Taoism

Taoism is the first major philosophical and religious tradition explored by Peter Marshall, in his book Nature’s Web. Marshall calls Taoism “the way of nature,” emphasizing that this is the ideal religion from the perspective of ecological sensibility. Passivity is a key element of Taoist thought, and is a repeated concept in the primary Taoist text, the Tao Te Ching. The concept of passivity stresses that the wise person will not attempt to cause change in his world, but will rather be receptive to and allow natural changes to happen, as is the way of nature. Other Taoist principles concerning government, society, life, and death branch off from this concept. Marshall considers this religion to be a necessary foundation for an ecologically sound world and way of life, which is why he makes it the foundation of his book. However, Marshall’s views may not be entirely realistic when we consider the practicality of the philosophy to our modern ecological crisis.

Taoism follows a much different idea of the “chain of being,” than that of the other major religions (i.e. Hinduism, Judeo-Christian, Islam), which is very important in consideration of the ecological sensibility which stems from it. As opposed to a God-over-man-ov

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To abandon the structure of government, the comforts of technology, and the safety of having power would betray reason as we have come to know it. Everything in modern society is measured in terms of monetary value. Using the vessel concept, fear is like a lid, covering the vessel to prevent unwanted liquids from entering. ” (Marshall 18)

Taoism is not something with which we can expect to replace our modern standards successfully. But a good ruler by Taoist standards is not the same as the modern concept of a ruler – one who controls, asserts power and authority, and makes decisions. Technology can be a positive thing in this respect as well, for without technology, things like recycling and water filtering would not be possible (although without technology they may not have been necessary either). The vessel is always “not-doing” (as is the Tao), yet there is nothing it cannot hold, or do. riots, being left to our nature brings out our greed, violence, and most detrimental, our fear. This figure would probably be more akin to our modern idea of a teacher, educating his subjects, but not controlling them. ” (Tao Te Ching, 8) It flows without a purpose, but in doing so it does good, because it has no personal needs or desires. The problem again goes back to government – the major proponent of Taoist ecological thought – and the creation of money. Applying this to Taoism, a person is expected to be receptive to change and ready for it, but must not actively try to cause change. The wise sage should fill spaces that are empty, rather than take from those which are filled.

However, the philosophy suffers from a practical viewpoint. Control is artificial, and power exists only if one believes it does.

Approximate Word count = 1429
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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