Economic Freedom And The Daoist Thought Of "Dao Follows The Way Of Itself": A Comparative Study

The dissertation systematically analyses with warrants the economic thoughts that the saying "Dao follows the way of itself contains and the economic liberalism so as to illustrate the similarities between the two based on the dialectical and historical materialism. There are indications that Daoism is imbued with the thought of "serving oneself based on the human nature while the economic liberalism that think all human beings are selfish by nature puts forward the hypothesis of "the economic man". "Non-interference" stresses that everything in the universe has the right to exist in its own way while "the invisible hand" imply the market solution, both of which refer to the different operating principles in both western and eastern cultures. The government represents the "evil" force. One could not do without the government while one would get into trouble with the government. Therefore the people have to restrain the power of the government. "Governing a great state is like frying small fish." "By handling affairs on the principle of nonaction everyone will do well." They are more effective ways of administration than economic liberalism. As far as the ultimate objective that man pursue is concerned, "the union between man and heaven" and "Parato Optimal" are just the ideal conditions. "The union between man and heaven" should adopt quantification, patternization, and formalization. Both "Dao follows the way of itself as the greatest philosophy in ancient China and the economics with "spontaneous order in societies" stress the spontaneous changes of individuals as their first principle. The Yin-yang operating principle of Taiji can reasonably illustrate the mixture economy. The last part of the dissertation analyses the economic pattern of noninterference at the early Han dynasty.Both "Dao follows the way of itself and the economic freedom advocate that the government, by following the human nature, should behave as if the government itself were an ordinary citizen so that it can be careful about the limited interfere in economy and help all the people become winners. It is an oracular rule and the objective that the economic freedom pursues as well.