Daoism, Virtues and 'The Way of Heaven'

On Thursday 22nd November (17:15-18:30), we will be welcoming Ian Kidd from the University of Nottingham, who will give a talk entitled 'Daoism, Virtues and 'The Way of Heaven'. It would be great to see some of you there.

This will be the first event of the year held by our department's Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) chapter. More about MAP here, should you be interested: https://www.mapforthegap.org.uk/our-mission

Abstract:

In this talk, I sketch an account of the good life as conceived within Daoism, one of the two major streams in the Chinese philosophical tradition. Within its core texts, the Daodejing and the Book of Zhuangzi, human beings are urged to emulate the Way (Dao), the ineffable source of the "ten thousand things" of the world-as-experienced. But an obvious puzzle is how human beings could model themselves on something ineffable or mysterious. Moreover, is the impersonal Dao really something that human beings ought to take as a model for an exemplary human life? This talk offers way of responding to these worries, thereby defending the Daoist ideal of "following the Way."

More details will follow closer to the time.