RT Article
T1 Intention, ethics, and convention in Daoism: Guo Xiang on ziran (self-so) and wuwei (non-action)
JF Asian philosophy
VO 34
IS 2
SP 99
OP 119
A1 D'Ambrosio, Paul J.
LA English
PB Carfax
YR 2024
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1887109560
AB 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.
K1 Guo Xiang
K1 wuwei
K1 Ziran
K1 Laozi
K1 Zhuangzi
K1 Daoism
DO 10.1080/09552367.2024.2292350