It isn’t ‘non-being’ that Lao Tzu is referring to, though: it’s lack. What is translated as ‘non-being’ relates to this idea of lack, and so does this...
Wu refers to the idea of lack - its meaning hasn’t changed, only the level of relation to these ideas. Here, rather than a figurative or active lack o...
It was just another way to look at it. That’s all. There are so many different translations of the TTC into English because of the relational and stru...
I think this is a Western interpretation of the text. We find in the text what we’re looking for, I suppose. But I’m intrigued by the interpretations ...
This is an interesting verse. I love how Chinese characters refer more clearly to ideas than to things. The interaction between ying (echo, answer, re...
Granted - it’s deliberately so. But I’ve found that when we adjust for affect, that contradiction achieves a dynamic balance, like yin and yang. I don...
I think you might be misinterpreting me here - I’m not saying to practise wu wei is to avoid fame and fortune - I’m saying in a modern, Western contex...
:lol: something like that! @"T Clark" talks in particular about feeling ‘more me’ when he writes freely without conscious deliberation. There is a sen...
The perfect existence possible is a singularity, which can never be anything but a self-contradiction. Any other form of existence is at least vaguely...
It IS ineffable - the first verse in the TTC does away with any illusion that the Tao is otherwise. The challenge is to be content with understanding ...
I’m only saying that it is seen as spontaneous and natural. I agree that it’s not random to the one acting, but I think it can be viewed as random act...
Well, I’m not saying they’re identical, but that it’s the naming that isolates each of the 10,000 things from the oneness of the Tao. Your relatives a...
I think the point is to recognise its potential in ourselves, and to reflect on whether our intention is to be seen to act or to effect change. I brou...
Fair enough - but if he was more motivated to hold the Union together, surely he would have abandoned all other intentions in order to not fail? The p...
I have to side with @"Wayfarer" on the synonymity of being and existing, although my approach is quite different. I think that the structure of langua...
That’s the point - they’re effectively nameless. There’s no way to make a case for them, even if I could name them. In my mind I had Abraham Lincoln (...
I guess I sometimes experience something similar when I speak, but not when I write. And I certainly don’t feel ‘most there’ when that happens - I fee...
I don’t think it helps to try and separate these factors. I get that action without concern for achievement is not necessarily wu wei. But I do think ...
I’m with you there. No - I do, however, think that desire is essentially affect. FWIW, I disagree with the commonly held understanding that there is a...
Well, I think we disagree markedly on our interpretation of wu wei. It seems to me that you see it as acting subconsciously, as if there is an aspect ...
For me, there’s a different nuance. Wu wei, to act without acting, is to effect change without necessarily gaining credit for it. There are thousands ...
I guess that depends on what you mean by ‘exist’. Non-being is not the same as non-existent. For me, ‘seems’ would refer to a phenomenal existence, ap...
Sorry - the terms I’m using here refer to a collaboration of neuroscience and psychology in understanding how the mind constructs and utilises concept...
I think it has to do with losing sight of our relation to the Tao. There is a risk in focusing only on what is ‘good’ or only on what is ‘bad’ that lo...
I think it’s the danger of particular success, individual advancement and personal recognition, especially in a way that divides the Tao with ignoranc...
I think it helps to relate this to verse 2 - where ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are relational constructs and a masterful teacher can teach without saying anythin...
In Western culture, we don’t like these words. There’s a sense of humility to them that undermines what we tend to think of as individual achievement....
Affect consists of valence/attention and arousal/effort, and is measurable only by one OR the other of these - like a photon. When we quantitatively m...
This verse, I think, refers again to the central paradox, and to the role of affect. This is how we qualitatively differentiate experience - by valenc...
A few points I feel I should mention: I think you may have mixed up International Women’s Day with Mother’s Day. Being a woman is not just about being...
This sets up the paradox or disclaimer that underlies the entire book: all he can do here with these phrases is paint the shadows. They won’t directly...
Appreciating this - I loaned out my copy of the TTC, and I’m missing having the little book at hand. Every time I’ve picked it up, the phrases have re...
I’ve struggled with the term as well. There are many who interpret it as ‘outside’ or ‘what isn’t physics’, and while I can understand the desire to i...
At what point does the framing of a question cease to be philosophy and start to be science? I don’t think philosophy is about who wins the argument. ...
Lorber’s studies demonstrate degeneracy in the brain - the highly adaptable quality of neuronal structures that enable the brain to redirect and reass...
I’m not familiar with the studies, but I think we will almost always have an answer available as to why we do or say something we can both choose and ...
I think it’s not so much missing physical characteristics as undefinable by its physical characteristics - in a similar way that a photon is considere...
I think this sense that a chair is still a chair to us relates to goal-oriented concepts. Barrett references the work of cognitive scientist Lawrence ...
This is a common misunderstanding of affect and the amygdala, supported by essentialism, mental inference fallacy and the misguided notion of a triune...
No problem. Persist with the flux - I think it can be a productive state to be in, despite how it might feel. I realise that my approach to this subje...
In relation to the OP... From IEP: “So, the issue at the heart of the Problem of the Criterion is how to start our epistemological theorizing in the c...
Ok, I think I can follow you here. The three-dimensional universe of the denizen is assumed trivial, and collapsed to zero. I want to make sure this i...
The best definition being the broadest and most inclusive in relation to instances. So long as we keep in mind that the technical definition is neithe...
I think I see this. A fully articulated concept is rarely (if at all) stated in its full detail - definitions are constructed from a cascade of concep...
You seem to be arguing for definition of a concept as more important than identification of its instances, but this only reveals a subjective preferen...
The way I see it, the Problem of the Criterion is not just about defining concepts or identifying instances, but about our accuracy in the relation be...
It is when we exclude negative facts from realism that we limit the perception of truth in which we operate. That’s fine, as long as we recognise this...
I’m saying that a dog can be identified from a line-up of instances without a prior definition, and that this process also serves as informing a poten...
Well, consider what would be the essential features of a Muppet, for instance? We talk as if everything has essential features - some unique propertie...
Yes. No doubt the mop fits all the patterns of qualitative structure that your 6yr old currently applies to the term ‘muppet’, a concept more frequent...
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