How to Rule without Taking Unnatural Actions.pdfVIP

University of Hawaii Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Philosophy East and West. How to Rule without Taking Unnatural Actions (无为而治): A Comparative Study of the Political Philosophy of the Laozi Author(s): Tongdong Bai Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Oct., 2009), pp. 481-502 Published by: University of Hawaii Press Stable URL: /stableAccessed: 31-01-2016 07:11 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms Conditions of Use, available at /page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@. This content downloaded from 9 on Sun, 31 Jan 2016 07:11:01 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HOW TO RULE WITHOUT TAKING UNNATURAL ACTIONS (^??nfê): A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE LAOZI Tongdong Bai Department of Philosophy, Xavier University In this essay, I first elaborate on the LaozYs understanding of the ideas of naturalness and of taking no unnatural actions. In the first wo sections I challenge the common understanding that the ideas of naturalness and of taking no unnatural actions sepa- rate the political teaching of the Laozi from that of Confucianism, and argue that the real distinction between these two schools lies in how these two ideas are under- stood. In the third section, to continue my clarification of the Laozis idea of ruling without taking unnatural actions, I explain the Laozis elitist idea that the masses have to be kept in the natural state by a small group of Daoist rulers. But, to achieve the restraint of the masses, in the fourth section I argue that the Laozi must deviate from the te