Comte de Sats Germain on Nostr: Dao de Jing / Tao te Ching 32/81 ...
Dao de Jing / Tao te Ching
32/81
Naming a thing is an act of violence against the whole thing. There are no things. Thingness is a product of your naming.
When we name things, we gain the ability to interact with them. The name allows for an assignment of cause and effect. Assigning causes and effects allows us to build technology. But no amount of names or models or repeatability can tell us **_why_** the thing is the thing and does things. We can chain causes and effects back in infinite regression, but it can never make contact with the true cause, the true essence, the Thing Itself. Because the error is in our own eyes, the naming.
In a previous chapter, I missed a possible explanation. In chapter 25, its possible that the king represents God, and maybe Laozi makes a distinction between God and Dao. Maybe. Using "king" to represent God occurs in Jewish and Persian literature. Obviously, those are different cultures, but its a possibility.
#Philosophy #daoism #taoism
32/81
Naming a thing is an act of violence against the whole thing. There are no things. Thingness is a product of your naming.
When we name things, we gain the ability to interact with them. The name allows for an assignment of cause and effect. Assigning causes and effects allows us to build technology. But no amount of names or models or repeatability can tell us **_why_** the thing is the thing and does things. We can chain causes and effects back in infinite regression, but it can never make contact with the true cause, the true essence, the Thing Itself. Because the error is in our own eyes, the naming.
In a previous chapter, I missed a possible explanation. In chapter 25, its possible that the king represents God, and maybe Laozi makes a distinction between God and Dao. Maybe. Using "king" to represent God occurs in Jewish and Persian literature. Obviously, those are different cultures, but its a possibility.
#Philosophy #daoism #taoism