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Daoism, Nature and Humanity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2014

David E. Cooper*
Affiliation:
Durham Universityd.e.cooper@durham.ac.uk

Abstract

This paper sympathetically explores Daoism's relevance to environmental philosophy and to the aspiration of people to live in a manner convergent with nature. After discussing the Daoist understanding of nature and the dao (Way), the focus turns to the implications of these notions for our relationship to nature. The popular idea that Daoism encourages a return to a ‘primitive’ way of life is rejected. Instead, it is shown that the Daoist proposal is one of living more ‘spontaneously’ than people generally do in the modern, technological world, and of allowing other beings to do so as well. These themes are clarified in a final section, inspired by some Daoist remarks, devoted to the relationship of human beings with animals.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy and the contributors 2014 

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References

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2 References within the text use the abbreviations indicated for the following works: Daodejing (D), The Book of Zhuangzi (Z), and The Book of Liezi (L). References are to chapters of these works. (Eg. D 25 refers to chapter 25 of the Daodejing). I have drawn on various translations of the works, but especially on Ivanhoe, P.J., The Daodejing of Laozi (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002)Google Scholar, Keping, Wang, Reading the Dao: A Thematic Inquiry (London: Continuum, 2010)Google Scholar, Graham, A.C., Chuang-Tzu: The Inner Chapters (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2001)Google Scholar and The Book of Lieh-Tzu: A Classic of Tao (New York, Columbia University Press, 1990)Google Scholar, and Ziporyn, B., Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings, with Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009)Google Scholar.

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