Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Original Version
2018
Department
Communication Studies
Abstract
As a great philosopher in China, Laozi attempted to relieve people from the sufferings caused by social and political chaos in his time through his 5000-word Daodejing. His thoughts were embedded in the concept of Dao, which is nameless, vacuous, tranquil, shapeless, eternal, and weak, and is manifested in Nature (zi ran) and actionless action (wu wei). Laozi further used water as a metaphor to explicate the nature and function of Dao on the social and behavioral level. Zi xu (the attainment of complete vacuity) and yong rou (the practice of softness/weakness) are the two concepts originated from the water metaphor used to form the ethical guideline for social interaction. More specifically, Laozi’s ethical teachings are consolidated in his Three Treasures, which include compassion (ci), frugality (jian), and staying behind the world. Laozi’s idea on selflessness could help to promote a flexible identity for the co-existence of people in global society. His stress on the union of nature and human also has a great potential to contribute to the ecological balance, appropriate expansion, and sustainable development of human society.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
An Encyclopedia of Communication Ethics
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Chen, G. M. (2018). Communication ethics: Laozi. In R. C. Arnett, A. M. Holba, & S. Mancino (Eds.), An Encyclopedia of Communication Ethics (pp. 273-277). New York: Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b13449
Available at: https://doi.org/10.3726/b13449
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