Cranial electrical stimulation has been applied at various current levels in both adults and children with neurological conditions with seemingly promising but somewhat inconsistent results. Stimulation-induced spatial electric fields within a specific brain region are likely a significant contributing factor for the biological effects. Although several simulation models have been used to predict EF distributions in the brain, these models actually have not been validated by in vivo CES-induced EF measurements in the live human brain. This study directly measured the (...) CES-induced voltage changes with implanted stereotactic-electroencephalographic electrodes in twenty-one epilepsy participants and then compared these measured values with the simulated ones obtained from the personalized models. In addition, we further investigated the influence of stimulation frequency, intensity, electrode montage and age on EFs in parts of participants. We found both measured voltages and EFs obtained in vivo are highly correlated with the predicted ones in our cohort. In white matter and gray matter, the measured voltages linearly increased when the stimulation intensity increased from 5 to 500 μA but showed no significant changes with changing stimulation frequency from 0.5 to 200 Hz. Electrode montage, but not age, significantly affects the distribution of the EFs. Our in vivo measurements demonstrate that the individualized simulation model can reliably predict the CES-induced EFs in both adults and children. It also confirms that the CES-induced EFs highly depend on the electrode montages and individual anatomical features. (shrink)

Given wuwei 無為 describes the life praxis of the sage and statecraft of the enlightened ruler while also denoting the comportment of the Dao 道—an alternating state of quiet dormancy and creative activity—are the standard translations of wuwei as “nonaction” or “effortless action” up to the task? They are not, it will be argued, in that they fail to convey the true profundity of wuwei. The objective of this essay is twofold: to show that wuwei is (...) better understood as “abiding harmony” than nonaction, and to demonstrate this via a close reading of the Lüshi Chunqiu 呂氏春秋 (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals) which makes wuwei the epicenter of its doctrine of “the Dao of the ruler.” Indeed, the Lüshi Chunqiu’s unique application of wuwei lies not only in its borrowing of Daoist and Legalist norms, but in having the ruler meet the following prerequisites: be without knowledge, keep the senses and heart-mind pure, be reliant on others, follow Yin 陰 and Yang 陽, and study the course of heaven and earth to know the ways of humanity. There is, therefore, more to wuwei than meets the eye. (shrink)

Wuwei (nonaction) is one of the core concepts of Daoist ethics. Edward Slingerland pointed out that wuwei involves a paradox, and Arthur C. Danto questioned whether wuwei could support a genuine moral theory and the idea of right action. To defend Daoist ethics and its concept of right action, it is necessary to envisage Danto’s criticism and the problems raised by Slingerland. According to Ivanhoe, Wuwei is not a paradox, but a riddle or mystery about self-cultivation. (...) He thinks that if people could find the trick to the riddle, they can realize Wuwei. Ivanhoe’s analysis failed. Nickolas Knightly argues that we must acknowledge the paradox of Wuwei squarely. Based on criticizing Ivanhoe’s and Knightly’s schemes, this paper further analyzes the strategies to deal with the paradox of Wuwei. Wuwei should be placed in a specific situation and context. Wuwei requires the agents to have the corresponding psychological motivation, which will not continuously interfere with the purpose of action. Wuwei, as the behavior evaluation word of Daoist ethics, corresponds to moral anti-realism and nonassertive moral abolitionism. (shrink)

This inquiry aims to enrich conversation regarding school reform. The author asks about what other discourses are possible when the action-oriented question of how to ‘act’ is a major approach to ‘fix’ current educational problems. Drawing from Taoist philosophy of wuwei (non-action), the author provides a frame to review current school reform movement. Political philosophy of wuwei highlights non-interference or non-intervention governance. Laozi discusses his theory of governance that a sage leader should take and explicates the paradox of (...) non-action: By not doing, everything is done. The paradox of wuwei complicates dialogues in the field of curriculum theory by opening spaces for taking effortless actions in the midst of standardization and accountability reform movement. (shrink)

Critical readers can reasonably judge Zhuangzi’s 莊子 notion of wuwei 無爲 to offer a persuasive reply to Xunzi’s objection to Zhuangzi’s emphasis on living naturally, in light of recent theories of action. For Zhuangzi, self-cultivation is possible only when individuals attune themselves to the processes inherent in nature . Daoist wuwei depends crucially on two descriptive claims that Zhuangzi endorses and Xunzi rejects. The first claim, backed by Dreyfus’ theory of skill acquisition, is that views of self-cultivation which (...) rely on formulas and concepts stand opposed to the Way. The second claim, supported by Elster and Csikszentmihalyi’s theories of action, is that conscious deliberation is unable to facilitate self-cultivation. Zhuangzi’s normative vision requires that individuals indirectly create conditions for spontaneity, rather than pursue spontaneity directly, since any deliberate attempt at being spontaneous is self-defeating. (shrink)

Taoism, a foundational pillar of Chinese philosophy with an enduring influence spanning over two millennia, finds its classical expression by Laozi in Daodejing (道德经, The Classic of the Dao and of Virtue).1 Central to Taoist ethics is the concept of wuwei (无为, literally translated as ‘non-doing’).2 This piece explains wuwei, proposing it as a valuable lens through which contemporary bioethical debates can be reframed. Specifically, it argues that applying wuwei to neuroethical discussions can help discussants move beyond (...) the natural versus unnatural dichotomy that is commonly observed in public debates about new technologies (even though its usefulness as an ethical criterion is generally rejected by bioethicists), emphasising instead the subjective criterion of effortless harmony. Wuwei is a spiritual ideal of Taoism; Laozi advises the sage to govern and live in accordance with wuwei by aligning actions with the Dao (道, the Way).3 Taoism holds that Dao is the fundamental order of the universe and the natural flow of all things.3 Wuwei describes a state of harmonious equilibrium wherein one’s actions flow freely and intuitively—without force or resistance—thereby aligning with the person’s intrinsic nature (the Dao of the self), yet also appropriately respond to and accord with the external situation (the Dao of the environment). When acting in the state of wuwei, one obtains an effective …. (shrink)

In Daoist philosophy, the self is understood as an individual interdependent with others, and situated within a broader environment. Within this framework, the concept ziran is frequently understood in terms of naturalness or nature while wuwei is explained in terms of non-oppressive government. In many existing accounts, little is done to connect these two key Daoist concepts. Here, I suggest that wuwei and ziran are correlated, ethical, concepts. Together, they provide a unifying ethical framework for understanding the philosophy (...) of the Daodejing. I explore the meaning of ziran as self-so-ness or, in human terms, as pertaining to an individual’s spontaneity. The appropriate response to the spontaneity of individuals is to avoid, insofar as possible, imposing or using restrictive norms and methods, that is, wuwei. According to this view, ziran and wuwei offer an account of ethics that attends to core notions of interdependent selfhood, including mutuality, relationality, interdependence, symbiosis, and responsiveness. (shrink)

This chapter reconstructs the significance of wuwei 無為 and ziran 自然 in the Daodejing and explores their contemporary biopolitical and ecological consequences. It differentiates alternative environmental implications of different readings of wuwei as apathetic indifference, cruel lack of benevolence, amoral situational adaptation and playing, biospiritual self-preservation, mystical fusion, and (as proposed here) nurturing life (yangsheng 養生) through practices of shifting responsive care (ci 慈) and non-preferential and non-benevolent love (ai 愛). Each interpretation is necessarily a contemporary reimagining and (...) entails different responses or non-responses to current climate and ecological conditions. (shrink)

This article explores a key notion of Classical Daoism, namely wuwei 無為, through the lenses of Martin Heidegger’s Gelassenheit. My aim is to ask the question of whether a Heideggerian reading allows us to understand wuwei as a notion that circumvents the subject-object distinction characteristic of the Western metaphysical tradition. That distinction is, according to Heidegger, representative of the obsession in Western thought to “represent” (Vorstellen; literally to “put in front”) things. In other words, I will argue that (...) Heidegger provides us with a possibility to challenge and escape the dominance of metaphysics as representational thinking, and that Heidegger’s challenge may allow us a clearer understanding of wuwei in Daoism, by asking if the conceptual move made through wuwei is similar of that made with Heidegger’s Gelasssenheit. To do this I will investigate wuwei based on ideas of willing and non-willing, found in both Heidegger and Daoism. (shrink)

This paper examines the concept of wuwei government, a recurring theme in early Chinese political philosophy that has long presented interpretive challenges. Initially conceived as synonymous with rule by sage—characterized by effortlessness, non-coercion, and efficacy—the idea evolved in response to the problem of monarchical kingship, wherein the throne is inherited by birth. To reconcile the tension between empowering and restraining the ruler, Han Fei and Han Confucians took divergent approaches in adapting the ideal of wuwei government to align (...) with their respective political visions. Han Fei redefines wuwei as the ruler’s protective strategy that consolidates the ruler’s power while preserving his active political agency. By contrast, Han Confucians, such as Dong Zhongshu and Sima Qian, emphasize constraining the ruler, advocating a passive role based on a humble recognition of his mediocre quality, whereby he refrains from direct involvement in government and adheres to established institutions and practices. (shrink)

This article juxtaposes the notion of wuwei in Daoism and philosophical principles of self-organization in systems theory to re-imagine classroom dynamics in which pedagogical relationships...

This paper draws upon Laozi’s philosophy of “Wuwei governance” (governing by non-interference) to reexamine the essential nature, purpose, and governance of the university. In an age when modern higher education is increasingly plagued by bureaucratization, instrumentalization, and ideological manipulation, the author argues that the true university must return to the principle of “Dao follows Nature”, enabling both academic and moral development to follow their intrinsic logic. By comparing Chinese and Western (particularly American) university systems, the paper reveals that universities (...) should not become mere subsidiaries of the state, factories of the market, or tools of ideology. Rather, the university must serve as a platform for civilization’s self-reflection, purification, and transcendence—a sanctuary for truth, dignity, and intellectual freedom. Only by restoring the spirit of Wuwei can we rebuild the soul of the university—and, through it, the future of humanity. (shrink)

One of the many senses of the word spirituality—surely one of the vaguest words in the modern English language—is that of a special quality of life, a sublime fulfillment that somehow transcends the vicissitudes of fortune. According to this sense, spiritual people experience life as having such abundance of value or meaning that they can endure great hardship and tragedy without coming to despair. This abiding fullness and the equanimity it provides are perhaps the greatest prize of the spiritual life.Spiritual (...) fulfillment was once claimed as the special reward of religion, but no longer. In late modernity "spiritual but not religious" has become a commonplace self-description, and presumably this concept of.. (shrink)

The concept of anticipation, on the one hand, has received a considerable treatment in classical phenomenology, particularly in Husserl. The Zhuangzi, on the other hand, has not been explored with the help of Husserl’s concept of anticipation. Broadly construed, anticipation, due to its association with robust proclivity to seeing and conjuring up possibilities issuing from a phenomenon, shall have no place in the Zhuangzi. Against such backdrop, I argue that—albeit the Zhuangzi does not develop an explicit discourse on anticipation—a delimited (...) form of anticipation (‘d-anticipation’), that is, one which is inspired by Husserl’s concept of anticipation evident in his genetic phenomenology, can work in concert with the thoughts articulated in the Zhuangzi. I demonstrate this via examining death, desire, and freedom evident in the Zhuangzi. That ‘d-anticipation’ can work in concert with the thoughts articulated in the Zhuangzi can be apprehended in a variety of ways. Firstly, it can be seen in our natural response to death and the way in which we handle desires. Secondly, it points to Zhuangzi’s reductionistic manner of appreciating the richness of reality. Thirdly, it offers a way in which we can live life according to our nature. Fourthly, it points to an exercise of freedom which opens up the possibility of transcending conventional standards. Fifthly, it is inherently constitutive of the process of comportment with the Dao. Finally, it is in essence constitutive of a phenomenon or circumstance. In setting out to demonstrate these contentions, I seek to show that ‘d-anticipation’ can fill in a lacuna brought about by the negative appraisal of anticipation in the Zhuangzi and can assume a pivotal role in one’s comportment with the Dao. (shrink)

I will explicate Zhuangzi's conception of wuwei as it is articulated in the image of the ‘hinge of dao.’ First, I will discuss the few actual instances of the term “wuwei’ in the Zhuangzi. Second, I will show that the text uses this imagery to suggest an adaptive or reflective mode of conduct. Third, I will analyse the metaphor of the hinge, and show how this metaphor can illuminate Zhuangzi's notion of wuwei and the behaviour of the (...) realised person. I will show that the hinge represents the way in which the ideal person responds to inevitability, and that Zhuangzi's ideal person could be described as “perfectly well‐adjusted”. Finally, I will demonstrate that this reading offers new meanings and textures to a text that has long been read in only certain ways, so that many of its subtleties have been overlooked. (shrink)

Much contemporary scholarship on ziran and wuwei views these concepts, which are often coupled, as being 1) anti-intention, effort, purpose, and self-consciousness; 2) indicative of a distinct type of ethics and/or morality; and 3) a rejection of following custom and convention. This paper will draw largely on the philosophy of Guo Xiang to demonstrate that these widely agreed upon avenues of interpretation are limited and run contrary to other more nuanced readings of ziran and wuwei. I argue that (...) ziran and wuwei are better appreciated as speaking to attitudes, that they should be understood in terms of degrees rather than categories, and that the Laozi and Zhuangzi offer them as advice for ways of reflecting—they are not standardizable ethical rules. In this way, we can see how ziran and wuwei include intention and effort, are anti (most forms of) ethics and morality, and are inherently intertwined with customs and convention. (shrink)

This essay considers P. J. Ivanhoe's critical challenge to Slingerland's analysis of wuwei(‘effortless action’). While I agree with Ivanhoe that we should do more work to embody and understand the concept of wuwei, I will defend Slingerland's notion that wuwei involves paradox—particularly in the cases of Zhuangi and Laozi. The present essay is not a defense of the specifics of Slingerland's analysis. Nonetheless, this essay focuses on defending the notion of paradox. Ivanhoe offers an alternative view of (...) wuwei, one that sees the paradox as a riddle. I argue that this kind of formulation would frame the problem of wuwei in an unhelpful manner. I offer several novel ways of overcoming, or at least qualifying, the experience of paradox that seems to be at play in nondoing. (shrink)

Als in den Januartagen des Jahres 1978 an der Technischen Universität in Berlin der erste Tunix-Kongress stattfand, war für die meisten Bewohner der Stadt wie auch für viele Medienvertreter offensichtlich, dass es sich dabei um eine reine Chaoten-Veranstaltung handeln müsse. Initiiert von der Berliner Sponti-Szene und etlichen linksorientierten Gruppen, trafen sich damals Tausende Studierende und „Alternative“, um der bleiernen Schwere des vorangegangenen Jahres 1977 (als deutscher Herbst mit der Entführung und Ermordung des Arbeitgeberpräsidenten Hanns Martin Schleyer und den Selbstmorden der (...) RAF-Mitglieder Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Jan-Carl Raspe unrühmlich bekannt geworden) etwas Kreatives, Vitales und Nicht-Polizeiliches entgegenzusetzen. (shrink)

Arguments from Schelling, Feuerbach, and Adorno are appealed to in a materialist refutation of Hegel’s idealism. The refutation comes to the point that Hegel has hypostatized the concept and made it omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Laozi’s opposed position, the path it takes away from idealism, is essentially aesthetic.Laozi’s notion of non-action non-action (無爲—wuwei) will be looked at from the perspective of the epistemological refutation of foundationalisms based upon the primacy of abstraction. For Laozi wuwei is an epistemic act (...) that draws attention to the spontaneous becoming of reality inside the meditating agent in such a way as to make the division between subject and object dissolve. In attending to the spontaneous in sensation Laozi denies Reason as a separable aspect of cognition and dethrones it from the seat of knowledge. (shrink)

Despite his strong commitment to the ideal of _wuwei_ statecraft, Mencius advanced a distinct yet cohesive theory of Confucian _youwei_ statecraft that can serve the ideal of _wuwei_, first by means of the principled application of individual and social responsibility under unfavorable socioeconomic conditions, and second by offering a concrete public policy (i.e. the well-field system) that contributes to a decent socioeconomic condition on which the society can be self-governing and where individuals (and families) can fully exercise their individual moral (...) and socioeconomic responsibility. My central claim is that Confucian _wuwei_ statecraft has a practical and social background, namely, a socioeoconomically and morally self-governing civil society. (shrink)

As a canonical work of Huang-Lao thought, the Huangdi Sijing re-examines the schema of “Dao-Wuwei-Ziran” found in the Laozi and employs it as a comprehensive framework for its own philosophical inquiry. In the Laozi, Wuwei represents the guiding political norm, Dao supplies its metaphysical foundation, and Ziran describes the ideal condition that ensues when Wuwei is realised. Seeking a more effective theory for concrete governance, the Huangdi Sijing replaces the abstract notion of Dao with Li (理)―a principle (...) that renders Dao intelligible―and elevates it to the basis of political rule. At the same time, Ziran, originally the end-state of sage governance, is recast as “the inherent naturalness of all beings,” thereby underpinning the political maxim of Yinxun(因循, following the spontaneous course of things). Consequently, Wuwei is no longer the principle itself but the cognitive stance required of the ruler: discerning the natural tendencies of the myriad things so that Yinxun can be enacted. This conceptual reorganisation yields a more practicable and forceful paradigm for statecraft while preserving the philosophical core of the early Daoist tradition. (shrink)

Unsurprisingly for a text of its sophistication and depth, the Daodejing in general, and its concept of “wuwei 無為” in particular, have been subject to a variety of applications, both popular and scholarly. Perhaps the most common topic to which the Laozian concept of wuwei has been applied is the issue of ecological degradation and the global environmental crisis. Taking wuwei and environmentalism as an important case study of applied wuwei, this chapter provides an overview of (...) scholarly efforts to integrate the two topics. More specifically, this chapter discusses English-language works on environmentalism and wuwei from the 1980s onward. The chapter first provides a brief overview of the history of English-language discussions of early Chinese thought and modern environmentalism before moving on to a more detailed consideration of the place of wuwei within those discussions. It further argues that scholarship on wuwei can be broadly divided into a variety of approaches that differ in their understanding of “nature,” their characterization of wuwei and their views on how early Chinese Daoist thought relates to Western thought and the environmental movement, but which end up making arguments that overlap in significant ways. (shrink)

노자 철학에서 우리는 유위적 개인과 무위적 개인이라는 두 가지 유형의 개인을 유추할 수 있다. 유위적 개인은 확장성을 그 특징으로 하는데, 이들의 확장성은 곧 타인의 권리를 침해하는 공격성으로 나타나고, 이것이 문화적으로 고착된 사회가 허위적 사회이다. 무위적 개인은 허위적 권력과 권위를 버리고 자신의 참모습과 생명에 집중하며, 나아가 자발적으로 자신의 권리를 제한한다. 이들의 이러한 행위 방식은 상대방에게 자율 공간을 마련해 줌으로써 상대방 스스로 자신의 생명력을 충실히 할 수 있게 한다. 이러한 무위적 개인들의 관계로 형성된 것이 현동 사회이다. 노자의 현동 사회는 개인권을 제한하지만 오히려 (...) 개인의 자율, 생명, 행복을 보장하고, 공동선을 세우지 않지만 오히려 공동선이 끊임없이 생성되는 개인-공동체 모형을 제시한다. 이는 개인권을 보장하는 동시에 공동선도 함께 실현하려는 시도와 다른 관점이다. (shrink)

Abstract:To respond to the current advocacy of a transcultural inquiry into music education philosophy rooted deeply in Western civilization, the primary purpose of this essay is to provide a broader alternative to examine the phenomena of music teaching and learning to bridge the philosophical gap between the West and the East. This essay also attempts to expand the discussion of Eastern philosophies by including Balinese taksu, an aesthetic and ecstatic experience rarely discussed in music education literature. I juxtapose the intellectual (...) and spiritual methods of attaining enlightenment through Zhuangzi's wuwei (無為), non-action or effortlessly losing self, and Balinese taksu and associate them with Turner's liminality theory, Csíkszentmihályi's flow state, and other Western scholars' discussions on spirituality and music to illustrate the ultimate spiritual enlightenment that an exemplary person or a virtuoso can achieve. The intersecting parallels between wuwei and taksu enable me to suggest a multi-stage development of musicianship as a way of learning that allows students to identify their inner selves, to evaluate the difficulty levels of obstacles challenging their mastery and overcome them, to roam in between practice routines, and eventually to enjoy the ecstatic experience of flow, losing self in performance. (shrink)

This paper offers a fresh interpretation of WANG Bi’s 王弼 (226–249) account of wuwei 無為, shifting the focus from metaphysics to ethics. While wuwei has traditionally been understood as “non-action,” “no interference,” or “following the nature of things,” I argue that WANG Bi’s conception is better captured as non-intentional moral action—a form of conduct that is free from preconceived motives or self-directed desires yet performed knowingly and nonaccidentally. This reinterpretation addresses a gap in existing scholarship. Since TANG Yongtong’s (...) 湯用彤 influential view of Neo-Daoism as primarily ontological, WANG Bi’s ethical contributions have been underexplored. Yet WANG Bi explicitly sought to harmonize Daoist spontaneity with Confucian moral life. His commentary on the Daodejing warns that deliberate benevolence transforms virtue into falsity, while his use of Heaven and Earth as models illustrates action that is non-intentional and impartial. Such passages point to a moral theory that privileges responsiveness over intentional design. I argue that non-intentional moral actions are ethically superior to intentional ones for three reasons: (1) they avoid distortions caused by desire-driven or self-serving motives, (2) they preserve the authenticity of virtues such as ren 仁 (benevolence) and yi 義 (righteousness), and (3) they embody impartial, world-guided responsiveness to circumstances. By reframing wuwei in this way, the paper demonstrates that WANG Bi’s thought is not only metaphysical but also deeply ethical, offering a distinctive model of moral agency that reconciles Daoist spontaneity with Confucian virtue. (shrink)

『노자』에는 사람들이 선호하는 가치(A)가 아닌 그 반대 가치(∼A)를 지켜야 한다는 역설적 주장이 다수 등장한다. 이러한 상식에 반하는 주장에 대해 ∼A를 지키는 것은 궁극적으로 A를 얻기 위한 전략이라는 해석이 제기되었지만, 이러한 해석은 노자가 전제하는 상반개념의 순환에 배치된다는 문제가 있다. 노자의 역설은 노자사상이 전개된 시대가 과도한 욕망이 초래한 혼란의 시기였다는 점을 염두에 두고 해석해야 한다. 따라서 A가 과도한 상태에서 ∼A를 지켜야 한다는 주장은 ∼A에 머물라는 뜻이 아니라 A의 과도함을 줄여 A와 ∼A가 순환하는 진폭을 적절하게 유지해야 한다는 뜻을 지닌다. 무위통치 역시 노자 역설과 (...) 같은 맥락에서 이해할 수 있다. 통치자는 도와 같이 무위해야 하는데, 도의 작용방식은 드러나지 않아 파악할 수 없기에 무위통치는 A를 하지 않거나 ∼A를 하라는 부정적 방식으로 제시된다. 이 역시 과도한 통치행위가 전제된 상황에서 과도함을 덜라는 요구인 것이다. 무위통치는 통치자의 과도함을 덜어 백성이 적절한 진폭으로 순환하는 안정적 삶을 살게 하고, 이는 결국 권력 지속의 기반이 된다. 노자의 역설과 무위통치는 적정선을 지향하며 비상식적 표현을 빌려 혼란을 초래한 과도함을 줄일 것을 강력하게 요청하는 주장이다. 노자의 역설과 무위통치가 갖는 의의는 바로 이 강력한 비판에 있다. (shrink)

This paper employs the Lao-Yang Genesis Cosmology (LYGC) as its analytical framework to conduct a deep critique of the systematic errors made by Yang Lihua, professor in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University, in his interpretation of pre-Qin philosophy. The target of critique is not Yang Lihua's personal scholarly cultivation — his textual mastery in the domain of Confucian Neo-Confucianism is beyond doubt — but rather the fundamental coordinate system upon which his methodology operates: a closed cognitive system that (...) takes Confucian moral psychology (xinxinglun) as its highest arbiter, a system within which the vertical dimension of cosmology has never appeared. The paper proceeds through seven levels of argumentation: First, tracing the structural implantation of Yang Lihua's academic genealogy, revealing how Confucian-centrism completed an unconscious coordinate installation during his formative period, causing all subsequent judgments to unfold within the internal rules of the Confucian coordinate system. Second, critiquing his textual-chronological dissolution of the Laozi's cosmology and his political-technological demotion of wuwei (non-action). Third, exposing his ideological operation of using the label 'more like religion' to eliminate Mohism as a cosmological competitor. Fourth, deconstructing his continuation of the two-thousand-year slander against Yang Zhu's 'self-for-self.' Fifth, analyzing the fundamental cosmological limits of his 'li-monism.' Sixth, applying the Sage Entropy formula (dS/dt = ρᵣ · DAF / ΔCCF) to provide a quantitative diagnosis of his paradigm. Seventh, interrogating whether a self-satisfied professor of philosophy at Peking University is ignorant or shameless, and clarifying his danger — more dangerous than the crude denier is the sophisticated concealer. The core proposition of this paper is: Yang Lihua's methodological deficiency does not lie in peripheral details but in the fact that he has never truly understood the cosmological dimension represented by the proposition 'The Milky Way reflected in the Han River is the Dao.' He has studied Laozi for decades, yet has never looked up to see the Milky Way that Laozi saw from the banks of the Han River. A person who has never looked up to see the Milky Way, however profound his textual mastery, is utterly blind at the cosmological level. This is not a personal attack on Yang Lihua; it is a fundamental critique of a paradigm. When this paradigm occupies the professorial chair of the Department of Philosophy at Peking University, when it mass-replicates itself to tens of thousands of students annually through classrooms and publications, its harm to the cosmological inheritance of Chinese civilization is far more profound than any external critic. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In the ‘Cook Ding cutting up an ox’ parable, Zhuangzi advanced a doctrine on craft and its relationship with Dao. With reference to Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy in conjunction with an analysis of Zhuangzi’s epistemological position, we argue that Zhuangzi understood craft as involving the supersession of the cognitive. In craft, the relationship between human and world is non-cognitive and ‘pre-objective’, the living of this kind of relationship gives rise to a non-cognitive ‘practical sense’ which enables the craftsman’s movements to spontaneously (...) constitute wuwei. Zhuangzi’s ideal is that this kind of relationship is generalized to life as a whole, thereby enabling human actions to spontaneously constitute wuwei generally. This is why he stipulated ‘doing away with knowing’ as a self-cultivation technique required for attaining Dao. Thus, craft constitutes an embodiment of Dao in the double-sense of wuwei and the non-cognitive and ‘pre-objective’ relationship between human and world which enables wuwei. (shrink)

This chapter describes an economic ethic implicit in the Daoist tradition that envisages economic health, not as synonymous with growth, but akin to stability. The Daoist notion of health aspires to achieving longevity of body, of political rule, and, in contemporary applications, of our natural environment. Longevity is possible through alignment with patterns of nature, and by shunning anthropocentric urges to dominate. In the context of contemporary economic discussion, the Daoist maxim of ‘noncoercive action’, or wuwei, is often likened (...) to the notion of laissez-faire in classical liberal economics. While both traditions advocate a lack of intervention, Smithian classical economics views self-interested desire as a positive force for increasing economic prosperity within society. By contrast, the Daoists of ancient China cautioned against excessive desire and self-interest. This chapter begins with a very brief history of Daoism and goes on to draw primarily from the core teachings of the Daoist tradition: the Zhuangzi and particularly the Daodejing. (shrink)

Within the literature, Daoist political philosophy has often been linked with anarchism. While some extended arguments have been offered in favor of this conclusion, I take this position to be tenuous and predicated on an assumption that coercive authority cannot be applied through wuwei. Focusing on the Laozi as the fundamental political text of classical Daoism, I lay out a general account of why one ought to be skeptical of classifying it as anarchistic. Keeping this skepticism in mind and (...) recognizing the importance of wuwei in arguments for the anarchist conclusion, I provide a non-anarchistic interpretation of wuwei as a political technique that is consistent with the text of the Laozi. Having presented a plausible alternative to the anarchist understanding of wuwei, I close my discussion with a brief sketch of a positive account of the political theory of the Laozi. (shrink)

This chapter relates what Zen calls “no-mind” (Japanese: _mushin_) and “non-doing” (Chinese: _wuwei_) to what is popularly called “being in the zone.” It also relates these to what Hindus call “karma yoga,” to the idea from the _Star Wars_ films of “using the Force,” to what psychologists call “the flow experience,” and to what cognitive scientists call “hot cognition.” When the modern Japanese Zen master Yamada Mumon says that “the goal of life is to play,” he is referring to what (...) the Zen tradition has called “the meditative state of play.” Philosophers have called this kind of experience “autotelic.” The chapter concludes by critically examining the dangers of a half-baked “just do it” state of mind, and how Zen teachings and practices have in fact been misused for military purposes. (shrink)

In this paper, we set out to examine the implications of a Daoist philosophical perspective within the clinical encounter. Specifically, we will explore how the unique and sometimes radical views of the Ancient Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (and the concepts of ziran 自然 “nature” or “spontaneity”, the fasting of the “heart-mind” cheng xin 成心, and wuwei 無為 “non-action”) can invite us to reframe and reconceptualize some of the common assumptions that currently govern the doctor-patient relationship, as well as prompt us (...) to reflect anew upon the proper goals and scope of medical practice itself. We take the view that ethics need not be limited to a set of rules. Ethics can be thought of as a set of skills and abilities that include perspective taking, tolerance and openness to experiences. This allows us to explore and critically engage with Zhuangzi’s unique philosophy and appreciate its contribution to the bioethics literature, in particular with its applications in caring for patients with disability and chronic illness. Our analysis leads us to coin the term “reciprocal-emerging” to express the dynamic and transformational of nature of the doctor-patient relationship through a Zhuangzian lens. (shrink)

This article examines silence and stillness as central aesthetic strategies in contemporary slow cinema, exploring their capacity to evoke contemplation, resist narrative acceleration, and offer alternative temporal experiences in an era of media saturation. Drawing on Paul Schrader’s theory of transcendental style, with its progression from everyday realism to decisive stasis (2018), Ira Jaffe’s conceptualization of slow movies as an existential counter to the spectacle-driven “cinema of action” through curtailed motion and spatiotemporal vacancy (2014), and Tiago de Luca and Nuno (...) Barradas Jorge’s plural, global framing of slow cinema’s challenge to instrumentalized time (2016), the study employs a transcultural comparative approach. Through the interpretive lens of Emersonian Transcendentalism, American filmmakers Terrence Malick, Paul Schrader, and Kelly Reichardt deploy silence as a site of individual spiritual trial, ethical introspection, and quotidian transcendence amid modern alienation. In contrast, guided by Daoist aesthetics, Chinese directors Jia Zhangke, Wong Kar-wai, and Bi Gan utilize stillness, long takes, and minimal dialogue to foreground emptiness (xu), non-action (wuwei), and relational flux, integrating human experience with environmental and temporal processes. By placing these practices in dialogue, the article argues that silence and stillness operate as transcultural strategies that converge in their defiance of contemporary hyper-acceleration while remaining rooted in distinct philosophical horizons—Emersonian self-reliance versus Daoist interdependence—thus broadening slow and transcendental cinema scholarship toward a more inclusive global perspective. (shrink)

This chapter explores how the authors of the Lüshi Chunqiu (LSCQ) employed passages, concepts, and images from the Daodejing (DDJ) to create the LSCQ’s unique political philosophy. Passages from both of those texts show that at least some of the authors of the LSCQ were influenced by the DDJ. Those authors praise and quote various figures who were labeled “Daoists” in the Han Dynasty. The LSCQ cites the DDJ, and its art of efficient and effective governing utilizes DDJ concepts. The (...) DDJ influences various forms of Huang-Lao political philosophy. The LSCQ deploys DDJ concepts, while claiming to transmit teachings attributed to the Yellow Emperor. The LSCQ’s authors welded DDJ ideas to concepts from other philosophers, especially the Yin-Yang Wuxing (陰陽五行 Yin-Yang Five Phases) philosophy along with concepts from other philosophers and disciplines. The LSCQ’s political philosophy is based on the Dao-centered self-cultivation of the ruler, and the ruler and ministers engaging in timely projects, especially the performance of complex calendric, seasonal, ritual-technology. The performance of timely ritual-technology was considered crucial for good government by many pre-Qin philosophers. The chapter shows that ritual-technology was believed to control the climate, and the LSCQ provides one of the earliest proposals that human actions can and do impact climate change. Key words: Huang-Lao, political order, wuwei, ritual technology, self-cultivation, quiescence . (shrink)

The dominance of ableist assumptions in precision medicine has recently been challenged, notably by Mintz, Stramondo, and Tabor (2024). Yet a similarly radical critique exists in Daoist traditions, particularly in the philosophy of Zhuangzi. While Mintz, Stramondo, and Tabor call for greater disability inclusion in genetics and genomics, they do not fully engage with how cultural and philosophical worldviews shape responses to genetic intervention. Drawing on our research on preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M), we argue that concepts like (...) ziran (自然naturalness) and wuwei (無為non-action) can deepen our understanding of disability inclusion, particularly in Asian contexts. The comparatively restrictive approval of PGT-M in Asia reflects cultural discomfort with disrupting what is seen as nature’s course. Zhuangzi’s allegories—especially those illustrating “the usefulness of the useless”—challenge dominant hierarchies of ability and provide clinicians with tools to engage more sensitively with patients who may see genetic testing as ethically troubling. This paper integrates Daoist insights to propose a globally inclusive bioethics, one that affirms non-intervention as a legitimate stance and broadens how we conceive of naturalness, disability, and autonomy. By doing so, we aim to enrich debates around precision medicine and support ethically pluralistic genomic care. (shrink)

This paper takes the concept of Dao-Chong (道冲) in the Dao De Jing as its core and, drawing upon the natural geography, socio-ecological structures, and cultural symbolic systems of the Jing–Chu region, systematically explores the intrinsic isomorphism between Laozi’s philosophy and Jing–Chu natural civilization from a perspective of scientific philosophy and interdisciplinary analysis. It argues that chong is not a purely metaphysical abstraction, but rather originates from the composite ecological system formed by the Jianghan Plain, the Yuan–Xiang river valleys, and (...) the Dongting Lake wetlands—a system that integrates water networks, valleys, and wetlands. Chong thus constitutes a highly condensed conceptualization of fluidity, flexibility, emptiness-through-connectivity, and cyclical renewal. -/- The highly dynamic ecological landscape of the Jing–Chu region—characterized by flood regulation, wetland energy buffering, and agricultural rotation—gave rise to a low-entropy, self-organizing, and adaptive mode of social operation. This ecological and social configuration provided the experiential foundation for Laozi’s philosophical principles of “the Dao follows Nature” (dao fa ziran) and “governing through non-coercive action” (wuwei). -/- Through systematic textual analysis of key chapters of the Dao De Jing and core concepts such as chong (冲), xu (虚), gu (谷), shui (水), and ci (雌), combined with cross-verification using the Guodian Chu bamboo text Taiyi Sheng Shui, Chu Ci imagery, and archaeological and ecological evidence, this study reveals a high degree of structural isomorphism between Jing–Chu natural civilization and the philosophy of Dao-Chong across ecological spatial organization, social governance logic, cultural symbolism, and cosmological worldview. The paper further demonstrates how Laozi abstracted localized ecological experience into universal cosmological principles, effecting a philosophical elevation from regional natural wisdom to holistic cosmic order. -/- At the theoretical level, chong is interpreted as a low-entropy operational principle that simultaneously describes the primordial state of cosmic generation and functions as a foundational logic for social governance and ecological regulation. This framework offers a new lens for understanding the systemic thinking embedded in ancient Chinese natural civilization. By placing chong in dialogue with modern ecology, systems theory, thermodynamics, and the “Dao–Qi–Water–Human” generative chain within the Lao–Yang Genesis Cosmology, the study highlights both the theoretical significance and contemporary relevance of ancient civilizational wisdom for modern ecological governance and cosmological construction. -/- . (shrink)

老子与孔子对话：天道与人道、王道 -/- Dialogue Between Laozi and Confucius: The Dao of Heaven, the Way of Man, and the Way of Kings -/- ☯ 第一节：天道何在？ Section I: Where is the Way of Heaven? -/- ☯ 第二节：人道为何？ Section II: What is the Way of Man? -/- ☯ 第三节：王道为何？ Section III: What is the Way of Kings? -/- ☯ 第四节：德为何物？ Section IV: What is Virtue? -/- ☯ 第五节：礼为何设？ Section V: Why Are Rituals Instituted? -/- ☯ 第六节：道何以失？ Section VI: How Is the Dao Lost? -/- (...) ☯ 第七节：为何言“无为”？ Section VII: Why Speak of Non-Action (Wuwei)? -/- ☯ 第八节：智为何危？ Section VIII: Why Is Intelligence Dangerous? -/- ☯ 第九节：天下为何无宁？ Section IX: Why Is There No Peace Under Heaven? -/- ☯ 第十节：文明何以反道？ Section X: Why Does Civilization Oppose the Dao? -/- ☯ 尾声：道，归于无言 Epilogue: The Dao Returns to Silence . (shrink)

This chapter examines Zhuangzi, an influential Daoist text written by Zhuang Zhou and named after the Daoist thinker Zhuang Zi. It discusses Zhuangzi’s emphasis on the philosopher’s wisdom regarding political and social management, its concept of personal realization, and its concern with social and political order. It also considers Daoism’s notion of wuwei in relation to wuwo, wudai, wugong, and wuming. Furthermore, it looks at the wholeness, equality, relatedness, and relativity of wanwu, along with the organizational implications of Zhuangzi, (...) and the connection between Daoist thinking and organizational management. (shrink)

孔子（公元前551－前479），后世尊为“至圣先师”，是儒家学派的开山之祖。他提出“仁、义、礼、智、信”为修身之本，以“克己复礼”为实践纲领，追求“礼乐治国”的理想社会。然而，当我们站在“道法自然”的 宇宙视野重新审视孔子哲学时，就会发现：这套思想体系并非真理的体现，而是权力秩序下的意识形态建构，是以道德之名行压制之实，以仁义为幌子而掩盖自然人性的全面异化。 -/- 孔子之“道”非道，其“仁义”虚伪，其“礼乐”矫饰，其“君臣父子”则是服务统治者的伦理编码系统。与老子“无为而治”、“顺其自然”的宇宙哲学相比，孔子的思想构成了一种以“人为法”取代“天道自然”的文化异化 装置。 Confucius (551–479 BCE), honored for millennia as the “Sage of Sages,” founded the Confucian school of thought that has shaped Chinese political and moral life for over two thousand years. He promoted the virtues of Ren (benevolence), Yi (righteousness), Li (ritual), and Zhi (wisdom) as the cornerstones of moral cultivation, and championed “self-restraint and a return to ritual” as the ideal path to social harmony. -/- Yet, when examined from the perspective of Dao Follows Nature, as found (...) in Laozi’s Daoist cosmology and especially in the Lao-Yang Genesis Cosmology, Confucius’s teachings appear fundamentally flawed. His so-called “Dao” is not the cosmic origin of all things, but a human-centered, institutionalized moral framework built to serve political power. His “Ren-Yi” is hypocritical, his “Li” is theatrical, and his entire system of thought is more concerned with maintaining social hierarchy than with harmonizing with the universe. -/- Thus, the Dao of Confucius is no Dao at all—it is a fabricated, artificial doctrine serving rulers under the guise of virtue. In contrast to Laozi’s philosophy of non-action (wuwei) and spontaneous harmony with the cosmos, Confucius represents a fall from natural truth into rigid, anthropocentric ideology. -/- . (shrink)

This paper will look at five major approaches to interpreting “ethics” in the Laozi. There is a good deal of controversy over what type of ethics might be promoted in the Laozi and additional discussions of whether or not any the text includes ethical concerns at all. We begin with a basic introduction to dao 道 (way) and certain patterns of thinking in the Laozi before moving on to a sketch of ziran 自然 or “self‐so” and wuwei 無為 or (...) “nonaction.” The first approach finds an account of ethics already within these two concepts. The second sees Confucian virtues along with sincerity, simplicity, purity, and genuineness as ethical guides. Looking to the underpinnings of these reading, the third approach finds dao itself as moral, and any action in accordance with dao is deemed ethical. However, like dao, being ethical in this manner is considered ineffable. The fourth type of interpretation argues that the Laozi is critical of ethics itself. Finally, we look at how the model of the “sage” can be related to “ethics” or “êthos” in a broad sense. In the short conclusion general agreements that pervade all five approaches will be outlined. These include resisting standardization of ethics and an implicit understanding of human nature as “okay.”. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Taoism, Teaching, and Learning: A Nature-Based Approach to Education by John P. Miller, with Xiang Li and Tian RuanJing Dang (bio)Taoism, Teaching, and Learning: A Nature-Based Approach to Education. By John P. Miller, with Xiang Li and Tian Ruan. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2022. Pp. 134, Paperback $29.95, ISBN 978-1-4875-4095-1.John Miller’s Taoism, Teaching, and Learning: A Nature-Based Approach to Education (hereafter Taoism, Teaching, and Learning) develops a (...) nature-based account of modern education grounded in Daoism (or Taoism), a school of thought often misunderstood in the West. Daoism has historically been categorized both as a religion (dao jiao 道教) and as a philosophy (dao jia zhe xue 道家哲學); in many cases the spiritual and mystical side of Daoism impresses itself on the reader at the expense of its scientific and philosophical side--as happened with the European missionaries who first exported Daoism to the West. Yet Daoism, especially in relation to pedagogy, cuts across this philosophical/mystical distinction. Happily, Miller and his students, Xiang Li and Tian Ruan, betray no such tendency to pigeon-hole Daoism into one or the other of these categories. The authors adopt a connected and holistic concept of Daoism, which they use to inform and justify their approach to modern education. As such, in the eight chapters of this book, we can see a natural and sensible connection between a holistic Daoism--spiritual, mystical and philosophical--and modern philosophical and educational theories, including Montessori’s cosmic education, Steiner Education, holistic education, and the pedagogical practices of meditation and mindfulness.Miller’s modus operandi is to apply Daoist concepts to contemporary (especially Western) educational issues, both theoretically and practically. In terms of the Daoist belief in the interconnectedness of all things, Miller questions modern subject divisions. When we divide education into geometry, mathematics and so on, we fragment the natural oneness of knowledge and reality as the Daoists would have it. Instead, Miller advocates faith in nature and looks to curricula that reflect the wholeness of nature, such as “cosmic education” and “holistic education” (Chapters 2 and 6). Through such education “we see the relationship between the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of life” (p. 27), and feel the support from the invisible and unproven world.Miller makes excellent use of the Daoist concepts of yin (陰) and yang [End Page 1] (陽), which signify the complementary balance and interplay between opposites. He uses the yinyang paradigm to explore the need for balance in a wide range of interesting and important pedagogical situations; for instance, group collaboration versus individual competition, knowledge versus imagination, intuition versus reason, qualitative versus quantitative, etc. (Chapter 5). He also implements yinyang to unpack the model of creative thinking laid down by Graham Wallace (pp. 66 -70); here, yin and yang are applied to a process within the individual. As we move from confusion to enlightenment, we enact within ourselves a dance between our yin and yang factors.Under the heading “Self-Cultivation” (Chapter 3), Miller attempts to evaluate a number of pedagogical strategies with broad ties to Daoism; namely, “silence,” “contemplation,” “calmness,” “sincerity,” “non-violence and embracing the feminine,” and “humility”. These are informed by Miller’s own personal experience of teaching and applying meditation at the University of Toronto. This provides a useful connection between the spiritual and philosophical dao 道, the mystical and the practical. More generally, these strategies recall Daoist wuwei 無爲 (non-coercive or spontaneous action) and ziran 自然 (spontaneity), which Miller subsequently applies to teaching and mindfulness in Chapter 4 (more on which below).Whereas Miller’s contribution is more theoretical, the two chapters written by his students showcase concrete examples of Daoist pedagogy in the classroom. Li’s chapter (Chapter 1) details a class of high school students learning from nature. Here we find a student club centered around a garden, where the students are allowed to wander in the direction of their interests, rather than imbibing the lessons of the teacher according to a top-down lesson plan. Ruan’s chapter (Chapter 7) looks to the various ways play can be utilized in kindergartens for children’s holistic development, including their social, intellectual, spiritual, physical... (shrink)

I apply the Zhuangzi 莊子 to assess the contemporary value of personal autonomy. Focusing on two concepts, wuwei 無為 and you 遊, I clarify the “wandering ideal” in the Zhuangzi to challenge the ideal of autonomy as central to a well-lived life. Drawing on Sneddon’s persuasive recent account of autonomy, the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi, as well as recent secondary scholarship on the text, I show that the wandering ideal suggests a stark move away from the controlled and (...) self-reflective life of the autonomous person. My goal is to draw on the Zhuangzi to contribute to dialogue on the ideal of autonomy, rather than to provide an innovative way of reading the Zhuangzi. I argue that both autonomy and wandering are higher-order ideals that can be applied to individual actions and to a person’s form of life, but at both levels, wandering and personal autonomy are in tension. The conclusion briefly reflects on the significance of the tension. (shrink)

This article brings recent insights from political animal philosophy and critical animal studies concerning animal subjectivity and multispecies communities into conversation with Daoist philosophy. Daoism is currently underexplored in animal philosophy and multispecies justice theory. This is unfortunate since Daoist ontology and Daoist concepts such as wanwu (萬物) and wuwei (無為) include recognition of nonhuman agency and multispecies entanglements. They offer a fruitful starting point for rethinking the position of the human in the whole of things as well as (...) relations between human and nonhuman animals. (shrink)

Abstract:In 1952, John Cage wrote 4′33″ which famously asked the performer not to play a single note: tacet. This provocative work raises a number of questions. In music—and by extension, music education—what does it mean to not do something? What does it mean to make no sound? More fundamentally, what is the nature of non-action, non-sound, and even nothingness in and of itself? Since Cage was influenced by Eastern philosophy, we journey to Asia in search of insights into nothingness and (...) associated notions of absence and negation. In particular, we draw on the writings of Daoist philosophers, principally Laozi, to examine a quartet of philosophical terms, namely, wu (nothing/ness), wuwei (non-action), wusheng (non-sound), and wuaile (neither sorrow nor joy). Using these ideas, we propose a Daoist-inspired philosophy of music education, one that emphasizes the usefulness (yong) of nothingness (wu). (shrink)