in his ruling
emulate the function of Tao, he has in mind that the perfection of all things lies in expressing the
Tao they possess. The job of the ruler is to let the Tao operate freely, rather than trying to resist
and change its function. What Tao is, and how it functions, is revealed in the fourth chapter of
the Tao Te Ching, where Lao Tzu says:
Tao is empty (like a bowl).
It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted.
It is bottomless, perhaps the ancestor of all things.
It blunts its sharpness.
It unties its tangles.
It softens its light.
It becomes one with the dusty world.
Deep and still, it appears to exist forever.

To say Tao is empty is to note that it is without characteristics; it is empty of all

particularity, for it is the possibility and source of all particularity. Even though it is empty of
particular things it is the most useful of all things. Just as the most useful thing about a house is
its emptiness-its space-so the most useful thing about Tao is its emptiness of characteristics, for
this means it has infinite capacity. Thus the emptiness of Tao is synonymous with its being the
infinite source of all things.
The functioning of Tao is eternal and recurrent, producing all things and directing their
activities. Comparing the functioning of Tao to blunting sharpness, untying tangles, and
softening light draws attention to reversal as the movement of the Tao. The lesson the Taoists
drew from nature is that when a thing reaches one extreme, it reverses and returns to the other
extreme. Thus, the advice is given that to assist the ruler with Tao one does not use force and
violence, for this would bring about a reversal (ch. 30).

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When it gets very cold, reversal sets in and it begins to get warm. When it gets very warm,
reversal again sets in and it begins to get cold. This is the way of nature as seen in the passing of
the seasons. In similar fashion, when a person becomes extremely proud and conceited, disgrace
and humility will follow. To know the reversals that constitute the functioning of Tao and to
adapt oneself to these movements is the way to peace and contentment. Just as one does not dress
lightly in winter and suffer in the cold, and does not dress warmly in the summer and suffer in
the heat, but dresses warmly in the winter and enjoys the cold, and dresses lightly in the summer
and enjoys the warm weather, so one should not resist the natural way, but should act in accord
with the Way of the Great Tao in all things.
To recognize that Tao becomes one with the dusty world is to understand that Tao is not
transcendental, but immanent. That is, Tao does not remain aloof from the world, directing it
from afar, but functions through the world, and is indistinguishable from the functioning of the
world. Tao is not to be found aside from life, but within life in the world.
A ruler who knows the Tao and its Te knows how to stay out of the way of the people and
serve them without intruding. Thus, Lao Tzu says that the people "are difficult to rule because
the ruler does too many things" (ch. 25) . In accord with the function of Tao, Lao Tzu says,
"Administer the empire by engaging in no activity." Supporting this advice, he notes that “the
more taboos and prohibitions there are in the world, the poorer the people will be," and, "the
more laws and orders are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be" (ch. 57) .
By giving up desires and letting the Tao enter and pervade oneself, life will rise above the
distinctions of good and evil. All activity will proceed from Tao, the very source of existence, and
humanity will be one with the world. This is the solution Lao Tzu brought to the problem of evil
and unhappiness in human life. It is a solution that depends ultimately upon achieving a unity
with the great inner principle of reality, and is, therefore, basically mystical.

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