Lao Zi’s Metaethical Thought from “Te” in Tao Te Ching

Yuhan Liu

doi:10.54254/2753-7064/22/20231585

Research Article

Open access

Published on 7 December 2023

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Liu,Y. (2023). Lao Zi’s Metaethical Thought from “Te” in Tao Te Ching. Communications in Humanities Research,22,64-68.

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Lao Zi’s Metaethical Thought from “Te” in Tao Te Ching

Yuhan Liu *^,1,

¹ Central South University

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7064/22/20231585

Abstract

Tao Te Ching, a spiritual treasure of Lao Zi, has been searched by numerous scholars many times. However, searching for “Te” from a metaphysical perspective is rare but valuable. By looking up and analyzing “Te” in Tao Te Ching, the metaphysical definition of “Te” is a law that humans and nature obey. “Te” is related to concepts such as “Tao” and “goodness,” which reveal the hierarchical frame of the ethical subjects in Tao Te Ching, and the article also clarifies the difference between “Te” and “goodness”. Moreover, it proves that Lao Zi is a naturalist philosopher and believes “Te” originates from nature, since the source of “Te” is “Tao”, which human intention does not interfere with. Therefore, it fixes the blanket on searching for metaphysical “Te” and builds up a frame on the significant ethical subjects in Tao Te Ching, which could help people better understand and research the philosophical thoughts of Lao Zi.

Keywords

Te, Tao Te Ching, metaethics

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References

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Cite this article

Liu,Y. (2023). Lao Zi’s Metaethical Thought from “Te” in Tao Te Ching. Communications in Humanities Research,22,64-68.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies

Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/

ISBN：978-1-83558-187-2(Print) / 978-1-83558-188-9(Online)

Conference date: 15 November 2023

Editor：Enrique Mallen, Javier Cifuentes-Faura

Series: Communications in Humanities Research

Volume number: Vol.22

ISSN：2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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