T_Clark

No concept, word, is what it refers to. When we say "matter" it's not an explanation, it's just a label, a finger pointing.

Just to make it clear, the correct spelling is “yup,” not “yep.”

Have you read the Tao Te Ching? It only takes a couple of hours.

I had no doubt that you would.

I didn’t like the movie that much, but I do like to watch.

I don't think I have ever asked myself what is the moral thing to do. I generally know whether something I've done harms someone unnecessarily or shir...

Typically, ignorance makes people less eager to give their opinions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYyOqqVpgrU Bullwinkle = @"Baden"

Yes. I agree.

I'm not sure what to say about this. I've already gone out on a limb a bit, being too definitive in rejecting your point of view. Maybe too rigid is a...

What is there to understanding a concept beyond understanding the words used to describe it? It seems to me that, in Taoism, conceptualizing something...

I agree, it's not a morality at all, so it certainly avoids a human-centered morality. I'm not trying to be cute. I'm being literal. I'm not sure what...

As I understand it, Taoism does avoid a human-centered morality. This is from Ziporyn's translation of the Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi).

Whether or not you capitalize "god" depends on whether you consider it a name or a description. I don't understand. I don't see that there is an ultim...

I don't see it as a quandary. I'll make my previous statement more definitive - If something is the right thing to do, it is not immoral. Of course, a...

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying that the god of monotheistic religions is fundamentally different from the gods of multi-theistic ones? I do...

I like your quote from Ziporyn very much. It's a drum I beat every chance I get - metaphysics isn't true or false, it's useful or not. It's a tool. We...

I've made a statement about my thinking on the metaphysics of god in Taoism. It's not false, the metaphysics I'm describing is just different from you...

I am not a faithful follower of the Tao any more than I am of R.G. Collingwood, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Pee Wee Herman.

I have Ziporyn's translation of the Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) and I like it. I certainly don't put myself up against him as an expert, but I understand th...

There are plenty of philosophies out there I don't value, understand, or care about enough to try to understand. But you don't see me spouting off abo...

Welcome to the forum. An interesting and well written original post (OP). Being skeptical of moral codes, I often don't comment on moral threads, but ...

It wasn't even that the book says inaccurate or wrong things. It says wrongheaded things. Things that don't fit in to my intuitive understanding of ho...

I want to talk about metaphysics and you want to talk about meta-physics, a term which I don't find interesting or useful and which you've made needle...

We're glad you did.

@"Gnomen" and I disagree on a lot, but one thing I really like about his posts is that he references and documents specific sources to support his arg...

Your understanding of the meaning of "metaphysics" is completely different from mine. It's pointless for us to have a discussion about it. We're not s...

I think the text that helped me put my thoughts about metaphysics in some sort of order was "An Essay on Metaphysics," by R.G. Collingwood. Here's a l...

I guess I was unclear. As I see it, the Tao Te Ching is metaphysics. I wasn't sure whether your "philosophical poetry" is another way of saying metaph...

This isn't how I see it. The 10,000 things are not something bad or damaged. You've made me think about the actual connection between the Tao and the ...

I don't know if Lorenz's ideas have anything to say about the Tao. I put them in as a response to the following exchange. I was trying to make the poi...

I, on the other hand, don't think they can be united. They are completely different things. To oversimplify, metaphysics is the traffic laws, science ...

That's how I think about it, but I'm not sure that's how Lao Tzu meant it. It says that naming brings the 10,000 things into existence. As I just note...

I've spent this entire thread describing my understanding of the Tao Te Ching. I'd rather not do it again. I too find the Tao Te Ching compatible with...

A few years ago I read a book by Konrad Lorenz - "Behind the Mirror." It has changed my understanding of human nature in fundamental ways. Lorenz's cl...

Your understanding of the Tao Te Ching is profoundly different from mine.

I agree as long as you include our biological evolution in your definition of human history.

I have always thought of naming as described in the Tao Te Ching as something humans do. That's consistent with my understanding of human nature, psyc...

I have thought I should spend some time with the I Ching. I haven't because 1) I am put off by its connection with divination 2) I've heard conflictin...

Of course not. I didn't say your understanding was wrong, only that it's very different from mine. Metaphysics is at the heart of my understanding of ...

Lao Tzu was pretty sophisticated. He understood the difference between science and metaphysics. 10,000 things = reality/science; Tao = metaphysics. So...

As I noted, I'm repeating my arguments. For me - Tao = metaphysics; quantum vacuum = science.

No, I think you and I have diametrically opposed understandings of what Lao Tzu was trying to say. There are certainly places where we agree, but the ...

This is what I was talking about when I discussed dark matter. I don't know what this means. You and I understand this very differently.

Admirably condescending.

Sorry, I did it again. I push "post comment before I'd fully responded. I've thought a lot about the process of the 10,000 things growing out of the T...

I actually agree with much of this, although I suspect I mean something different by it than you do.

I wonder if I understand you correctly. Are you saying that process of carving the ox is analogous to the process of the Tao bringing the 10,000 thing...

I don't know whether or not I agree with you about information. I'll think about it. I definitely don't agree with you about energy.