Lao Tzu Ethics

Tao Te Ching is one of the most well-known Chinese philosophical scripture believed to be penned between 6th and 4th Century BC and authored by Lao Tzu. It has been a bedrock for the ancient spiritual and religious tradition of Taoism. Tao Te Ching includes two books of poetic verses explaining principle aspects of Taoism such as the metaphysical concept of ‘Tao’ roughly translated as the Way or the path, the consequences of action and inaction, virtue and the juxtaposed behavior of nature. The first book discusses the manifestation of the Way and how it directs us in harmonizing with our own qualities, morals and virtue which eventually help us in harmonizing with the working of the nature. The second book deals with the difficulties of governing

The impacts of Buddhist teachings and the worshipping of individuals in the buddhist community, enabled those in society to reflect upon their ethics. This notion is evident through the buddhist ethical teachings that governs our morals, decisions and actions established as a result of the Dalai Lama’s philosophical teachings of peace, which is further supported by the notion of “Puja”, the act of devotional attention and offerings.

Throughout history western and eastern philosophies have developed a vast segregation from one another. The geographical and cultural distance between eastern and western civilization determined massive differences between the two. On the other hand, the works of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, and some eastern philosophies like Taoism have many of the same or common ideas and concepts. Both eastern and western philosophies regardless of having similarities have distinctive differences when examining the view of the conception of the good. In this rgard, each philosophy is noticed to have beliefs that strive for followers to improve their lives and to be on a path of self-purification. This essay will primarily focus on

In his writing, A Practical Companion to Ethics, Anthony Weston explains people are more judgmental and it causes a lot more problems than solutions. Anthony Weston feels Ethics requires us to be mindful thinkers, because it helps fight unjust prejudgment. I personally feel this could help fix court systems, federal, and state wide corruption. Most importantly being a mindful thinker could help businesses. There are so many reasons that could fall under Anthony’s theory. Getting to know the author and his work. I feel his mindful thinking is to reach out to others and interact with more people in an expressive way. Weston believes this will help our community progress in a positive manner towards others. I think he feels ethics requires us

Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.) and Laozi are some of the most renowned Chinese philosophers of all times. Laozi is considered by many scholars as a contemporary of Confucius. Indeed, the philosophies of the two scholars share a lot in common one of them being that they are critical of the world they live in because of disorder, which they attribute to deviation from the “way” of the golden period. Also, both their philosophies see the state of “nonaction” as the perfect spiritual state of man as characterized by harmony between his inclinations and those of the “way”. However, despite these similarities, Confucius and Laozi significantly differ in the sense that while the former advocates for

The Tao Te Ching is a 81 chapter book written by Lao Tzu. It’s wisdom is entirely immortal and focuses mostly on the theology of Taoism and explaining how Tao is part of our lives and how we as people can become part of the Tao. In the 81st chapter of the book, Lao Tzu describes to us a village of people and how they live their lives. In my analysis of this chapter I have come to agree with Lao Tzu in that this is the way that enlightened people live their lives and that living any other way than this will only lead to conflict

Another aspect of cultural conflict is that humility and obedient are considered as the traditional virtues of the Chinese culture. Children should unconditionally obey their parents because parents have the ability and willingness to teach and control their children. For example, according to Jing-mei’s mother, Jing-mei has to practice piano assiduously. She would not be punished if she devotes all her effort to playing piano. We can clearly see this point in her mother’s word in the quarrel, “Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter” (461). But Jing-mei cannot understand this, because she is not familiar to Chinese culture. As a consequence of Jing-mei cannot understand her mother, she does not cooperate and has rebellious attitude against her mother. In the story, Jing-mei decided, “I didn’t have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one” (460). As described above, Jing-mei cannot understand the humility and obedient of Chinese culture, even they are recognized as the

Have you ever heard the word Juxtaposition? Sounds different doesn’t it. The meaning of it is crazy and makes a lot of sense. A juxtaposition is the comparison of one thing to another. For an example light to darkness. It is put in ways or forms that may or may not be noticeable or easy to find. Juxtapositions are used in many books and novels that are popular or well known. The play by William Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet” uses the juxtaposition of light and darkness repetitively. One thing about juxtapositions are they help a writer a lot for writing novels and books to show the lesson that is shown at the end of the book. They could also give hints early in the story or open your eyes to a different point of view the book is showing. There

The Daodejing is an ancient Chinese text written around the 6th century B.C.E., which encompasses eighty-one short chapters and involves the teachings of being in absolute harmony with the universe. According to tradition, a sage named Laozi wrote the Daodejing, however, certain scholars argue that this text is a collection of multiple sources over the course of a few centuries. The Daodejing is the fundamental text of Taoism, a philosophical and religious tradition of Chinese origin that accentuates existing with “the Way.” Tao, romanized as Dao, signifies ‘path’ or ‘way’, and expresses how life cannot be understood by simple conceptions, rather as a condition of an actual living experience. The Daodejing has influenced many schools of thought, including Chinese Buddhism, and continues to be a text that inspires readers globally. Agreeing with this highly influential, ancient text, there are certain issues that people must overcome and understand to fully be harmonized with “the Dao.” Taoists would insist that to be one with the Way, an individual must understand the motivations behind their desires, be in a state of “Wu Wei,” translated as non-action, or acting naturally, and realize that names polarize the true nature of their meaning.

In “The Daodejing,” Laozi, similar to many prominent Chinese philosophers before and after his time, discusses his unique perspective of the “Way.” There is much controversy, however, regarding whether Laozi was the actual author of this text or was even a real person, and “his” work is thought to have been a composite. (For the purpose of clarity, throughout this paper, the author(s) of “The Daodejing” will be mentioned as Laozi.) Laozi’s vision of the “Way” is exceptionally challenging to define using words because of its metaphysical nature. Although this term is somewhat difficult to envision, it is what mankind should aspire and take action to be aligned with. According to Laozi, in “readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy,” the “Way” (or dao) is the “source, sustenance, and ideal state of all things in the world” (Laozi 158). It can be best thought of as the underlying guiding force of all events that occur in the universe, and mankind is closer to the “Way” when they realize that all things are interconnected and have an effect on one another. As might be expected, this vague definition isn’t a foolproof depiction of the eighty-one chapters in the “Daodejing,” but one is able to grasp a basic understanding of Laozi’s ineffable doctrine. Although numerous chapters are meaningful and could provide substantial analysis, this paper will focus in on Chapter Twelve. Ultimately, this chapter adequately and efficaciously compresses the teachings of “The Daodejing” into

In order to gain knowledge, one must study him or herself. By learning about oneself, one ultimately learns about others and the world around him or her.

Lao Tzu believed that human life is constantly influenced by outer forces; not unlike everything else in the universe. He knew that simplicity was key to all truth and freedom. He always encouraged those who followed him to observe and to seek to understand the laws of nature.

Confucian moral doctrine that placed people into a hierarchical canon is attached by Lu Xun in the novel who advocates for equality as the new philosophy of life. The work is intended to identify feudalism as cannibalism in China and instead call for freedom of

Yin – yang is a Chinese philosophical way of embracing human thought which considers two dimensions including humanity, character, and situations in life. This philosophy emphasizes that two complementary forces exists in the universe that are mutually opposed to one another but still remain in unity. According to “Hegelian, Yi-Jing, and Buddhist Transformational Models for Comparative Philosophy”, it is believed that the two forces are dependent on another and are well balanced (Robert 6). This paper intends to explore the major aspects of yin-yang way of thinking, how it affects the Confucius and Lao Zi ways of viewing happenings in the universe and the application of this kind of thought to the contemporary society

Buddhism does not regard ethics as a particular set of duties, rights, imperatives or obligations that should be used to evaluate the actions of a person. Instead, Buddhism views as the “accumulated wisdom” that one acquires in the areas of life and that are related to the fundamental problem that every person encounters—suffering (Voorst 2007; Becker & Becker, 2013). This paper will attempt to argue that the four noble truths are the basis onto which Buddhist ethics are founded; therefore, understanding the truths reveals the prominent elements of Buddhist ethical concerns.