Plant Analogy

• Helps account for moral growth– Knowledge as discriminating ability

• (branching) not guided by language– And as ease of (moral) action

• Explain evil (weeds and environment)• Justify liberal politics (soil)• Shi-feithis-not this 是 非 to 智 zhiwisdom

– Growth of intuitive responsive motivation– Neo-Confucian moral “metaphysics” and

the sage

Issues

• Strong-weak choice (Conf. detail)–Weak interpretation plausible, strong

needed to defend against moral reform

• Normative result = Mozi (Utilitarian)–Moral psychology for universal

concern• Problem: is moral psychology

relevant–Can’t get “ought” from “is”–Mencius’ strategies: unique, health,

choose!

Two Principles

• Link fact & duty:– "Is-ought": “is” does not imply “ought”

• Undermines Mencius’ appeal to nature – "Ought-can:" ought implies can

• Is moral reform possible (yes)

• Anti-language implications–Avoid 2 roots—foolish man–Good language can inspire but not

contribute• Bad language can disrupt and destroy

Questions

Coffee Tutorial today w/ questionsBack to some Basic concepts (divisions) of

philosophyEthics

Teleological V Deontological

• Normative Ethics: Two Types– Teleological & deontological (duty)

• Consequence/result, look forward, do for result• Duty, desert, merit, look backward, for own

sake• Deontology v utilitarianism

– Telling truth, keeping promises, justice and freedom

– Is punishment justified• Grades on examination—result, encouragement, effort?• Christian duties (10 commandments)

• Standards apply to aspects of morality– Acts or rules (system)

Mozi Resembles Rule Utility

• Evaluate individual actions or “patterns”

• Evaluate a tradition by how people governed by it act– Actually tradition or 道 discourse dao

utilitarian• Tests for Rule v Act Utility

– White lies– Keeping Promises– Birth control– War and deterrence

Normative Ethics Classifications

Teleological (consequential)

Deontological (Duty)

Act (situation ethics)

Act Utilitarian (Egoist, nationalist etc.)

Mencius (meta-ethics = intuition)

Rule Rule Utilitarian (language, practice, system etc.)

Ten Commandments

3000 禮 li

Daoism: Early History

• Hermits and Yang Zhu 楊朱 : No theory of 道 but a Daoist attitude

• First theoretical Daoist: Shen Dao慎 到– Natural performance daoguide 道– Sum of all actual performance 道

daoguides is the great dao 大 道 • The complete history of the universe

– You will follow 大 道— no knowledge of 道 needed

Three Determinisms

• Logical, Scientific, Fatalistic– What will be will be A = A

• Like Parmenides “what is is” • Tautology=true by meaning/grammar

– How to be right w/o saying anything• Don’t ___too much; Do what you should do.• Doesn’t entail anything else—free will

• Scientific: induction on experience– Things happen by predictable laws

(causal)– Generalize: everything predictable in

advance

Fatalism• Claim that your decision/will

cannot affect the world, outcome, future–Out of human control–Argument (one of the above or

theological)• Does fatalism follow?

–Not from logical determinism—study\pass

–From causal? Probably not • Soft determinism says free will does not

contradict causal predictability• God’s foreknowledge?

慎 到 Shen Dao’s Problems

• Draws fatalism conclusion – From logical determinism– There is just one future actual history

• The one caused by my (our) actions• Unnatural natural advice

– Knowing & judgment “natural” for humans

• Paradox of "abandon knowledge“– 道 Dao as the object of knowledge

• Knowing dao—not needed abandon• Obey it only if you ignore it

Laozi 老子

• Textual issues• The Zhuangzi's history

–Between Shendao and Zhuangzi• Abandon knowledge w/o relying on

fatalism–Argument from freedom from social

control–Spontaneity

Analysis of "Knowledge"

• Discourse 道 daos: come in opposites–Names 名 (opposites)–Distinctions (implied: one per pair)

–Desires 欲• Innovation in seeing desires generated by names/distinctions

– 為 weideem:do action

Problem: Same Paradox?

• Distinction of natural and conventional desires– Forms of social constraint– Language distorts by gross distinction

while there are infinite shades in nature • Desire to be natural• Act on the desire (forgetting)• 無 為 wulack weideem:do a paradox

– Wu-wei and yet wu-bu-wei 無不為– no concept guided action

No Constant Dao

• 道可道非常道 Any dao that guides is not constant dao-ing

• Because based on 名 and – 名可名非常名 Any name that names is

not constant name-ing• Negative 道 daoguide by

emphasizing opposite virtues– Passive, lower, water, cool,

submissive, female– Constant 道 daoguide ? Unspeakable?

Relevance to Mencius

• The intuitions that Confucians think are natural are socially cultivated–Burial, filial piety, attitudes to

authority–Status, wealth, style

• Hong Kong slavery– Innate 天 道 is very thin

• Eat, sleep, children, farm, small villages

Common Anti-language Problem

• 墨 辯 Mohist semantic analysis: – To say “language bad” is bad– Paradox of the liar

• This sentence is false

• All Sentences are false– Not a paradox– But false

• Challenge to Zhuangzi

Puzzle

• All language distorts the 道 dao

Zhuangzi: Textual Issues

• Relation to Laozi– Probably earlier– No contact or knowledge (mostly later

students)– Project a similarity of focus

• Construction of desires from language/culture

• Relation to School of Names 名 家 closer– Friend of 惠 施 Hui Shi

• Deals with anti-language paradox better

Pipes of 天 tian nature:sky

• Human voices and arguing about philosophy is natural– Like birds tweeting and frogs croaking

• Gives Yangzhu, Mozi and Mencius what they want– Not worth anything– Want authority over rivals and 天

tiannature:sky fails• Hint from Shen Dao—no normative content• Pure fact—no ought/value

Priority of Dao over 天

• Must presuppose a 道 daoguide

• For a Daoist, 道 daoguide the authority, not 天 tiannature:sky

– The cosmos doesn't make guiding judgments--all from a 道 daoguide

– Cannot escape responsibility for our own dao judgments• Should I follow 天 tiannature:sky?• No matter what authority

Refutation of Mencius

• Should follow our hearts and should follow 天 tiannature:sky ( 性 xingnature )–All organs are equally natural

• C.f. Mencius' weeds–How do you 是 shithis:right a favorite?

• Rely on the 心 xinheart-mind? Begs the question

• Take turns or have no ruler?