An Introduction to Daoist Philosophies by Coutinho Steve

Author:Coutinho, Steve
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: PHI003000, Philosophy/Eastern/General, REL065000, RELIGION/Taoism (see also PHILOSOPHY / Taoist)
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2013-11-05T05:00:00+00:00

Given, as noted in Chapter Two above, that the artificial can only be defined in terms of what is human, the question arises, “What, if anything, is natural about being human?” According to Zhuangzi, there is something salvageable about our humanity: it is not pure artifice. There is a central core of genuineness that is natural. When we nurture this genuine humanity, we reconnect with the natural world, become more distanced from the everyday hopes, fears, and anxieties that plague us, and are more tranquil and accepting of all our circumstances. In chapter 6, the person who has genuine humanity is described in almost impenetrably paradoxical terms, reminiscent of the language of the Laozi, but also with characteristics of stoic fortitude and serenity.

Prior to chapter 6, the ideal person is referred to as the zhiren, 至人, the utmost person.61 This is someone who has reached the pinnacle of human achievement. The term is paradoxical, insofar as the Daoist ideal is a person who has cultivated naturalness to its apex and diminished humanistic concerns to their natural optimal minimum. Although the utmost person and the genuinely human person are not explicitly identified, the characteristics of utmost humanity and genuine humanity are not dissimilar, so I shall take them to be effectively the same thing. Ordinarily, we evaluate what happens to us according to our personal goals. We distinguish success from failure, good fortune from bad, and allow these judgments to rule our hopes, fears, and anxieties. From a cosmic perspective, however, these evaluative judgments lose their grip: things and situations have different values from different standpoints, but the differences dissolve as the perspectives increase in breadth and inclusiveness. Those who cultivate their genuine humanity, the zhenren, are not perturbed by things. Circumstance has no control over them and even death has no power to make them flinch.

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