Concept
Tao
Overview
in East Asian philosophy and religions, the source and fundamental principle of the universe
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Tao is discussed.
In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them. 4. Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is. 26. 1. Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement. 2. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far from his baggage waggons.
Laozi, The Tao Teh King
names the idea; states what it is; the book is about it; author linked in the graph
This is the doctrine of Reason, as the inner order of the Universe or inherent principle of all things, of the great One, the sublime Gable-Beam (Taiki) which supports all the Rafters, yet is above them (properly the all-pervading Soul of the World) and of Tao, _i.e._ the _Way_, namely to salvation: that is, to redemption from the world and its misery. We have an exposition of this doctrine taken from the…
Arthur Schopenhauer, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, and On the Will in Nature
names the idea; opens on it
We have already stated that the belief in the Creation is a fundamental principle of our religion; but we do not consider it a principle of our faith that the Universe will again be reduced to nothing. It is not contrary to the tenets of our religion to assume that the Universe will continue to exist for ever.
Moses Maimonides, The guide for the perplexed
They thought ill of government, and of all interferences with Nature. They complained of the hurry of modern life, which they contrasted with the calm existence of those whom they called "the pure men of old." There is a flavour of mysticism in the doctrine of the Tao, because in spite of the multiplicity of living things the Tao is in some sense one, so that if all live according to it there will be no strife in…
Bertrand Russell, The Problem of China
states what it is; names the idea
This I-hi-weï or I-H-W[16] is further made to signify an absolute vacuity and that which is Nothing; to the Chinese what is highest and the origin of things is nothing, emptiness, the altogether undetermined, the abstract universal, and this is also called Tao or reason. When the Greeks say that the absolute is one, or when men in modern times say that it is the highest existence, all determinations are abolished…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
states what it is; names the idea
Philosophers who discussed Tao
- Cheng Hao
- Zhuangzi (book)
- Xiong Shili
- Zhu Xi
- Mou Tsung-san
- Shen Buhai
- Martin Heidegger
- Feng Youlan
- Hu Shih
- Osho
- Yin Wen
- Fan Zhongyan
- Liu Yiming
- Jin Yuelin
Related ideas
- Ṛta
- Globe Pequot Publishing Group
- Analogy
- Cantonese
- Jesus
- God in Christianity
- Gospel of John
- Hebrew language
- Hindus
- Yin and yang
- Indo-European languages
- Wang Fuzhi
- Eastern philosophy
- Japanese language
- Zhuang Zhou
- Korean language
- Karma
- Cheng Hao
- Doctrine
- Columbia University Press
- Zhuangzi (book)
- Warring States period
- Great Learning
- Ren (philosophy)
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Aesthetics.