Weapons Are Nothing but Ominous Instruments
The Daodejing 's View on War and Peace
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14760393 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ellen Y Zhang (0000-0002-7282-9542, Hong Kong Baptist University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 473-502 |
| Publication date | 2012-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Religious Ethics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0384-9694 • E-ISSN: 1467-9795 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9795.2012.00532.x |
| OpenAlex | W1898046120 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 6 |
The Daodejing (DDJ) is an ancient Chinese text traditionally taken as a representative Daoist classic expressing a distinctive philosophy from the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE). This essay explicates the ethical dimensions of the DDJ paying attention to issues related to war and peace. The discussion consists of four parts: (1) “naturalness” as an onto‐cosmological argument for a philosophy of harmony, balance, and peace; (2) war as a sign of the disruption of the natural pattern of things initiated by the proliferation of desire; (3) defensive war and appropriate war conduct required when one has to be involved in warfare; and (4) the natural and spontaneous way of living that would prevent war from happening in the first place. This essay attempts to show that what makes the DDJ different from other military texts, or what is called the “art of war corpus” in China is that the discourse of war and warfare in the DDJ is presented via its unique understanding of peace at the personal and social levels. The DDJ is meant to be an inquiry into an effective method to prevent war from happening amid a world full of selfish interests and excessive desires. It proposes that peace is not only a condition in which there is freedom from war and overt violence, but a state of harmony that marks human life and its betterment
Aesthetics · Argument (complex analysis · Art · China · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Harmony (color · Just war theory · Nothing · Political science · Sign (mathematics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Total war · Chinese history and philosophy · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,36 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |