Evil As The Absence Of Good

Our new scholar text, the Tao Te Ching, is one that requires more in depth analysis than the ones we have read previously. It is very concise, for in its short arguments it is able to suggest a wide variety of interpretations and views. Much like the bible, the Tao Te Ching is a text of interpretation in which the reader may interpret many different messages from the same text according to the way in which he reads the arguments. This is a very interesting transition from The Analects which we were previously reading and left very little room for interpretations. The text previously mentioned had very straight forward messages in which not only the interpretations where given to us, but where it involved moral rather than religion, which further reduces the subjectivity of the reader.

One of the ideas that aroused my curiosity is the one mentioned at the very beginning. “All can know good as good only because there is evil. Therefore having and not having arise together (chapter 2).” This made me recall an email I had received a couple of months ago, which suggests that the evil is simply the absence of good, much like darkness being simply the absence of light. According to these ideas, as long as something exists, its absence will be present in some way. This lead me to the thought that evil will be present as long as good exists, which may be a little contradictory but applies because it leaves room for a second option that seems impossible: to avoid evil there must be no absence of good, therefore good must be present in every single thing, which would eventually abolish a meaning for good.

Much like The Analects talk about a gentleman, Tao Te Ching talks about a sage. “The sage is guided by what he feels not by what he sees (chapter 12)”. This idea leads to a connection in our lives. We constantly let our minds be guided by what we see and hear rather than what we feel. When we see and hear things we may misinterpret the true intentions of the characters, while our feeling need no prove or interpretations. This is also a way to avoid gossip, which is harmful and backstabbing. It is the way to keep a peaceful conscience and to be sure about our decisions, because our feelings are not influenced by those of others who conceal them in untrue displays.