Doctrine of the Mean- A Tale of Two Taos

 The Doctrine of the Mean states: "Sincerity means the completion of the self, and the Way is self-directing. Sincerity is the beginning and end of things. Without sincerity there would be nothing." Here the Tao seems to be conflated with the human virtue of sincerity, but it still retains something of a mystical import. There seems to be a kind of primacy and power to "act at a distance" in this Confucian conception of the Tao. Perhaps this is what is meant by Confucius when he says that the "virtuous man is like the polestar." The Tao needs to be manifested by a human being and yet it still possesses an almost gravitational energy. This might also be reflected in his statement that "the Way does not expand human beings, but it is human beings who broaden the Way." 


The Taoist Way seems to be very different however. The commentators note says, "This self-directing Way seems to be the same as the Tao in Taoism. But the difference is great. As Ch'ien Mu has pointed out, when the Taoists talk about Tao as being natural, it means that Tao is void and empty, whereas when Confucianists talk about Tao as being natural, they describe it as sincerity." What exactly is the difference? Why do the Confucianists have a positive view of the Tao whereas the Taoists seem to have only a negative view? Is one really more humanistic and the other is more naturalistic? 

Comments

  1. Krishnan VenkateshMarch 29, 2022 at 10:42 AM

    Wonderful questions. Follow them up. Human actions spill out of thoughts and feelings. When one of us discovers something -- e.g., the theory of gravity -- it inevitably results in action that influences the world around us. Likewise, when we feel love or admiration, the feeling always blossoms into action that affects the world -- by affecting the people, and maybe the world itself (e.g., we plant flowers and preserve forests). So perhaps there is no clear line between the human and everything else.

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