NDLI: Governing Through the Dao: A Non-Anarchistic Interpretation of the Laozi

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Governing Through the Dao: A Non-Anarchistic Interpretation of the Laozi

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Feldt, Alex
Copyright Year	2010
Abstract	Within the literature, Daoist political philosophy has often been linked with anarchism. While some extended arguments have been offered in favor of this conclusion, I take this position to be tenuous and predicated on an assumption that coercive authority cannot be applied through wuwei. Focusing on the Laozi as the fundamental political text of classical Daoism, I lay out a general account of why one ought to be skeptical of classifying it as anarchistic. Keeping this skepticism in mind and recognizing the importance of wuwei in arguments for the anarchist conclusion, I provide a non-anarchistic interpretation of wuwei as a political technique that is consistent with the text of the Laozi. Having presented a plausible alternative to the anarchist understanding of wuwei, I close my discussion with a brief sketch of a positive account of the political theory of the Laozi.
Starting Page	323
Ending Page	337
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF
ISSN	15403009
Journal	Dao
Volume Number	9
Issue Number	3
e-ISSN	15697274
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2010-07-04
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Classical Daoism Laozi Political philosophy wuwei Anarchism Religious Studies Chinese Ethics Philosophy of Religion Non-Western Philosophy
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Philosophy

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