I'm a chinese myself, been living in china for 27 years, and never set a foot on another foreign county. and i never found that our philosophy can be so interesting and intriguing like this. thanks to stephen, your briliant interpretation is guiding me to a wonderful philosophic world.
god, the more i try to understand what makes a good life and a good person, i get more questions than answers. how can one live in wu wei in this modern society? i’ve watched many videos and they all point to an ascetic and reclusive lifestyle. to me, that’s a very extreme sort of living (and i understand why i think that way), but it seems like all the teachings from different schools of thought, believe that by giving up your attachment (to everything, even your identity of self) is the only way to be happy. but society will keep advancing its technology and i find the evolution of societies to be a marvel. how does wu wei apply in the context of suffering? if you have cancer, are you meant to not seek treatment? if you’re living in an abusive household, what does going with the flow mean? if ambition is foolish and pointless, then are we not meant to pursue our dreams and passions? what about financial security? are we not meant to prepare our finances so that we can live well when we are old and frail? if you’re studying at university, how the hell are you meant to apply wu wei? or just living in this kind of capitalist society, where we’re meant to earn what we have?
Fantastic podcast! So glad to hear Stephen is based in my home town Seattle! However, I lived in China for over half of my life. Even with my deep love for philosophy and a degree in intellectual history, I still find "Philosophize It" an indispensable gem. It's a foundation of self enlightenment.
I found the Dao de Jing... confusing. It feels a bit like a rorschach test. Depending on when I read it, it's hippie mysticism, libertarianism without capitalism, the world's first self-help book, ruminations on epistomology and qualia ... or an intution of Gödel's incompleteness. One thing I always wonder is whether my very western lens on philosophy just carries implications with it that muddy the water of the analysis, given the very different schools of thought and emphases that developed locally.
So.... What about those of us for whom curiosity is a fundamental part of our nature? I don't really actively pursue knowledge aggressively I absorb it like a sponge and can't help it sometimes spending more time in wuwei or what we might call today a Wikipedia clickhole spiral dot-dot-dot I Love Gaining knowledge and seem to do it passionately and for fun and just can't help getting something out of things I experience that I would call acquiring knowledge but that's just how I am they raised me a bookworm and such.
i think that curiosity is natural to human conscience. It is only unnatural in those whose conscience has been obliterated (Not that i want to refute this lazy hippie XD, just my opinion.)
Pinyin is a pita. It was made by a chinaman who had little idea about the pronunciation of the Latin alphabet. Consequently, it's not easy to read, and no wonder chinese people have trouble speaking clearly in foreign languages. He died last year, or the year before, incidentally.
Very interesting question at the end. Ive evolved from being socialist (hangs head in shame) to being a minarchist in literally everything i believe and do. Minarcgism can be seen as when he says that government should be in such a way that it is not even noticeable.
No, it’s more of a coincidence. They are pronounced in different tones. To mean the philosopher, it is lǎo3zǐ3; to mean the old man (father), in a very informal, sometimes offensive way, it is lǎo3zi5.
You're definitley well informed but I will say that I get the impression that much of what you share is not much different from those that speculate about the writings of the stories in the Bible. Complicated mistranslations of hearsay and a self proclaimed knowledge of what these men & society thought or would think then & today. I find this a bit odd seeing as Religion and Science seem to have been at odds with one another for at least 6000 years according to history. The main difference being that much of the theory of these men can be proven with some of the amazing discoveries, especially in the field of mathematics. This is not meant as an attack but an observation & I appreciate all the efforts you are making to share your views & opinions but you are over reaching when you presume to know or be an authority of what they thought then or would think present day. Very interesting regardless.
I'm a chinese myself, been living in china for 27 years, and never set a foot on another foreign county. and i never found that our philosophy can be so interesting and intriguing like this. thanks to stephen, your briliant interpretation is guiding me to a wonderful philosophic world.
Thanks for keeping active by uploading these videos. You are a friend, and a scholar.
god, the more i try to understand what makes a good life and a good person, i get more questions than answers.
how can one live in wu wei in this modern society?
i’ve watched many videos and they all point to an ascetic and reclusive lifestyle. to me, that’s a very extreme sort of living (and i understand why i think that way), but it seems like all the teachings from different schools of thought, believe that by giving up your attachment (to everything, even your identity of self) is the only way to be happy.
but society will keep advancing its technology and i find the evolution of societies to be a marvel.
how does wu wei apply in the context of suffering? if you have cancer, are you meant to not seek treatment? if you’re living in an abusive household, what does going with the flow mean?
if ambition is foolish and pointless, then are we not meant to pursue our dreams and passions?
what about financial security? are we not meant to prepare our finances so that we can live well when we are old and frail?
if you’re studying at university, how the hell are you meant to apply wu wei? or just living in this kind of capitalist society, where we’re meant to earn what we have?
We wouldn't need to be governed if we acted in accordance with the dao.
Started your podcasts from the start. your coherence and clarity of thought are commendable
Fantastic podcast! So glad to hear Stephen is based in my home town Seattle! However, I lived in China for over half of my life. Even with my deep love for philosophy and a degree in intellectual history, I still find "Philosophize It" an indispensable gem. It's a foundation of self enlightenment.
Thank you Stephen. I love your work. This is a wonderful source of knowledge.
I found the Dao de Jing... confusing. It feels a bit like a rorschach test. Depending on when I read it, it's hippie mysticism, libertarianism without capitalism, the world's first self-help book, ruminations on epistomology and qualia ... or an intution of Gödel's incompleteness.
One thing I always wonder is whether my very western lens on philosophy just carries implications with it that muddy the water of the analysis, given the very different schools of thought and emphases that developed locally.
I feel offended and fluttered at the same time with the hippie analogy.
thats the ying and the yang! You have reached the Dao!
I used to listen to your show every single day during highschool, and ngl, it’s the best education I’ve ever gotten lol
Thanks so much for uploading these older ones, i started watching on roughly ep 90 and i love being able to listen to these older ones!
Years ago there was a local band called the "Taoist Cowboys", which I loved
Jesus Christ your really banging these out I'm still on prehistoric philosophy episode 1 but I'm not complaining honestly
When Yang becomes extreme it turns to Yin. When Yin becomes extreme it turns to Yang.
"Before the heaven and earth existed..." That portion, to me, sounds like the singularity at the "beginning" of the universe.
I remember the first time I heard this episode ! Lazy hippy, indeed!😂
I got into Taoism after listening to Beyoncé’s album Cowboy Carter.
What do you mean by circumventing resistance? Is that just a fancy way of saying going with the flow?
Without a Daobt!
Thank u for this!
Stephen Mitchell did not translate the Dào Dé Jīng.
1, 2, 3, 10,000!
So.... What about those of us for whom curiosity is a fundamental part of our nature? I don't really actively pursue knowledge aggressively I absorb it like a sponge and can't help it sometimes spending more time in wuwei or what we might call today a Wikipedia clickhole spiral dot-dot-dot I Love Gaining knowledge and seem to do it passionately and for fun and just can't help getting something out of things I experience that I would call acquiring knowledge but that's just how I am they raised me a bookworm and such.
i think that curiosity is natural to human conscience. It is only unnatural in those whose conscience has been obliterated (Not that i want to refute this lazy hippie XD, just my opinion.)
❤
I loved the metal music transitions and wish you kept it
You have to understand how the letters are pronounced in order to read Pin Yin...same with reading any Romanized language.
Pinyin is a pita. It was made by a chinaman who had little idea about the pronunciation of the Latin alphabet. Consequently, it's not easy to read, and no wonder chinese people have trouble speaking clearly in foreign languages.
He died last year, or the year before, incidentally.
I really like Daoism. It's all about now.
Where do they do this live
4:05 I totally agree with that statement for this day and year.
You are so sassy hahahah coming after people with ying yang lower back tattoos
Very interesting question at the end. Ive evolved from being socialist (hangs head in shame) to being a minarchist in literally everything i believe and do. Minarcgism can be seen as when he says that government should be in such a way that it is not even noticeable.
If I'm correct Stephen... Lao Tzu just means Old man in Chinese. He was nameless
No, it’s more of a coincidence. They are pronounced in different tones. To mean the philosopher, it is lǎo3zǐ3; to mean the old man (father), in a very informal, sometimes offensive way, it is lǎo3zi5.
🙄... !
Brilliant podcast. Anarchism is the end to all the turmoil in this world we encounter. ❤️✊🏾🏴
taoism?
Nope, it's Daoism. 道教。 Wade Giles just sucks for pronunciation in Mandarin.
You say Dao, I say Tao - let's call the whole thing off |-)
Robin Beckford from learning Chinese I can affirm that it’s dao
EndTaysachs In pronunciation *and* spelling?
@@robinbeckford314 I don't see why not
do you want to know more about philosophy come and take a look at my database
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You're definitley well informed but I will say that I get the impression that much of what you share is not much different from those that speculate about the writings of the stories in the Bible. Complicated mistranslations of hearsay and a self proclaimed knowledge of what these men & society thought or would think then & today. I find this a bit odd seeing as Religion and Science seem to have been at odds with one another for at least 6000 years according to history. The main difference being that much of the theory of these men can be proven with some of the amazing discoveries, especially in the field of mathematics.
This is not meant as an attack but an observation & I appreciate all the efforts you are making to share your views & opinions but you are over reaching when you presume to know or be an authority of what they thought then or would think present day. Very interesting regardless.