I can understand why some people detest Taoists. In their eyes, the teachings of Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu are immoral because they do not preach self-sacrifice. Yang-Tzu was adamantly opposed to any sort of self-sacrifice. He viewed each individual’s life as supremely important.
Indeed, Taoism is not meant to please people who believe in self-sacrifice. They consider altruism to be the primary virtue, and exhort everybody to love his neighbours, countrymen and foreigners, and to deploy one’s best efforts to make the world a better place.
In Chapter 17 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu encourages us to do what needs to be done instead of talking about it; he calls for taking action and achieving our goals without making a big fuss. Taoists don’t want to impose their views on other people, nor are they willing to let other people order them around.
Where other philosophies and religions seek orderliness and predictability, Taoists are happy with accepting nature with its occasional patches of chaos, unpredictability and disharmony. I define this aspect of the Taoist mentality as the willingness to accept life in all its complexity.
What Taoists will not endorse
No wonder that Taoists are deeply disliked by people who favour rigid hierarchies and social organizations. It is true that, in rigid social structures, there is no place for the ideas of Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu and Chuang-Tzu. The Taoist mentality will not endorse impositions that contradict the Tao, that is, natural law.
Consider for instance the military campaigns of Alexander the Great. I’m talking about thirteen years (336-323 BC) of war starting in Greece, and then progressively extending to Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran and India.
Taoists would not have taken part in the Greek war effort. If Alexander had promised them wealth and glory, they wouldn’t have believed his promises. Taoist practitioners abhor violence and aggressiveness; they’ll steer away from military ventures.
However, Taoists would have constituted an exception. Vast numbers of their contemporaries responded enthusiastically to Alexander’s invitation to join the Greek expeditionary army. If we trust tradition, Alexander’s army consisted of 35.000 men at the beginning of his invasion of Turkey.
The critics of Taoism maintain that it is unethical to place individuals above society. They take it for granted that society has the right to demand self-sacrifice from its members when it becomes necessary, for instance, during Alexander’s military campaigns.
For Lao-Tzu, the discussion about superiority is pointless. He did not believe that society is superior to the individual, nor the other way round. Neither society has precedence, nor each person has precedence. The world doesn’t need to be structured in hierarchies where one element dominates all the others.
Chapter 30 of the Tao Te Ching explains this aspect of the Taoist mentality. The Taoist lifestyle revolves around peaceful, beneficial cooperation between equals, not around hierarchies. For Chuang-Tzu, it would have been inconceivable to leave all his friends and family behind, and join Alexander’s army.
Where Taoists excel
What happened to people who trusted Alexander and risked their lives in his military conquests? At the beginning, they felt proud because they were sacrificing themselves for achieving a highly ambitious goal. They wanted to conquer the world and bring everybody else under Greek dominion.
Taoists would have refused to join Alexander’s army. Why? Because they foresaw very clearly what was going to happen. Three centuries earlier, Lao-Tzu had pointed out that military conquests tend to end in tears, especially for the winning party.
Where peace and prosperity used to reign, hatred and death will spread. Where trade and knowledge used to flourish, there will be nothing left to exchange, materially or immaterially. No matter how appealing the promises, one should stay away from people like Alexandre the Great and their reckless projects.
How did the Greek expeditionists fare? Did they receive the rewards that Alexander had promised? For thousands of them, death and infirmity put an end to their ambitions. For others, it was a longer ride with steep ups and downs, but at the end, the payoff remained elusive.
There were no Taoists in northern Greece when Alexander started his military expedition, but some people held ideas that are similar to Taoism. They did not believe in self-sacrifice and preferred peacefulness to war, and trade to conquest. For those people, it was clear that the best choice was to take a step back and stay away from the fray.
Even the most loyal and prestigious Greek general, Clitus, ended up murdered by Alexander himself. During a dinner in 327 BC, Clitus made a remark that displeased Alexander. If we trust the chroniclers, Alexander reacted furiously and killed his best general and friend on the spot.
It is understandable that Taoists are regarded as immoral by people like Clitus and Alexander. They reproach Taoists for the unwillingness to sacrifice themselves for great ideals, but fail to explain why those ideals should be universally admired.
Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching summarizes the qualities that elicit disdain against Taoists. On the one hand, their passion for simplicity. On the other hand, their love for harmony and self-reliance. Those traits prevent Taoist practitioners from taking part in complex, convoluted, high-states ventures.
Are the complaints against the Taoist mentality justified? In the eyes of the opponents, absolutely. It is clear that, if we ask individuals to submit to society, Taoists will be reluctant to say yes and follow through.
Instead, they will look for opportunities to run away, protect their independence, and lead quiet, satisfactory lives. If they’re confronted with criticism, they will steer away from debates. A Taoist practitioner will seize every chance to align his actions with the Tao, but will do that inconspicously, trusting that his opponents, if let alone to their own devices, will end up ruining themselves.
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