Variations on the Theme of World Order in the Analects and the Tao Te Ching
In the Analects of Confucius order has to do with political order. Confucius is interested in the “ordering of the people” in order to create a more justice society (Analects). In the Tao Te Ching, order is also important but it is of a different kind. It speaks of a cosmic order, of putting “things in order before they exist” (Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching). In this way, the two texts offer a variation on a theme when it comes to the notion of ordering of the world. In this paper, it will be shown that order is expressed in four different aspect. The ...