Synthesis Paper 2.A Revised

What is Philosophy as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Lao Tzu in the way he perceives the philosophical problem?

Philosophy, as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy, by Lao Tzu, in the way he perceives the philosophical problem is that one must be in accord to the way of nature. This is to say that one must live harmoniously with the natural law.

Before I proceed, I will first discuss what this natural law is. Natural law is the law in which things act according to their innate capacity. This is to say that things happen according to the movement of their natural self.  In a simpler term, it is the Tao. According to Wing-Tsit Chan, it is the One, which is natural, eternal, spontaneous, nameless, and indescribable. It is the way of the universe, the way of nature. This Tao is then, the fulfillment of man’s nature.

The realization of natural law however, is difficult to achieve as one may be caught up by the material world.  This is the case, as what has been indicated in the powerpoint presentation, of Confucianism. Confucius discusses things that are of this world and Lao Tzu says that he doesn’t solve problem. He uses solutions which are also found in this world which is not the real solution. For him (Lao Tzu), the real solution is not of this material world. The realization of the natural law can be done through reflection. This reflection leads to insights and would let someone know what he really wants and needs. This will lead him into the realization of his natural self.

Now, according to Lao Tzu, there has been a problem in the society which causes natural disorder due to the absence of this Tao or natural way. The disorders which are poverty, rebellion, and violence are all product of that absence. According to him, these disorders are rooted up from  knowledge and desire.

Gaining knowledge according to Lao Tzu is not a good thing if one wishes to follow the Tao. For him, gaining knowledge means creating distinctions or divisions such as good and evil, hot and cold, pass or fail, etc. Such distinctions separates things, thus makes things seemingly unequal.  These distinctions influence a person in making judgments which will turn out biased. When one has knowledge, which is distinctions, he would most probably choose the one which he would benefit from, thus rejecting the other. This rejection is not part of the way of nature, as in it, everything is equal. When one is rejected, it would mean that the other is much more important or valuable than him/her/it. Aside from creating distinctions, knowledge also results in consequences that are far beyond ones intention. For example, when one has distinguished good and evil, one would probably choose good as it has a positive effect on him. When the evil is rejected, then there would be pain in the part of the rejected evil. The one who chose good over evil doesn’t have the intention of hurting the evil, but as a consequence of his action, he just did.

The knowledge of things will lead the person into wanting more and more knowledge. This creates a problem according to Lao Tzu. This is because the knowledge acquired by the person males him want more. Because of his knowledge, it fuelled him to wish to obtain more, to desire for more. The effect of this desire is that a person will lose focus on the essential things in his life. Because of the want to get more, he forgets to examine his self of what he truly wants and needs. Also, this desire would lead the person to get jealous of what the others have and what he doesn’t have. This would sometimes end up invading others property just to satisfy this want. The invasion is a violation of the natural way of the person. It is a violation because the person tries to do everything, the what to and the how, just to get what he wants. He pushes himself to create ways which are far beyond his natural self.  Having studied Lao Tzu, I can say that he has always been pushing for a simpler life, a life in which is accord to the Tao to avoid stress, anxiety and social disorder. This pushing for more than what a person can do and may have is really a violation of his natural self, of the natural law.

This knowledge of knowing creates desire in the person that led him into being caught up by the material world. Being caught up means that the person is becoming farther from the Tao. He sometimes forgets about reflecting on what he really needs. He is unable to see the important thing in his life, the things that are really essential. Having knowledge and desire fuels the social disorders because it lets a person be insane, be stressed, be mad about achieving things. When one is yearning for something, it would make him do whatever he likes just to achieve it. This means that the person goes beyond his capacities thus break the natural law.

Therefore, Lao Tzu’s Philosophy in the way he perceives the philosophical problem is that one must be in accord to the Tao to avoid the social disorders that are rooted from knowledge and desire. This is to say that one must live in life that is harmonious to the Tao. When one has lived to the ways of nature, the ways of the Tao, then these disorders will be stopped. The problems emerged because of the person’s loss of the way of nature.

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Reference

Chan, W. (1963). A source book in Chinese philosophy. United States: Princeton
           University Press.

Rola, R. (2015). The Taoist problem [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
            https://drive.google.com /#folders/0B-MdNEfxdpmxMkF2YTdSakIxY1k