Nature Naturing Ziran in Early Daoist Thinking
Due to the worsening environmental situation, the relation between nature and humans has been reflected on by environmental philosophers. However, we often find that the very meaning of nature has not been brought to light. So what is nature? My thesis shows that ziran in early Daoism offers us an alternative to the modern concept of nature as an object to be controlled and exploited for human purposes. Ziran is the very process of the transformation of dao and things, in which the intimacy of dao, things and humans is kept. My thesis presents ziran or nature as a way of life that penetrates dao, things, and humans. It is with the understanding of ziran that the nature of humans and all things are illuminated. Daoist ziran also sheds light on the creativity of a feminine power as the realization of nature which emphasizes the interplay between the female and the male (yin and yang), setting a contrast with any exclusively patriarchal principle of the relationship between humans and “nature.” While ziran offers us an alternative to the modern concept of nature, the investigation on ziran seeks dialogue with Western thoughts. By questioning the meaning of nature through the lens of Daoist ziran many important terms in western philosophy, e.g., being and nonbeing, permanence and transience, truth, reality, freedom and so on are reinterpreted and gain refreshed meanings. Therefore being and nonbeing do not exclude each other, but are playful and at one with each other; Freedom allows the spontaneity of nature instead of oppressing it; Truth is not the otherworldly shiny little beings, or the categorical necessity on my mind, but the lively creativity in this world. In fact it is life itself; Permanence and transience are not an antinomy but the same. My research aims to set the metaphysical ground for Daoist studies as well as Daoist environmentalism and ecofeminism. It anticipates the opening of a new way of life wherein human existence and the realization of human freedom take root in nature.
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