The Meaning of Life

The notes below are based mainly on lectures by Prof. Jay L. Garfield.

The Bhagavad-Gita

The right way to live life is by

• fulfilling duty (dharma) without attachment to results of actions
• aligning individual actions with cosmic order by cultivating discipline in action, knowledge and devotion

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The Bhagavad-Gita is one section of the Mahabharata, the great epic of India composed by multiple authors between about 400 B.C. and 400 C.E. Mahabharata centers on a struggle between two sets of cousins for control of the kingdom of Kurukshetra. The Bhagavat-Gita itself was composed around the year 100 C.E.

Chapter 1 describes an epic battlefield where the hero Arjuna faces opposing forces.

Arjuna is hesitant to fight his relatives. His charioteer is Krishna, a divine figure in Hinduism who offers him guidance. The majority of the text consists of Krishna’s teachings to Arjuna.

Krishna’s instructions cover several important concepts:

• The nature of discipline (yoga)
• The connection between yoga and understanding
• The concept of divinity and humanity’s relationship to it
• The significance of devotion
• The nature of the world and personality
• The essence of faith

The battle in the story raises profound questions about honor, duty, destiny, morality, and cosmic order. On an allegorical level, the text represents conflicts between:

• Convention and higher duty
• Order and chaos
• Individual desire and understanding one’s place in the universe It explores how to live a life detached from narrow, egoistic desires.

The Bhagavad-Gita opens with a leader asking Sanjaya about events on the “field of Sacred Duty,” symbolizing daily moral choices. As battle looms, Arjuna asks Krishna to pause at the battlefield’s center. This moment represents humanity’s reflection before crucial decisions, with Arjuna symbolizing mankind and Krishna the divine. This scene sets the stage for the text’s exploration of life’s moral dilemmas.

The conflict Arjuna experienced is between caste duty and family duty. In modern reality we too have duties and these duties structure a great deal of our lives.

Svadharma (Sanskrit: स्वधर्म) is a term (from sva: proper, and dharma: law, duty) which, in Hinduism, designates the duties of an individual, according to his social class, caste or natural disposition, which he must follow.

Krishna tells Arjuna to “rise to the fight”. Krishna urges to focus on what is permanent, not ephemeral — the universe and the structure of enduring values, not the lives of the warriors. Arjuna should fight because fighting is what realizes the ternal value of justice and of svadharma

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This kind of serenity that we can achieve through this detachment requires discipline, which allows us to constrain ourselves, to focus on what’s important, to eliminate our being buffeted about from the sensory stuff happening around us.

In counseling Arjuna, Krishna:

• Presents a transcendent view of duty, beyond immediate expectations.
• He advises Arjuna to accept duties inherent to his life station (as a warrior). Life choices determine what our real duties are.
• While much is beyond our control, we can control our actions.
• Krishna emphasizes focusing on actions, not consequences, which are uncontrollable.
• He defines discipline as performing actions without attachment to outcomes, remaining impartial to success or failure.
• Relinquishing attachment to senses is crucial, as sensory stimulation can limit freedom.
• True joy and freedom come from focusing on the transcendent rather than the ephemeral.

Svadharma isn’t the only kind of dharma in play here. Arjuna, like all of us, has a more general dharma: his duty as a family member and a citizen.

Krishna prioritizes Arjuna’s role as a warrior because it is his svadharma. As a member of the kshatriya caste, Arjuna’s duty is to fight and protect society. Krishna reminds Arjuna that his reluctance to fight is due to emotional attachments and that he must perform his duty without attachment to the outcomes.

The word “yoga” means a discipline, in particular, the kind of discipline that permits us to accomplish things. In Arjuna’s case, Krishna emphasizes that the yoga of action involves restraining ourselves from desire, which is engendered in us from outside contact with sensory objects. We free ourselves from those external influences through discipline. In fact, the central teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita is that liberation comes through discipline, not through release from discipline.

The three types of yoga (discipline) in the Bhagavad-Gita and their interconnected roles in leading a meaningful life –

• Three types of yoga:
  • Karma yoga: discipline of action
  • Jnana yoga: discipline of knowledge
  • Bhakti yoga: discipline of devotion
• Krishna emphasizes the importance of action, as inaction is never a real choice.
• Wise action involves fulfilling obligations and viewing actions as sacrifices for higher goals.
• Jnana yoga (knowledge) complements karma yoga, providing depth and meaning to actions.
• Knowledge helps in making right decisions and understanding what’s truly important.
• Bhakti yoga involves aligning personal goals with cosmic order. It requiring mindfulness, self-questioning, and giving up of our egocentric desires. Devotion requires mindfulness of our place in the world and our relationship to the whole; it also requires constant questioning of our motives.
• The three yogas build on each other, creating an integrated, rational life of action.
• True freedom comes from self-control achieved through discipline, not from lack of discipline.

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Bhagavad-Gita’s perspective on the meaning of life:

• Meaning is based on two concepts:
  • Disinterested individual duty
  • Freedom and discipline
• True freedom is about making meaningful choices, not following desires.
• We should seek freedom from desire, as desires are influenced by external factors.
• Real freedom means acting according to our better selves, free from external influences.
• This freedom is achieved through three disciplines:
  • Action
  • Knowledge
  • Devotion
• The ideal is disinterested action, guided by reflective knowledge and devotion to the greater good.

The transcendent account of the meaning of life comes to us in the great theophany, the moment when Krishna reveals himself to be the universe embodied in a single being.

We’re told that when Krishna revealed himself–

“Everywhere was boundless divinity containing all astonishing things. Arjuna saw all the universe and its many ways and parts standing as one in the body of the god of all gods.”

• Krishna reveals himself as the embodiment of the universe, connecting individual actions to cosmic divinity. We see that our individual actions as human beings are connected to the cosmos as a whole and, hence, to divinity
• The universe’s divinity is understood in two ways:
  • A hidden spiritual dimension accessible through the three disciplines (yoga).
  • An inherent spirituality and significance in the universe itself.
• Krishna states, “All creatures exist in me, but I do not exist in them,” emphasizing that everything gains significance from its place in the whole.
• Our significance comes from our relationship to the whole and to past and future.
• Krishna advises Arjuna to act with consciousness of his role in larger wholes (family, organizations, universe).
• The theophany represents the universe as a unified whole, with each part interdependent and beautiful.
• The Bhagavad-Gita presents the universe as a divine, organic unity, not separate from divinity.

The Gita asks us to pay attention to the cosmos as a unified whole, in which each phenomenon is interdependent, each has its own kind of beauty, and each has an identity that transcends its own individuality. Each of our lives has a part in this vast cosmic order. Krishna reminds Arjuna that although he is paying attention to particular warriors arrayed on a particular battlefield, whole planets are going to disappear. Our task is to find meaning in our lives in that context.

• It portrays individual lives as already divine, gaining meaning through recognizing their place in the cosmic order.
• This view encourages engaged action in the world, seeing everyday life as part of a greater, divine whole.

Related ideas

Stocism

• Both emphasize detachment from worldly outcomes and focusing on one’s duty.
• The Gita’s concept of equanimity is similar to the Stoic ideal of apatheia (freedom from passions).
• Both advocate for self-control and mastery over one’s emotions and desires.

Questions

• Gita vs Protestant work ethics
• Modern interpretations by Indian philosophers like Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

Existentialism

Aristotle

The right way to live is to pursue eudamonia (human flourishing) through cultivation and practice of virtues, practical wisdom, and moral strength + and by engagement in society

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• Context: Aristotle’s philosophy represents a Greek focus on the everyday dimension of the meaning of life, contrasting with the transcendent focus of Hebrew/Semitic traditions.
• Sources: Our understanding of Aristotle’s ethics comes primarily from The Nicomachean Ethics, compiled from lecture notes by his students.
• Metaphysical foundation: Aristotle rejected Plato’s theory of perfect forms, emphasizing sensory knowledge and seeing humans as sophisticated animals rather than purely spiritual beings.
• Concept of soul (anima): Aristotle divided the soul into layers - vegetative, appetitive, sensory, locomotive, and rational - with the rational part being unique to humans.
• Central value - Eudaimonia: Often translated as “happiness,” but more accurately meaning “to flourish” or “live well.” It’s an evaluative property of a life as a whole, not just momentary experiences.
• Three dimensions of flourishing:
  • Virtue or excellence (arête)
  • Practical wisdom (phronesis)
  • Moral strength
• Holistic view: Flourishing also requires external goods like material necessities and friendship.
• Function and goodness: Aristotle ties goodness to function, arguing that to be good is to perform one’s characteristic function well.
  • Teleological approach: Aristotle defines “the good” as that at which something aims, distinguishing between activities with external ends and those that are ends in themselves.
  • Hierarchy of goods: Aristotle posits different goods for different activities, with some goods being higher or more important than others.
  • The highest good: Aristotle’s key question is what constitutes the highest good, for the sake of which we do everything else.
• Hierarchical Structure of Ends:
  • Aristotle argues that many actions are performed for the sake of some end.
  • These ends are often hierarchically structured.
  • In this hierarchy, super-ordinate ends are more important than subordinate ones.
  • If this hierarchy were infinite, our actions and lives would be pointless.
  • Therefore, Aristotle concludes there must be a highest good.
• Collective Good vs. Individual Good:
  • All enterprises of knowledge (sciences and arts) aim at human good.
  • Aristotle argues that the collective good is always superior to individual good.
  • This leads to his focus on politics as the master science.
• Politics as the Master Science:
  • Politics is defined as the science of governing a group for their own interest.
  • It orders and governs all other arts and sciences.
  • The end (goal) of politics will be the highest good.
• Elimination of Candidates for Highest Good:
  • Pleasure: Rejected because it’s common even to lower animals, not distinctive to humans.
  • Honor: Rejected because it depends more on those who confer it than those who receive it.
  • Excellence: Rejected because it might be unmanifested or partial in one’s life.
  • Wealth: Rejected because it’s always a means to something else, never an end in itself.
  • Plato’s abstract concept of good: Rejected because there are different goods for different things.
• Eudaimonia as the Highest Good:
  • Aristotle concludes that eudaimonia (flourishing or happiness) is the highest good.
  • It’s chosen always for itself, never for the sake of something else.
  • Other things (pleasure, honor, wealth) are chosen partly for themselves and partly as means to happiness.
• Self-Sufficiency of Happiness:
  • Defined as “that which taken by itself makes life something desirable and deficient in nothing.”
  • Only happiness fits this description.
  • You can have wealth or honor and still be unhappy, but happiness needs no addition.
• Function Argument:
  • To understand happiness, we must determine the proper function of human beings.
  • **The unique aspect of human souls (anima) is rationality.
  • Therefore, the human function is to act in accordance with reason.**
• Excellence and Function:
  • The function of something is always best performed by its excellent example.
  • A good musician plays music well; a bad one doesn’t fulfill the function.
  • The best person is the one with the most virtue.
• Conclusion:
  • The function of a human being is rational activity in accordance with virtue.
  • To be happy (achieve eudaimonia) is to lead a life fulfilling this function.

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• Virtue as a Habit:
  • Aristotle argues that virtue is acquired through habit.
  • The Greek word for “habit” (ēthikē) is the root of “ethics”.
  • Virtue or goodness is acquired through habituation.
• Arguments for Habituation:
  • Change argument: Virtue is not innate but acquired.
  • Acquisition argument: We acquire virtue through practice. (Interesting connection to confucious, you practice to eventually do something without effort).
  • Same causes argument: The same actions that produce virtue can also destroy it if done poorly.
• The Chicken-and-Egg Problem:
  • If we become virtuous by performing virtuous actions, how do we start?
  • Aristotle’s solution: We can tell a person possesses virtue when they take pleasure in acting virtuously.
  • Distinction between acting in accordance with rules and internalizing those rules.
  • Someone is virtuous if he derives joy from behaving virtuously
• Nature of Virtue:
  • A virtue is always a mean between two extreme vices. It is hard to find the center of a circle.
  • Excellence can be ruined by excess or defect.
  • Achieving virtue requires judgment and expertise to hit the mean.
• Components of Happiness:
  • Virtue: The mean between extremes.
    • Wishing mobilizes virtue.
    • what to do
  • Practical Wisdom: Required for choice and activity. Not a virtue itself as it’s not a mean.
    • deliberation mobilizes practical wisdom
    • practical wisdom can serve vice as well (be a good thief)
    • how to do
  • Moral Strength: Ability to stick to one’s resolve despite difficulties.
    • we often fail because of temptation, moral strength is required (can also serve vice)
    • not related to knowledge; connected to the idea of regret; separate from vice.
• External Supports for Happiness:
  • Material Goods: Sufficient wealth for needs and health.
  • Social Goods: Membership in society, particularly friendship.
• Importance of Friendship:
  • Essential to a meaningful life.
  • Holds societies and states together.
  • Gives reason to work for common good.
• Types of Friendship:
  • Pleasure-based: Common among young people.
  • Utility-based: Common among middle-aged and older people.
  • Virtue-based: The highest form of friendship, between two good people who wish good for each other.
• Characteristics of Virtue Friendship:
  • Slow to develop.
  • Long-lasting.
  • Makes life most meaningful.
  • Sustains virtue and happiness.

The book of Job

The meaning might exist, but could be beyond our comprehension

• The book of Job presents a view of human agency that differs from other ancient perspectives like Aristotle or the Bhagavad Gita. Humans are depicted as subject to random calamities rather than as free agents.
• Job is extremely virtuous and wealthy, but God allows Satan to test Job’s faith by inflicting suffering on him.
• Job loses his possessions, family, and health, but initially maintains his faith in God.
• Job’s friends argue he must have sinned to deserve such suffering, but Job maintains his innocence.
• Job begins to question the meaning and justice of life, given the brevity of human existence and apparent randomness of suffering.
• Job challenges God directly about the injustice he is experiencing.
• The book raises profound questions about the meaning of life in a world that seems unjust and not organized around human concerns.
• It challenges simplistic views of divine justice or that piety will be rewarded.
• The text invites readers to wrestle with difficult existential and theological questions rather than accepting easy answers.

• Job presents a stark view of human finitude and insignificance in contrast to an inscrutable divine power.

• Job universalizes individual suffering, suggesting that all human lives are short and full of suffering.
• Job argues that the concept of divine justice makes no sense, as humans are not equal to God.
• The discussion shifts from trying to find meaning in Job’s suffering to acknowledging the incomprehensibility of everything.
• Job rejects his friends’ attempts to console him with platitudes about good triumphing in the end.
• Bildad suggests humans are insignificant compared to God’s majesty, but Job sees this as blasphemous.
• Elihu introduces the idea that there may be a larger pattern or message that humans cannot comprehend due to our limited perspective.
• God ultimately challenges the assembled men, confirming His incomprehensibility.
• God rejects the notion that the universe is organized around human concerns or comprehension.
• The book presents a disturbing vision of human insignificance in a vast, potentially indifferent universe.
• It suggests that life may have meaning, but humans may never understand what that meaning is.

Recurring idea that the life may not be about “us” and our happiness.

Stoicism

Hindu: individual duty, freedom from attachment, unity with the universe, Aristotilian: social nature, importance of cultivation virtue, moderate happy life, rational understanding of reality Hebraic tradition: emphasis on limitations and our inability to understand the will of god; need for humility

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The meaning of life to live virtuously and rationally in the harmony with cosmic order; to find purpose by fulfilling social roles, while accepting what beyond our control with equanimity. True fulfillment comes from cultivating inner peace and moral character through reason, rather seeking external goods, and by embracing our finite existence as a part of natural order.

(> NB: connections to Gita: finititude in the infinite cosmos; control of emailing; acceptance of death; unlike Gita stoicism is a lot more temporal, not nearly transcendental)

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1. Core Stoic beliefs:

• universe is entirely physical, rational place that is comprehenceble
• universe is intelligent
• The universe is a rational, physical system designed by Zeus (rational, doesn’t care about humans)
• Humans have a fragment of divine rationality. We are free only in so far as we are rational
• The universe is causally determined except for free, rational human acts
• as animals we are subject to emotions, they’re intrusions from outside (similarly to Gita)
• We can control our internal lives/emotions through reason, but not external events (sic connection to The Bhagavad-Gita)
  • out decision whether we act on emotions
  • higher nature is reason
  • when I shoot the arrow I can control how I release it, not whether it will hit the target
• agreed with Aristotle that we’re social creatures

2. Key Stoic philosophers discussed:

• Seneca (turn of millennia) - focused on analyzing anger and practicing self-control
  • we need to raise above anger.
    • We often angry bc we think that life of unfair. We should expect misfortune. Anger does nothing to undone unfairness.
    • If there are good reasons to be angry should still stay calm as it is the only way to respond in an effective measured way and avoid regret.
    • Most of things that provoke anger are trivial.
• Epictetus - emphasized accepting external conditions and focusing on rational behavior. (A stoic slave)
  • we interdepended on others, we should expect the circumstance.
  • dedicate to the good of the whole.
  • bear in mind finite, do not take yourself seriously.
  • foot example: if a foot was an independent entity it would be natural for it to be clean, but it is a part of a body and it walks in mud. We are not independent, we are a part of some whole as well, our nature to suffer. (Sic Job)
  • we are rational we can understand the nature of life and life in accordance with contexts. What we do in those contexts gives meaning to our life

3. Main Stoic ethical principles:

• Control emotions through reason
• Accept what’s outside our control
• Focus on fulfilling social roles/duties rationally
• View humans as part of a larger whole
• Understand the finite nature of human life

4. Views on death:

• Death is a natural transition, like leaves falling or grain being harvested
• We shouldn’t fear death or view it as a great cosmic drama
• Understanding mortality gives meaning to life

Epictetus uses autumnal metaphors to address the subject of death. He writes of the harvesting of grain and the falling of leaves but says that neither of these is the end of something or something to lament; they are merely changes of certain conditions. When we die, we change from our current state to a different one, and the world around us changes from a state in which we’re present to a different state that doesn’t exist right now. We didn’t get to choose the transition from nonexistence to existence at our births, and we don’t get to choose the transition from existence to nonexistence at death, but that transition is not a great cosmic drama. There’s nothing different about it than the harvesting of grain

Connections to other philosophies:

• Shares ideas with Aristotle on the idea that our nature is fundamentally rational and social, that our passions are external, and that our moral life requires a rational control of them

• Echoes the Bhagavad Gita’s emphasis on detachment. The most important part of our natuer is the part that we share with the divine. For the Gita, that divinity was our ability to perform svadharma; for stoics the union is a rational one.

• Connection to Job: we are a part of a whole, things will happen to us (“foot” analogy), it is natural.

• ? What is the relation between rational action and the idea of “wu Wei”. Is wu Wei emotional? Rational? Something else?

• ? The priority of interests of the group vs personal comfort

Marcus Aurelius: The Epicurean Synthesis

Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness — all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother (not in the physical sense, but as a fellow creature similarly endowed with reason and a share of the divine); therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading. Neither can I be angry with my brother or fall foul of him; for he and I were born to work together, like a man’s two hands, feet or eyelids, or the upper and lower rows of his teeth. To obstruct each other is against Nature’s law — and what is irritation or aversion but a form of obstruction.

Epicurean philosophy, another Hellenistic tradition, focused on interdependence, causality, and human finitude and death.

• Lucretius (wrote “the nature of things”) was probably the most infuential of the Epicureans:
  • our lives are but short intervals bounded by infinite periods of our absence, and if the absence before our lives is not tragic, then the absence afterward shouldn’t be either
  • what becomes a problem is our anxiety about death
  • fear of death can prevent us from experiencing life and can lead us to try to preserve illusion of youth
  • On God (stoics believed in God but he is an epicurean):
    • if there is no god and no after life — no reason to fear
    • if there is an afterlife, we don’t know what it is; no reason to fear
• Marcus Aurelius urges taking a long-term, cosmic view rather than obsessing over brief, momentary concerns.
• The Stoics emphasized controlling emotions and living rationally in society.
• **Marcus Aurelius drew from Stoicism the ideas of a rational cosmic order, human unity with the cosmos, and the importance of controlling emotions and fulfilling social duties.
• From Epicureanism, he incorporated ideas about human finitude, constant change, and thinking rationally about death.**
• Marcus advocated detaching from both negative and positive emotions, seeing them as irrational.
• He believed humans are meant to cooperate, not work against each other. (He was a pacifist)
• He advised viewing things objectively and rationally, without emotional attachment. No thing is really as important as we think it is.
• There is genuine beauty in finitude (zen)
  • if we lived forever no particular moment will be important (unbearable lightness of being — opening chapter, Nietzche’s eternal return)
  • “cessation of each thing is no less the aim of neater than its birth or its duration” (buddist insight, maybe it has travelled through Silk Road into Greco-Roman culture?)
    • “how is it good for bubble to form but not to burst?”
• Marcus emphasized being an integral, properly functioning part of the ordered universe. The universe is rational, we are a part of universe -> we should act rationally as well.
• Following Lucretius, he saw the cessation of all things as natural and to be accepted.
• He found beauty in finitude and impermanence, arguing that scarcity of moments makes them valuable.
  • since our time is limited we shouldn’t be losing opportunities and value our time on earth
  • we should keep in mind what is the nature of the universe, what is our nature, how is one related to the other.
  • we can not only be calm about death, but welcome death (again buddhism, and Tolstoy, Lame Deer)

    • Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew

• Marcus believed a meaningful life could be found through philosophy, reflection, accepting finitude, and living rationally.
  • philosophy is what makes life meaningful.
  • reflecting thought and coming to terms with life is what allows us to live in accordance with nature

Emphasis on rational, need to transcend animal part, take role in society. Also a real rejections of passions, a lot more close to Gita and discipline.

Confucius

Indian civilization is a lot more continious with Greek and Roman. When we encounter a text like The Bhagavat Gita it is natural to see connection with European thought. When we move to China we see a very different approach

• Historical Context:
  • Confucius (Kongfuzi) lived in the 5th century BCE in China.
  • This was a period of intense social and political upheaval, with frequent wars between feudal states.
  • Confucius was from the state of Lu and likely came from a middle-class bureaucratic family.
• The Analects:
  • This is the primary text of Confucian philosophy.
  • Compiled after Confucius’s death from his students’ recollections.
  • Aimed at Chinese aristocrats and public servants.
  • Goal: To characterize a humane, cultured life.
• Key Confucian Concepts:
  • Ren: Humanity or warm-heartedness
  • Li: Ritual propriety or correctness in personal interactions
  • De: Virtue or moral rectitude
  • Xiao: Filial piety, respect for elders and authority
  • Tian: The nature or order of the universe
  • Wu-wei: Often translated as “non-action,” but better understood as spontaneity or effortlessness in action
• Confucian Framework:
  • Aims to cultivate individual excellence within a social context.
  • Provides an ideal of a literate, cultured aristocrat.
  • Ren and de are character achievements, attained through training and practice.
  • The goal is to manifest these virtues effortlessly (wu-wei).
  • This cultivation requires and supports a social order based on family and institutions.
  • Li and xiao form the foundation of social order, reflecting the cosmic order (tian).
• Social Aspects:
  • Filial piety is crucial, teaching respect and obedience within the family.
  • This behavior extends to broader society, promoting harmony.
  • Daily self-reflection on virtuous behavior is encouraged.
  • Leadership requires demonstrating respect and trustworthiness.
• Li (Ritual Propriety):
  • Essential to social order and personal excellence.
  • Confucius values joyful poverty and ritual-loving wealth over mere wealth or poverty.
  • Li is both cultivated and cultivating.
• Wu-wei in Leadership:
  • Effective leadership requires minimal effort, not heavy-handedness.
  • The ideal ruler leads by example, inspiring rather than threatening.
  • Involves spontaneity and harmony in working with others.
• Holistic Nature of Confucian Goodness:
  • Not a single virtue, but a harmonious unification of all virtues.
  • Always social in character, manifested through interactions with others.
• Distinctive Features:
  • While sharing some similarities with other philosophies (e.g., Bhagavad Gita, Stoicism, Aristotle), Confucianism has a unique emphasis on ritual and aesthetics.
  • The good life in Confucian thought is characterized as beautiful, effortless, spontaneous, ritualized, and aestheticized.

Daodejing

1. The Daodejing is a highly influential text with numerous translations and interpretations.
   • It comprises 81 chapters grouped into two books.
   • The text was solidified around the 3rd or 2nd century BCE.
   • It’s noted as the most frequently translated book in the world.
2. Concept of Wu-wei:
   • Both Daoism and Confucianism value wu-wei, but interpret it differently.
   • In Daoism, wu-wei involves stripping away cultural accretions to return to a natural state.
   • Confucianism sees wu-wei as a positive thing, building up virtuosity.
   • Daoism views culture as inhibiting our natural state, while Confucianism sees cultivation as part of our nature.
3. Meanings of Dao:
   • Dao can mean “a way” as in a path or way of life.
   • It can also refer to a discourse, discussion, text, or poem.
   • Finally, it can mean the fundamental nature of reality - “the way things are.”
4. Concept of De:
   • De can mean moral virtue or the nature of things.
   • Other meanings include excellence, purity, power, and light.
5. The Dao in the Daodejing:
   • Primarily, it’s a way of life lived in harmony with the universe.
   • It’s also the fundamental nature of things.
   • It encompasses the way we should live and think about the nature of the universe.
6. Distinctive Elements of Daoism:
   • Focus on stripping away culture and returning to nature.
   • Emphasis on background rather than foreground.
   • Focus on empty space rather than objects occupying space.
   • Goal is to recover innate spontaneity, not create it.
   • Deep suspicion of language in thought.
7. Key Themes from Chapter 1:
   • Words and names are conventional, not constant.
   • There’s a primordial ground for thinking that can’t be literally described.
   • Human concerns bring entities into the foreground.
   • The relationship between emergent positive and the primordial is a deep mystery.
8. Ideas from Chapter 2:
   • Discussion of the relativity of values and mutual dependence of opposites.
   • We attribute value to things that have no intrinsic value.
   • Our projections of qualities distance us from reality.
9. The Daoist Sage:
   • Gives up distinguishing between foreground and background.
   • Engages spontaneously with the entire matrix of the world.
   • Recognizes themselves as part of vast causal processes, not an independent agent.

Connection to other schools

• Aristotle:
  • Agrees that our nature is fundamentally rational, fundamentally social, passions come from outside, moral life requires rational control of passions.
  • Distinction between external and internal goods. Disagrees that external goods are important.
• Gita:
  • shared insight that the most important part of the nature is that we share with divine. Rational union. Social roles are crucial. Importance to focus on the internal.

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• Daodejing Themes:
  • multiple meanings of dao: a way of living, talking, thinking, and understanding the universe.
• Language and Reality:
  • The Daodejing posits that language and concepts do not reflect the nature of reality.
  • These are instead projections of our own thinking onto reality.
  • By naming objects, we pick them out against a background, leading to a discrete experience of the world.
  • Daoists argue that reality is actually a seamless whole, of which our lives are a part.
• Wu-wei in Daoism and Confucianism:
  • Both traditions value wu-wei, but differ from Western traditions and the Bhagavad-Gita.
  • They see a meaningful life as one lived spontaneously, not through deliberate choices.
  • The contrast between Daoists and Confucians lies in how they analyze and achieve effortless spontaneity.
• Chapter 3 of the Daodejing:
  • “Bestowing no honors keeps people from fighting. Prizing no treasures keeps people from stealing.”
  • Critique of the positive value often placed on winning prizes or having treasures.
  • “The rule of the sage empties the mind, but fills the stomach; weakens the will, but strengthens the bones.”
  • Distinction between mind (conceptualization and calculation) and stomach (instinct).
  • Suggestion that focusing on models of success occludes other possibilities.
• Chapter 38 and Moral Action:
  • Contrast with Aristotelian and Confucian accounts, which require effort and thought for virtue.
  • Daoism rejects this, explicitly criticizing Confucian accounts of justice and ritual.
  • Hierarchy of decline: “When the way is lost, virtue appears; when virtue is lost, kindness appears; when kindness is lost, justice appears.”
  • “When justice is lost, ritual appears. Ritual marks the waning of belief and the onset of confusion.”
• Negative Valuation of Effort:
  • Each stage in the hierarchy requires more effort than the preceding one.
  • The most effortless, spontaneous behavior is considered the best.
  • Cultivation and effort emerge only when we lose our natural character.
• Critique of Confucian Ritual:
  • Daoists view highly explicit forms of social interaction as the most fossilized and least natural.
  • These forms are often valorized as foundations of social order in Confucianism.
• Denigration from Natural to Artificial:
  • Every step from dao to ritual is seen as a denigration from a natural state to an artificial one.
  • This occurs through the process of cultivation.
• Confucian Model of Cultivation:
  • Likened to bottling spontaneous, natural behavior.
  • Results in the destruction of natural life, according to Daoism.
• Language and Cognition (Chapter 12):
  • Destruction of natural spontaneity is wrought by language and cognition.
  • Critique of the Confucian goal-driven approach to life.
  • “The colors make our eyes blind. The five tones make our ears deaf. The five flavors make our mouths numb.”
  • Conceptualization reduces the multifarious world to boxes defined by categories.
• Chapters 18 and 19:
  • Morality is harmed by sophistication, cultivation, and structure.
  • Social structures and artificial values induce decadence and corruption, not human progress.
  • Productive action stems from wu-wei.

  • Sometimes, doing nothing is the right thing to do.

1. The Importance of Space:
   • The lecture begins with an emphasis on the space between sky and earth.
   • This space is inexhaustible and makes existence, being, and change possible.
   • Comparison to a bellows: as it enables fire and warmth, space enables existence.
2. Chapter 5 of the Daodejing:
   • “Heaven and earth are heartless, treating creatures like straw dogs.”
   • Explanation of straw dogs as ritual objects burned to expiate sins.
   • This metaphor suggests that people are dispensable from the universe’s perspective.
   • Echoes the idea from the book of Job that the universe isn’t constructed around humans.
3. Detachment and Harmony:
   • Detachment is presented as a path to harmony.
   • Attachment is seen as fixation on one piece of the foreground, ignoring the broader context.
   • Our lives and world are described as empty - without essence or permanence.
   • This emptiness is what allows for possibilities in our lives.
4. Chapter 7 and Selflessness:
   • “Heaven is eternal and earth is immortal. The reason they are eternal and immortal is that they don’t live for themselves; hence, they can live forever.”
   • To lead an enduring life with positive effects, we need to let go of ourselves and our concerns.
   • “The sage lets himself go, but ends up safe.”
   • Self-centered, goal-directed behavior often impedes goal achievement.
5. The Water Metaphor:
   • “The best are like water, bringing help to all without competing, choosing what others avoid, hence approaching the dao.”
   • Water is beneficial and non-competitive: it flows around obstacles and provides for others.
   • Living spontaneously like water and benefiting others is approaching the dao.
   • Emphasis on moderation: “Instead of pouring in more, better stop while you can.”
6. Criticism of Accumulation and Vanity:
   • “Houses full of treasure can never be safe. The vanity of success invites its own failure.”
   • Parading successes puts one in disharmony with others, leading to failure due to lack of cooperation.
7. Chapter 11 and Empty Space:
   • “When your work is done, retire. This is the way of heaven! Focus on the empty space!”
   • Recognizing that possibilities are as important as accomplishments.
   • The wheel hub metaphor: “Thirty spokes converge on a hub, but it’s the emptiness that makes a wheel work.”
   • We’re conditioned to focus on solid things, missing the importance of empty space.
   • “Existence makes something useful, but nonexistence makes it work!”
8. The Relationship Between Dao and Manifestation:
   • Nothing is what it is solely due to its positive or negative aspect.
   • Concern for others is the best way to advance ourselves; self-concern backfires.
   • We must pay attention to the social context in which we exist.
9. Subtlety of Virtuous Life:
   • The Daodejing argues that a virtuous life is subtle.
   • “When an idiot hears about the dao, he laughs out loud.”
   • The good life described in the Daodejing may seem absurd from the standpoint of social convention.
   • What is imperfect is often best; what we lack can be most useful.
10. Following the Dao:

    • Not a positive cultivation or building up.

    • It’s about eliminating rigidity arising from cultivation.

    • More similar to Stoicism than to the Gita or Confucius.

    • More metaphysically charged than many other texts.

    • Provides an account of what our lives are like, what the universe is like, and how our lives can be in harmony with the universe.

      Zhuangzi on Daoism

• Recap of Core Daoist Ideas:
  • Emphasis on the negative rather than the positive
  • Moral cultivation as a process of stripping away attachments and knowledge
  • The idea that language and concepts are variable and reflect more about us than external reality
  • Suspicion of logic and reason as artificial constructs
• Daoist Critique of Logic:
  • The Daoist critique of logic and reason is itself based on logical argument
  • Daoists acknowledge this paradox and apply it to Daoism itself
  • Daoism ultimately urges stripping away all accretions, including understanding of the dao
• Aestheticization in Daoism:
  • Like Confucianism, Daoism involves an aestheticization of experience and philosophical reflection
  • Daoism finds beauty in rough naturalism, as opposed to Confucian ideals of perfect cultivation
• Introduction to the Zhuangzi:
  • Core text written by Zhuangzi (369-286 BC)
  • Full text completed about 150 years after the author’s death
  • Compilation from numerous authors
• Zhuangzi’s Rejection of Political Power:
  • Anecdote about Zhuangzi turning down a lucrative political post
  • Comparison to an ox being fattened for sacrifice
• The Butterfly Dream:
  • Famous passage where Zhuang Zhou dreams he’s a butterfly
  • Upon waking, he’s unsure if he’s a man who dreamed of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being a man
  • Illustrates that reason can’t settle fundamental questions about reality
  • Demonstrates that distinctions (like human/butterfly, reality/dream) are just projections
  • Suggests we live in a constant “dream world” of perception
• The Story of Cook Ding:
  • Cook Ding studied oxen for years to learn butchery
  • Now encounters the ox “with the spirit” rather than visual scrutiny
  • His understanding consciousness halts, allowing “promptings of the spirit” to flow
  • Results in effortless ox-butchering
  • Emphasizes spontaneous, non-conceptual engagement with reality
  • Shows that spontaneity emerges from peeling away conceptual perception, not adding knowledge
• Zhuangzi’s Reaction to His Wife’s Death:
  • Initial mourning followed by cessation of grief
  • Reflects on the infinite periods before life and after death
  • Recognizes the inevitability and necessity of death for existence
  • Exemplifies Daoist serenity and acceptance of natural processes
• Dialogue Between Confucius and Lao Tzu:
  • Satirizes the Confucian approach
  • Confucius claims to have sought the dao through “measures and numbers” (words, concepts, rituals)
  • Lao Tzu criticizes this approach, calling names merely “tools for public use”
  • Compares goodwill (ren) and duty (li) to temporary shelters, not permanent dwellings
  • Warns against overemphasis on these concepts, which can become prisons
  • Concludes with “To ramble without a destination is wu-wei”
• Overall Themes:
  • Rejection of fixed concepts and distinctions
  • Emphasis on spontaneity and non-conceptual engagement with reality
  • Critique of conventional thinking and social norms
  • Promotion of harmony with nature and acceptance of natural processes
  • The paradoxical nature of Daoist thought

Buddha

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Santideva (Mahayana Buddhism)

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Zen

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Classical world

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Hume

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Kant

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Mill

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Tolstoy

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Nietzsche

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Ghandi

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Lame Deer

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HH Dalai Lama XIV

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TODO/Open questions

• Existentialism
• Individualism
• Virtue ethics
• Neo-platonism
• Ghandi and non-violent resitance vs Gita

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