Does Daoism have a political world view:
Does Daoism have a political world view?
This is a very important question to our pursuit of a modern Daoist rationale.
It is fundamental to deciding how we will choose to interpret the teachings of Daoism, how accurate our interpretations can be, and what, if any direction Daoism will take in shaping the ongoing philosophical discussion.
Daoist ideas are used as a rationale for the views of many groups, most notably Anarcho Communists and Libertarians. These disparate groups of people see Daoist concepts such as non cultural non interference on the part of government as a legitimization of their often radical political opinions.
It is true that to some extent, Daoist ideas such as non violence, not imposing state doctrine and other various important philosophical items from the Dao De Jing and Nan Hua Jing seem to give some credence to these anti authoritarian political movements, but as the old saying goes, correlation does not indicate causality.
So what is the political view of Daoism and how can it be interpreted for the modern world?
I argue that the political view of Daoism is historically bound and anachronistic.
It is something which is trapped into each school of thought in Daoism, just as the language of the classics is bound by the grammatical conventions of the times they were written.
Perhaps the earliest Daoist writings represent a type of benevolent monarchism, tinged by the threat of folk rebellion, enemy army incursion, and other dangers. In a sense, it is a kind of bandaid for leaders to use in order to cover the wounds created by the excesses of their rule.
Daoism is anachronistic, yet it contains a latent truth to it which is the reason why it has been so worthy of studying for the last two and a half milliard.
This latent truth is the kernel of Daost thought and the foundational kernel of the Chinese cosmological world view. It is the containment of three big principles, one passive and feminine, one active and masculine, and one which is a combination of those two, the child of the heavenly mother and revered father, humanity and being itself.
So almost regardless of the world view of Daoism, native to its own times and places, and often contradictory, there is always the most basic kernel, which is that combination of still, moving, and combined stillness and movement.
Stillness and movement are expressed in yin and yang and their combination forms the grand ultimate taiji principle. The quiet and clarity classic is thus named in order to refer to the perfect alignment of yin and yang for human use. The benefit of yin is in its quiet and stability, the benefit of yang is in its clarity and free movement. If one can long be quiet and clear, one can long perceive things as they are and be one with the Dao of nature.
Does Daoism have a political ideology?
This is perhaps beyond our direct purview, but if it does, it certainly springs from this.