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| From Foolishness to Clarity: the Objective of “Knowing” in Daoism |
| Choi Ki-hoon |
| School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872 |
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Abstract Laozi proposes devotion to dao through daily reduction, a method of attaining knowledge of dao through reduction and non-action. This form of knowing differs from ordinary knowledge or learning. Laozi rejects the knowledge in the form of aphorisms of mundane people, seeing through its imperfections and inability to lead to a grasp of dao as a whole, and thus proposes an ending of knowledge such that through this ending of knowledge one can reach the knowledge of non-knowing. Foolishness is the realm of non-knowing, and thus also the precondition for grasping or understanding dao. Non-knowing does not mean simply knowing nothing, but rather signifies a process of seeing through the distinctions and preconceptions of the mind, transcending their limits, and developing a higher level of knowing. This process can be summarized as one of ending of knowledge and entering into non-knowing, and through non-knowing attaining an understanding of dao. Understanding of dao can be divided into understanding through knowledge of constancy, and understanding through seeing the small. Understanding through knowledge of constancy signifies grasping the “greatness” of dao as returning together with things, while understanding through seeing the small signifies grasping the “smallness” of dao as softness, weakness, and subtlety. Thus from knowing to foolishness, from foolishness to clarity, transcending common knowledge and attaining the knowing of dao, seeing the subtlety of dao and returning to the clarity of the root, this is the real objective of Daoist “knowing”.
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Received: 05 December 2016
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2017, Vol. 34 
