The search for knowledge in the West and East

The search for knowledge in the West today is based very much on the scientific method and on rational inquiry, and this is often contrasted with the way of knowing in Eastern mysticism. Indeed, even in the West there is a strong contrast made between scientific inquiry and the knowledge of faith and revelation. Taoism is one Eastern philosophy which has elements that mirror certain findings of modern physics and so which brings into question the supremacy of the Western way of knowing. This has been indicated recently by an analysis offered by writer Fritjof Capra, but others as well have noted the parallels between Eastern and Western thought in terms of results if not method. Taoism might thus be viewed in a new light as a source of insight that would be valuable in the West as in the East.

Taoism is a Chinese doctrine that made up for the lack of attention given religion by Confucius. Perfection is achieved by the mystic who is able to see the greater truth. Perfection means the loss of self in the trace state that allows conjunction between the individual and the universal. The one to which this perfection aspires is Tao, or the total spontaneity of all things. Te is the virtue or morality of the Confucians, and for the Taoist this is the tao inherent in anything. It is the object's power. Tao is the way and te is its power, and these are the fundamental conceptions of Taoism:

The adept therefore opposes institutions, moral laws and government as human

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Category: Philosophy - T