Taoism and Western Moral Philosophy Essay -- Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzu

Taoism presents a moral philosophy that at first seems genuinely different from most Hesperian moral philosophies which, though actually different, unremarkably understand pietism as a set of restraints on behavior or a common set of principles (common virtues). Western moral philosophy, in general, emphasizes limit behavior that stems from desire. Taosims emphasis is dealing directly with controlling ones desire by eliminating them. Taoism and western moral philosophy deal with desire but Taoism deals with it directly and western morality often only tries to stem the effect of desire. both systems see in man that he does not naturally desire the grievous and consecutive or the Way. Desire is the root of evil. Only when we desire something bad do we act bad. Thus, as in western moral philosophy, we can bid an fillip to not act on ones desire or, as in the case of Taoism, desire can be eliminated. The result of both moral systems is the selfsame(prenominal)--moral behavior. Both systems of morality try to encourage man to act better than he naturally is. Whether you call it the Way, the Ten Commandments, or the categorical imperative they deal with the same thing. Mans constitutional state is fallen, whether he has fallen from grace or lost his Way, all great societies invite realized that man is in need of help. This is dead on target for disastrous Elk who was given a vision to help man and Socrates who felt that man needed to be saved from his own ignorance. moral systems, by their very nature, have observed and concluded that when man is left to fulfill his individual desires, without respect to others and the greater good, nothing good can come from it. all(prenominal) societies have functioned around this principle from the beginning of civilization. Further, unlike many other moral ph... ...nctions about what need and want mean and are thereby adapted to occupy it properly to the texts of the mentioned philosophers. These distinctions h ave allowed us to understand how need and want bear on Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzus moral philosophy and how, under these moral guidelines, we should behave.ReferencesKant, Immanuel. 1993. creation for the Metaphysics of Morals, On a Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns, 3rd Edition. Indianapolis, Indiana Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.Mill, John Stuart. 1979. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis, Indiana Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.Lao Tzu. 1983. The Way of liveness . new-fashioned York, New York Mentor, Penguin GroupConfucius. 1989. The Analects of Confucius. New York Vintage Books a Division of Random House, Inc.George Orwell. 1946. Politics and the English Language . Found on WWW. Taoism and Western Moral Philosophy Essay -- Kant, Mill, and Lao TzuTaoism presents a moral philosophy that at first seems very different from most western moral philosophies which, though very different, usually understand morality as a set of restraints on behavior or a common set of principles (common virtues). Western moral philosophy, in general, emphasizes constraining behavior that stems from desire. Taosims emphasis is dealing directly with controlling ones desire by eliminating them. Taoism and western moral philosophy deal with desire but Taoism deals with it directly and western morality often only tries to stem the effect of desire. Both systems see in man that he does not naturally desire the good and true or the Way. Desire is the root of evil. Only when we desire something bad do we act bad. Thus, as in western moral philosophy, we can provide an incentive to not act on ones desire or, as in the case of Taoism, desire can be eliminated. The result of both moral systems is the same--moral behavior. Both systems of morality try to encourage man to act better than he naturally is. Whether you call it the Way, the Ten Commandments, or the categorical imperative they deal with the same thing. Mans inherent state is fallen, whether he has f allen from grace or lost his Way, all great societies have realized that man is in need of help. This is true for Black Elk who was given a vision to help man and Socrates who felt that man needed to be saved from his own ignorance. Moral systems, by their very nature, have observed and concluded that when man is left to fulfill his individual desires, without respect to others and the greater good, nothing good can come from it. All societies have functioned around this principle from the beginning of civilization. Further, unlike many other moral ph... ...nctions about what need and want mean and are thereby able to relate it properly to the texts of the mentioned philosophers. These distinctions have allowed us to understand how need and want bear on Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzus moral philosophy and how, under these moral guidelines, we should behave.ReferencesKant, Immanuel. 1993. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, On a Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns, 3rd Edition. Indianapolis, Indiana Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.Mill, John Stuart. 1979. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis, Indiana Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.Lao Tzu. 1983. The Way of Life . New York, New York Mentor, Penguin GroupConfucius. 1989. The Analects of Confucius. New York Vintage Books a Division of Random House, Inc.George Orwell. 1946. Politics and the English Language . Found on WWW.