This is the fifth article in my recently launched "5+N" series of studying and researching the Tao Te Ching, stringing together the important concepts of the Tao Te Ching like a string of beads. I don't know, I was shocked: it turns out that the truth of the Tao Te Ching is so simple, so simple that I don't want to say it, because as soon as I say it, it seems that we who study the Tao Te Ching are all busy, going around, arguing and arguing, researching and verifying, it turns out that the truth is really "very easy to know, very easy to do" - Lao Tzu is not more than deceiving!
As is customary, let's start with the image above:
If you have more life experience and have a certain cognitive ability, you can just read this picture. Let me briefly explain:
1. The Tao is the Tao and the Extraordinary Way: The way of the natural operation of the universe can be recognized and followed by human beings, but the way of social practice formed by human beings following the way of nature is not constant.
To survive in the universe, people must deal with the nature of the universe, and they must follow the laws of the operation of the universe. However, the universe will not tell people what kind of operation it has, which requires people to explore and summarize, and this process is the process of "Tao Kedao". The "way of practice" that has been explored and summed up must be continuously developed and improved in accordance with the logic of the natural operation of the universe, so the "way of practice" that human beings have explored and summed up is "non-constant".
The way of operation of the universe is "objective existence", while the way of human practice is "subjective action".
2. The name can be named, but it is not famous: the natural causal relationship of the universe can be expressed by human cognition as a certain cognitive logic, and the cognitive logic expressed by human beings according to the natural causal relationship is not constant.
This sentence is a high-level summary of "Kedao", that is, the human cognitive method. How can human beings transform the way of operation of nature into a way of practice that can be followed? The method is to transform the logic of the operation of the universe into a certain form of cognitive logic with recognizable standards and methods. For example, in the universe, east, west, north and south, there is originally a causal relationship with directions, but it cannot be used; how can it be expressed as a formal logic that everyone can use, identify, and disseminate? It is enough to name and stipulate "east, west, north and south".
Everything is so "famous", this is the principle of "Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things".
3. Nothingness and Being: The process of transforming natural causality into subjective cognitive logic is the process of "creating something out of nothing".
In the nature of the universe, the original causal relationship is trance-like and unrecognizable, but there are images, objects, essences, and beliefs in it, and people "name it" according to the characteristics of these causal relationships. Therefore, the history of mankind is a history of "from ancient times to the present, and its name cannot be lost", it is a history of "Tao gives birth to one, life to two, two to three, and three to all things", and it is a history of "Tao is born, virtue is live, things are formed, and potential is formed". A long history of human development and growth has led human beings to shape another world—the world of logic.
The world of logic is the world of "being", and the world stripped of cognitive logic is the world of "nothing".
4. Desirelessness and Desire: It is precisely because human beings live in two worlds that objectively speaking, human thinking must be "always desireless", so that we can explore the diversity and possibilities of the natural material world, and at the same time, subjectively speaking, human thinking must also be "always desired", so that we can reflect on the limitations and relativity of the logical world we have created.
Desirelessness and desirelessness are objective thinking and subjective thinking in the modern philosophical sense, and these two ways of thinking are combined with each other, which is the only way for human beings to explore the natural operation of the universe.
5. Anti-weakness: Objective thinking and subjective thinking are two ways of thinking that are interdependent and complement each other.
In the specific practical application, objective thinking requires people to correctly give feedback to the cognitive object, which is called "the movement of the opposite way"; while subjective thinking requires people not to rely too much on the cognitive subject themselves, too stubborn, keep in mind that "the strong beam will not die", and learn to "impulse and think that it is harmonious", which is "the use of the weak way".
6. Inaction and indisputability: This is just another expression of anti-weakness.
To give correct feedback to the cognitive object and adhere to the "action of the opposite", the method is to do nothing. Loss after loss, so that inaction: that is, to put down and put down the knowledge and opinions that we have learned subjectively, and to examine things completely from an objective point of view; only by insisting on doing nothing, that is, proceeding from the objective, can we do nothing, which is almost certain; if we do things from the subjective point of view, we will often fail in a few successes, and if we always insist on proceeding from the objective, we will not be prone to failure.
We must not rely too much on our own subjectivity, do not be too stubborn, and adhere to the "use of the weak for the weak", the method is indisputable. Outside its body, behind its body, dare not be the first in the world, know its male, guard its female...... These are indisputable. Not fighting is not not competition, not fighting for the top, but not fighting for logic. What does it mean to be indisputable logic? It is not subjective. You should compete, but don't be subjective, you are always the one who wins, this is the indisputable virtue.
7. Profit without harm and for sake without contention: Benefit without harm is about world outlook, and for sake of not contentious, it is about values.
Getting along with the world is about the word "benefit", and profit is to conform, and conforming to it will not harm each other; getting along with society is about the word "for", which means working hard, and hard work will be rewarded. The former is an objective attitude, while the latter is a subjective initiative. The result of these two aspects of "mystery and mystery" is that "the more you think you have, the more you have with others": the more you know how to be a person, the more valuable you are, and the more you can get along with others, the more you will get in return.
8. Subjective and objective: Through the above combing, we see a very clear vein, that is, subjective and objective. We are so familiar with this pair of words that I don't want to analyze a single word.
My above explanation will certainly arouse the dissatisfaction of some people: Lao Tzu cannot be explained by modern philosophical concepts! Some people will even say some ugly things that will make you feel uncomfortable.
What I want to counter is: why not? If you can give a reason why Lao Tzu cannot be explained by modern philosophical concepts, I will be convinced!
Philosophical concepts are like problem-solving tools, like a sickle, which can be used to cut wheat, why can't it be used to cut rice?
For another analogy, if human beings are compared to (or condensed into) "a person", Lao Tzu is equivalent to a child in his infancy, and we are now equivalent to adults in their twenties and thirties.
It's as simple as that: the theme of the Tao Te Ching – worldview and values, and the epistemology and methodology derived from it – subjective and objective, and that's it!