Taoism & Lao-Tzu and Idealism & Plato
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Human beings have from the beginning tried to discover the relationship between themselves and the universe in which they live. They noted the life cycle of birth, life, and death and wondered if there was something more beyond, and this a question that has been addressed by religion and philosophy ever since. Taoism as represented by the writings of Lao-Tzu and Idealism as represented by Plato differ in certain key aspects of how the world is viewed, how human beings are thought to relate to that world, and so the philosophy developed by each writer. Lao-Tzu is a pantheistic thinker and views the human being as one with the universe. Plato, like most Western philosophers, sees a dualism between man and nature and within man himself, separating mind and body. Plato is even more of a dualist in that he sees this world as a reflection of an ideal world existing on some other plane. The Tao te Ching of Lao-Tzu is the oldest scripture of Taoism and was written during the warring states period when China descended into a chaos of rival kingdoms, some time between the sixth and the fourth or third centuries BC. Nothing is known about Lao-Tzu, including whether he existed at all or was a name given to these writings. The title of the book means "the classic of the way of virtue." It is written in poetic form and teaches that there is a dynamic, cosmic structure underlying everything that happens in the world. The individual amy discover the Way (Tao) which exists in all a
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stead, they are used in the same general sense that physicists use the terms to refer to the positive or negative electrical charges of particles. Yin and yang together symbolize the eternal and profound duality in nature. They are opposites, but they counterbalance and complement each other. Life is thought of as a combination of yin and yang. The yin brings death, cold, and darkness, while the yang brings life, heat, and movement. Yin is an interior force, and yang is an exterior force.
Yin and yang are opposites in nature but unite to form a whole, and there is a harmonious relationship between them. When there is day, there is also night. Day is yang, and night is yin. The two mutually coexist and are inseparable. Another such relationship is that between the sky and the earth, and the sky is yang while the earth is yin. The idea of yin and yang also describes and characterizes the various stages of an object's movement. The beginning of the motion is the birth of yang, while the end of motion is the birth of yin. Changes in structure indicate the operation of yin and yang. When water boils, it reaches the boiling point and produces tremendous steam, which is yang. When water freezes, it becomes ice and enters t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Yang Chinese, Central Plato's, Confucians Taoist, Plato Socrates, BC Lao-Tzu, Yin Yang, Cephalus Thrasymachus, , Lao-Tzu Idealism, Plato Western, yin yang, human soul, mind body, tao te, perfection achieved, terms refer, earth yin, grosser material, aspects world, positive negative,
Approximate Word count = 1685
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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