Daoist Ethics

that was innocent you could forward by loved in the sixth century BC he was contemporary the Buddha and of Confucius he developed an entirely different system of thought they saw the different set of values they descent that he was a wise man who eventually when he got to be in his 60s decided to go into retirement and drove up away from the village where it needs been known and people begged him before he left to write down this wisdom and so the story goes that that's when he wrote down the down of the teeth and then he went off to retirement and here you see an image of and going off to retirement having just written the daodejing the daodejing is a work that literally means wave virtue classic the dhaba wave of half-day is virtue and then Jing is just classic so the daodejing is basically a treatment of two central functions one is the doubt and the other is de this idea of virtue so let's start with the doubt what is the doubt remember this term is used in Confucius there it means the way the path the right way to live proper ethical living here it means something much more metaphysical the Dow is the one the underlying unity something like drama in Hinduism it's the way the universe works so it's not just an undifferentiated background thing it is itself something that has a character that has a dynamism it has a a sort of set of laws or processes built into it it is what underlies what Dow is called the ten thousand things that is to say the everyday world you buy tables chairs are buses houses all of that is the ten thousand things okay the ordinary things of existence what is the doubt really well it's held to be a level that is to say cannot really be described it cannot be defined and so the Tao is this underlying unity without the bells you might be given to something like the force in the Star Wars movies it is natural it is spontaneous it is eternal it is unmovable it also lacks some moral dimension so it's the way the universe proceeds but there is no underlying assumption here that the universe is set up to harmonize with human life and human desires and so this is something that is really proceeding on a total path if we've seen that Hinduism ultimately as the the view that we can get what we want that our deepest desires are in harmony with the universe and Buddhism that we can probably get what we want within this life that the basic structure of the universe conflicts with our deepest desires Taoism says the universe is not interested in other desires did neither harmonizes with it nor necessarily conflicts with it it's doing its own thing and it has no interest in us as such so let's look at the very beginning of the novel became communicating this idea that the Dao is ineffable but it cannot be defined the Dao that can be troubled forever this means path so the path that can be trouble is not the eternal valve not the eternal path the name that can be named is not the eternal name nameless it's the origin of heaven and earth named it is the mother of ten thousand things so the DAO if we choose to give it a name we can call it a now it is the mother of the ten thousand things it's the process the unity that underlies all of the ordinary things of our existence but really it doesn't have a main really its nameless it is in some sense the origin of heaven on earth it is the thing that lies in the background of the universe it is amoral it has no interest in us as such heaven and earth are not benevolent and the term here is red they treat the ten thousand things like straw dogs the sage is not benevolent he treats the people here like straw dogs so the universe has no interest in us it treats us as if we were essentially disco and the same thing is true of the same the philosopher does the Philosopher's seek to make other people wise seek to serve humanity no treats humanity likes products in other words treats people is disposable the thoughtless sage is not a very nice guy okay why why because he's interested in part of this wisdom that the university end doesn't really care about it's not about you it's doing something else you can adapt to that the sage will have advice about how to live if this is true but on the other hand the sage has no interest in maybe you were protecting you from the underlying truth which is that the universe is just forward to your interests and desires there was something indefinite existing before heaven on earth still formulas alone unchanging reaching everywhere without becoming exhausted it may be called the mother of ten thousand things I don't know its name I call it table if pressed I call it great great it flows constantly flowing it goes far away far away of returns so that now is this thing that's doing what it does if you say I don't understand what's the doubt do all I can say it's what's doing it now ok the universe is proceeding as it does the Tao is doing what it does it is underlying the ten thousand things it reaches everywhere it does not become exhausted it is the underlying unity and the underlying process therefore Dow is great heaven is great earth is great the king is also great and universe flora great and the king is lovely humans take them off from the earth earth takes its law from heaven heaven takes its law from dow dow takes its law from one of these so there are particular things that have laws that they obey we take our laws in part from our leaders and in part from the way the earth is and so there are laws about speed limits for example that are established by our rulers but there are other laws about for example not free drinking or eating poison that are really dissatisfied nation then there are things that well or matters of physical law where do those physical laws come from they're really part of the underlying structure of the universe and what establishes that structure it just is what it is the universe does what it does now takes its law from what it is there's a contrast of the Taoism between now again between the Tao the way the universe works roughly and then day the power will force to sport virtue or nature of an individual thing so now is something that underlies the whole universe but you and I and the chair and the table in the computer and the automobile we all have day we all have a particular virtue particular later now when I say virtue and mate you might think that's straight I don't understand what you're talking there is a two-fold nature today it is in part descriptive it is in part telling us the nature of the pain but also the nature of the thing specifies what it's virtue is and so we could think of something what is it good it's good to eat right it's nice and tasty it's juicy it's permits what's a pad yeah problem for example for me to tell what good Apple is and what a bad apple is what determines that well the nature of the Apple think about think about a cell phone what would be up that cell phone one that doesn't work right or one that you try to put in a number and a pile of some other number at one point actually I got a phone that didn't the five just started registering the three good so any time I tried to dial them by five in a hydrometer growing number and it was very frustrating even more so the versus I have to fight at all for about a third time it happened this you know this elderly woman I kept getting a disturbing and it took me a while to realize what was going wrong that was a fat cell phone what's a good cell phone well women works right and that actually calls people because the correct person that gives you other kinds of information and does what's supposed to do how you know what's supposed to do because you know it's nature you understand what it does and so there's a connection between the nature of the thing and then what it is to be a good example of that particular thing to put it narrow stalls language it's something like this the underlined nature or essence determines the function of the thing in the pumpkin determines what no matter it determines its virtue and so day is a term that applies to all of that the nature the function the virtue all of those are connected according to Towson they're not independent things to talk about what a thing is and to talk about what it is to be good as one of those things those are determined by the same thing now where does the day the individual virtue of something come from it comes from that out so the underlies unity is what establishes all oh good yeah it's the underlying doubt is something that has no interest in us is just treating us as straw dollars then how can there be any moral content to the day how can there be any normativity to this virtue as well as just nature in funk well think about an apple I'm in a bad that you know is it's not any moral level the Apple falls on the ground it rocks and do you go for it it's not doing what it's supposed to do what its nature intended to do but on the other hand it's not a moral thing right so the norm here is not necessarily a moral norm it's something that means this thing is not living up to its nature and yet it's not something that we say is really a moral thing and the same thing we'll see is true of human beings human beings have something that is what they are supposed to be but if we fail to be that it's not exactly a moral fail it's some other kind of failure and so we'll have to look at the details here to see what that amounts to but I think you're right to worry that out of this we're not really going to get moral norms we're going to get some other kind of norm the kind of norm that applies to a cellphone or to an apple it happens well to be an apple phone guff two birds one stone but anyway this is something that actually you could say is not specifically moral and when we get to human beings either that's going to change or what we'll understand is human virtue will turn out not to be really a moral concept either well what exactly is this going to look like here is another way of putting this twofold character of de nature function virtue there I've actually made a top three fold but really the idea is that it has a nature and that determines ultimately what makes a good one it has an active nature that determines what the thing is and does but then it also establishes what some scholars of Taoism have referred to as a regulating principle it determines what the thing ought to be endued to understand what an Applebees is to understand what it is for something to be a good alcohol addict to understand what beer is that is to understand what a good beer is and what a bad beer to understand a cellphone is understanding or what a good cellphone doesn't what a bad cellphone would do or fail to do and then similarly with a human being you might say understanding our nature will determine will tell us what we ought to be and what we ought to do so the doubt produces 10,000 things and day nourishes them they're nature's give them form and circumstances complete them the 10,000 things respect down and exalt day not by decree but spontaneously that is to say these are things that do not have to be established by some sort of rule you don't have to say okay we now vote on the question of whether Apple should be tasty all in favor it's not a sample size right it is something established by the nature of the universe and the same will be true of day for it with respect to other kinds of things so Dow produces day nourishes grows matures SART nurtures matures maintained and covers it produces without claiming possession supports without pausing itself matures without controlling this is called the dark day the dark day that dark for to because it is something that it's not really there on the surface it is not trumpeted it's advertised it's something that is just there in the background to understand what this thing is and does is to understand what would be for that to do eat well and that's something that is lying there in state it is not something imposed on it on the surface it's something hidden in a sense behind if we understand its nature will understand there is an important ethical idea that lies behind this twofold nature of day this idea that the nature determines the function which determines the excellence of the thing and it is this things naturally tend toward what they ought to be apples naturally tend to become good Alice of course if left on the tree too long if they follow the ground and get eaten by bacteria worms or something they become balanced but they naturally tend to become good and there might be something about a let's say to never miss that stage but it's in some sense defect the same thing through cell phones cell phones are supposed to actually function in a certain way and if they don't they're defective cell phones so things naturally tend toward what they ought to be into they don't always get there things can interfere things get in around there may be an exceptional one that is defective in some way nevertheless day flows from the dap and so the idea is things naturally tend to be what they ought to be to do what they want to do now that tells us something extremely important to human affairs about what we should do about what we should both individually and also together things naturally work out which means if things that you intend to their own snakes of excellence what should we do about it let him do it okay just step back let things proceed the way they normally do don't interfere typically things are gonna work out that they're going to become what they ought to be and do and so don't interfere it'll all be okay go with the flow is one way of putting a basic moral premise of taoism things are going to work out and so leave it alone our activity is likely to do more harm than good now we won't always do harm the farmer may know how to ex grasp things of the apple-trees foods better apples they know how to fertilize the tree spruce better apples may know how to water the tree at the right time and so forth up through in the tree and so there are things we can do but most things that someone without least a great deal of skill and knowledge of this to do is back and so if you are I not knowing much about apple trees go in and start messing around with the orchard we're likely to screw it up if you don't know what you're doing better not to do anything at all so inactivity is a virtue in balance this is called too bad whoo way it's a virtue the connectivity is a virgin passivity letting things take their course going with the flow the virtuous person here who is one is what it doesn't interview doesn't go in and try to change things it's a very different model from confusing the Confucian is one of his clubs in shaping crafting both the things around him and himself but the Dow's lets things be and that means doesn't really try to shake people doesn't really try to change and were herself the taoist is one who says what I'm naturally gonna be what I'm supposed to be so just relax just a spontaneous don't worry about it don't try so far so here are other Taoist virtues simplicity that now assistant doesn't worry about the huge complexity of existence doesn't like the Buddhists say if I've got to strain like it off every moment pushing toward virtue no wake up you have natural desires yes but you also have natural those desires just sometimes act on them and sometimes not trust yourself the confucian for the Buddhists is somebody's doesn't all you know I if I'm gonna be healthy I better observe a strict diet I better start counting calories I've never get an app on my phone that counts count greets I know some people who are like this Danny Denny maybe without one you then finding out how many grams of fat or carbohydrates or whatever is going on that was just look you know if I happen you know what they hope will tell you when you need to eat you know I'll tell you when to stop eating so just eat when you feel like and there are things you feel like eat them your bodies if there are things you know okay now that's the ordinary thing just eat what you want to eat when you want to eat you'll be fine it could be that you're a person for whom this is an exception but if so something's interfering with the natural process so it's important to figure out what that is it won't it's not as at the top I mean you might think look the fact that some people are obese refutes the wholesome but the nose will say no no I'm saying normally people don't have to worry about there can be exceptional pieces yeah ah weakness of will ya good a good question is that something that itself is a virtue sorry my toes is itching but also I watched this video this morning by Slovakia Czech philosopher and he's constantly rubbing as though somehow this is nothing my head so now rubbing my nose imitating GTECH in these videos anyway okay alright Bhaiji technique for an agent although i have to keep doing this to its weakness of Williger to not exact spot today's spontaneity authorities and so here's the idea of the response to temptation is to act spontaneous what is your natural enemies sometimes it will be to actually given it some page sometimes your natural impulse will be to resist trust your network okay so sometimes you're going to see here I'll mentioned one of my greatest temptations one of those things that actually have apparently powerless to resist normally I'm a person strong-willed I don't get tempted by knocks but peanut M&Ms are my end doing ventriloquism but they're right here it's just that for Halloween so what's my life do to get peanut M&Ms so that I will have peanut M&M so that I do love them but they're like when you just open up a bag it just sort of beat them all in one night which is what I tend to do but anyway here's the boss trust your own instincts about this okay you see the temptation and if your instinct is your spontaneous reaction is to grab those peanut M&Ms well go ahead and do it it's all right but after a few of them and it for in my case quite a few of them you'll find yourself thinking oh man I mean it's kind of good trust that it's okay sometimes after especially doing that you'll see them in yo face yeah I'm not opening that bag I'm gonna do it in short the knowledge is going to say you've got a natural response to regulate weakness of will to do with meditation trust your necklace now again things can go wrong there are people who are so beat willed that they're going to give in to the temptation of food or sex or laziness or whatever it is too much and there are the other people maybe who are too insensible and you give it enough but rather than saying oh what's my view here what exactly should I do did that acceptance brush plus religion could you motor indulge your body your modern you start telling you I'm overindulgent cut it out buddies you haven't had any M&Ms in a long time and you think oh man they look great then it's okay so in short the now is just going to say we have bball I think they go ahead but that wasn't necessarily evolution is nice evolutionary story go over this we have evolved to have responses to temptation some of those involving times dipping it in some involved resistant trust your own afterwards well I thought question yeah but thank you this is why natural please good so why yeah all right good luck I've been trading you in this course to think about arguments and you might say well I am hearing a few here but I'm not hearing many arguments and so what's the argument for this view the underlying argument in a way is this idea that things naturally tends work that they're supposed to be in do because day is determined by the Dow and so you might say well though the now treats us like straw dogs and has no real moral component on the other hand we are manifestations of the now just like everything else so we are going to naturally tend to do what we're supposed to do and will we always do that well Norrell always but we tend toward excellence and so people have left alone tend toward excellence is the idea so it's fine to be spontaneous it's fine to be passive it's fine to be tranquil to be even weak because in the end it's not a question of strength it's a question of letting yourself because what you're supposed to be now in the son respects I think a lot of people feel some sympathy with this others will say wait means you know there are places where this doesn't make much sense for example collection a there there is a real issue in elementary education about this take a bunch of kindergartners and what group will say we got to start teaching the letters teach you the rate be too many members and so on the other group will say oh no you know what's the truly true the child coming here are some box here is a place where the children can play with members and they'll just do what they did okay now I'm slightly mocking this sort of Montessori idea as I go through this but actually I mean there are about to score Tory schools there are lots of people in education who think well that should be the basic paradigm start with the assumption that the child will were and what they're supposed to learn and only at certain points intervene when you feel that something has to be done others are going to say no no no it's a question of making the children sit in line stand in line wait their turn be son listen etc and that's a very different more Confucian model I think most of us intuitively are somewhere in between thinking look I don't really want a Confucian you know sort of cross between a Confucian and the German lieutenant to be the kindergarten teacher but neither who I wanted to be a hippie sort of person - this is somewhere in between those extremes use the right place but where is it then that was - saying it's much more in the direction of letting things go and only occasionally intervene well what this means is we should typically act that out acting manager pairs without trouble taste without tasting consider the small break the few many and notice repay injury wouldn't they in Confucius we were paying injury with what justice yes it's not high for an eye tooth for a tooth it is instead remain a dream jobs here repents with virtue repay it with well spontaneous action so the person comes up to you and suddenly punches what should you do you know the old testament answer is huh job back Jesus's answer is offered the other cheek Confucius just answer is basically call the police what is the novice answer whatever comes then okay so in short your by your Bob you're going to tell you what to do alright is your person response to run away is it to fight back does it call for help trust your instinct your instincts will tell you what to do now what does this mean for Dallas leadership how do you become a Dallas and actually lead are you supposed to do anything here's the answer plan difficult things well they're easy accomplish great things while they're small difficult things of the world start easy great things start small okay but because the sage never does great things he can accomplish great things so in short here's the bottle of Dallas leadership have you ever seen one of those games where there's a little ball and you have to steer the ball of troops and Bowl without it falling into a hole by subtly tilting the playing field like this that's what Dallas leadership is the Taoist leader is one who just slightly tips things so that people naturally go in the direction they ought to go in it's not a question of forcing people having rules have policies procedures it's a question of slight tilts in the playing field so that difficult things are accomplished while they're easy so take Eva easy things to be difficult because that way they won't be difficult and so the thought here is being good requires no special effort we don't need training we naturally tend to be good virtue righteousness propriety all of those are some except something's not wrong we have to resort to dealing with virtue to having rules of propriety to dealing with questions of and what right action is and so on when something's already wrong but if things are proceeding right we don't need rules we don't need principles we don't need procedures you don't need theories of right reason just not naturally it'll be okay so as soon as we need these confusion things and sometimes we do that's already sign of trouble okay let me jump ahead to politics what does this mean about politics it means the best leaders are ones the people don't even know that they're there the next-best they love in print the next-best they fear the worst they despise when rulers lose faith in their people people lose faith in their rules so the idea here is the best leader is the one who simply tilting that playing field not even doing anything very observable okay the best leader the best ruler is one who really appears to be not doing much of anything at all if the ruler loses faith in the people no longer thinks they're naturally gonna tend to do what they have to do people are gonna lose faith in the ruler and that verse continues words map work done things accomplished the people say we did these things ourselves so the greatest leaders are not those actually who are held up as the great leaders who did great things the greatest leaders are the loves where are you looking at G I know what they did but look at the country it really prospered over there so the best leaders are the ones that seem not to be doing much of anything at all but instead allow the people to accomplish things themselves

Channel: Daniel Bonevac

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Id: wWBivbz8SIU

Length: 28min 21sec (1701 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 04 2016