Chuang Tse's View of Tao, Te and Human Nature-- Focussed on the Claim that Benevolence and Righteousness Must be Abandoned
Resource
國立臺灣大學哲學論評, 12, 107-144
Journal
國立臺灣大學哲學論評
Journal Issue
12
Pages
107-144
Date Issued
1989-01
Date
1989-01
Author(s)
Hsieh, K.M.
Abstract
There are several major items in the Book of Chuang Tse. These items become members of the Tao-te clan. Among them, Tao (道), te (德), tien (天), ti (地), wu (物), jen (人), are the five prominent ones. They constitute a group of items for the plan strategy of the tao-te clan. Tao (道), te(德), hsing (nature) (性), hsing (bodily form) (形), constitute another group of items for the accomplishment of a being in the tao-te clan. And ch’i (氣), ming (命), ts’ai (才), ch’ing (情), hsin (心), chih (知) make up a group of itmes concerning man in the tao-te clan. This is the first point of Chuang Tse’s view as I expound in my paper.
The second point is that by observing the tao-te clan we can understand what the world is , so the view of tao-te is just Chuang Tse’s Weltanschauung. Parallel to this point is the point that he takes ‘to be’ as the aim of ‘ought to be’. Since the tao-te clan is just what is 'to be’, the tao-te clan, i. e., his Weltanschauung, is also his view of ‘ought to be’.
The third point is that three is a distinction between ‘what is from heaven’ and ‘what is from man’. From ‘what is from man’come things that are not in the tao-te clan. They are ‘ought-not-to-bes’, because they are not ‘to bes’.
The ‘ought not to be’ must be ruled out. Just as when we winnow the chaff, and the dust will get into our eyes, so when we winnow benevolence and righteousness we will cause the greatest confusion in the world. Therefore Chuang Tse maintains that kings or politicians must not winnow benevolence and righteousness. This is the fourth point as expounded in my paper.
Since the ‘ought to be’ is simply ‘to be’ one needs no virtues to cultivate oneself. Chuang Tse’s view of Tao-te as morality is a view of morality without virtues. However, he does not go so far as to deny good, for the tao-te clan is good by itself. To abandon benevolence and righteousness does not, therefore, mean to abandon morality, it means only to abandon virtues. And his teaching of human nature is that human nature must be kept as what it is. While one needs no cultivation through virtues, still human nature is good, because it is originally in the originally in the tao-te clan. This is the fifth point.
How can we keep our nature (性) within the tao-te clan and not let it go beyond the latter? The answer is that we must maintain intactly what comes from heaven (全天) and keep our original selves (守人). This is the sixth point expounded in my paper.
Type
journal article