The Useless Tree

Taoism

  • Sarah Palin, Taoist Sage, Again

    The abrupt and bizarre resignation of Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, has befuddled many political commentators.  Why did she do it?  What is she thinking?  Is it a shrewd political move or a delusional political suicide?  She seems to have… Continue reading

  • A Daoist thought on Father’s Day

    We like to think that we shape our children's lives.  And maybe we do, to some degree.  But, to an even greater extent, sons and daughters create their parents. Continue reading

  • Pico Iyer: Daoist Sage?

    I just found this post by Pico Iyer on the NYT Happy Days blog.  The title pointed in a Daoist direction: "The Joy of Less."  He doesn't explicitly invoke the Daodejing or Zhuangzi but the spirit if clearly there: I’m… Continue reading

  • Daoist Gun Control

    The pro-gun lobby in the US has long circulated a slogan: "Guns don't kill people, people do."  This came to mind as I was reading one of my student's papers recently, a paper on the Daodejing. In that text there… Continue reading

  • Uncertainty is not the problem; believing that certainty is possible is the problem

    Yesterday Daniel Gilbert argued in the NYT: "What You Don’t Know Makes You Nervous."  Here are some key grafs: So if a dearth of dollars isn’t making us miserable, then what is? No one knows. I don’t mean that no… Continue reading

  • What is Liezi asking of us?

    This semester I did an independent study with a student.  It was a second class in ancient Chinese philosophy.  We read, and she wrote on, Xunzi and Mozi (which I do not include in my usual class or tutorial).  Then… Continue reading

  • It’s not just Laozi who doesn’t like to travel

    Andrew Sullivan has quotes from Chesterton and Emerson on the foolishness of travel.  Here's Emerson: …He who travels to be amused, or to get somewhat which he does not carry, travels away from himself, and grows old even in youth… Continue reading

  • What is Zhuangzi asking of us?

    I'm reading Zhuangzi with my class.  Always a pleasure, Zhuangzi.  Always a challenge, a joy. The second chapter is one of the most striking expositions of a radical epistemological skepticism that I know (and I admit my knowledge here is… Continue reading

  • Daoism is not an ideology

    Sitting in Zhazha Cafe on Nanluoguxiang, working off the wireless here.  Let's see how long it lasts before it crashes…. Alan, over at Frog in a Well, called me out the other day, asking for a response to a blog… Continue reading

  • Obama Does the Confucian (but not the Daoist) Thing on Stem Cells

    Yesterday President Obama eased certain limits on embryonic stem cell research in the US.  There are still various questions and restrictions remaining, especially on the issue of whether public money should be spent on experimentation on embryonic stems cells, but… Continue reading