A Dialogue Between The Laozi And World Great Thinkers

The crisis of modern people lies on the disregarding of inner spiritual values of human being because of material values. Therefore most of people in modern society live in the state of being topsy-turbydom with the true value. In the era of this crisis, the teaching of Laozi’s Dao will give a great spiritual value to all of human history regardless of the East and West. So I have try to reinterpret the value of Laozi’s Dao as a contemporary meaning for the modern people who is losing natural balance and order of life. In specially, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the coexisting value of humanities by trying the comparative dialogue between East and Western main thoughts based on the concept of Laozhi’s Dao which emphasize especially the harmony and peace.In order to develope this paper,I have categorized the basic characters of Dao as5 sorts in the 2th chapter.The Dao of Laozi could be not only the guide of ethical life which showed the method of moral living,but also the explanation of cosmic ontology.This paper has compared and analyzed the conceptual feature of Dao with the core thoughts of East and West from chapter 3th to 8th.Among the thinkers of East and West,I have chosen the persons who were to compare Laozi with Confucius,Buddha,Jesus,Indian and Western philosophers including Korean religious philosophers.In chapter 3,I have compared Laozi with Confucius.In order to compare the Dao of Laozi with Confucius’s thought,I researched the original texts critically about Laozi and Confucius texts.For example,I have suggested an idealogical comparition such as Dao(道)and Virtue(德)by the reference books of‘Bo-Su(帛书)’,‘Guo-Dian Chu-Jian(郭店楚间)’,and‘Wang-Bi Laozi(王弼老子)’commentary,comparing Laozi’s‘Wu-Wei(无爲)’concept with Confucius’s governing problem.In chapter 4,I have compared Laozi with Buddha through philosophical comparison between the concept of Dao and Dharma.Especially,I have searched the relationship of mutual influence of the two concepts between Chinese traditional ontology about Dao and dialectic unified theory of Buddhism about Buddhist nature of mind.Among these conceptions,‘the Oneness and Many’,‘Emptiness(虚)/Nothingness(无)and Sunyata(空)’,‘without artificial acting(无爲)of Nature(自然)and co-dependant origination(缘起,pratītya-samutpāda)’,‘emptiness of still point(虚静)and meditation(禅定,Dhyāna)’,‘immortal(不死)and imperishable(不灭)’are compared each others.In chapter 5,I have compared Laozi with Jesus,however,here I did compare these two thoughts not in the religious but in the philosophical point of view,such as Laozi’s concept of‘Dao models itself on that which is so on its own(道法自然)’and John’s concept of‘Logos’.In chapter 6,I have tried to dialogue between Laozi and Indian philosophy,specially focused on the concept of“the oneness(一者)”.Laozi’s Dao is can be compared to the“non-duality(不二论)”of Indian philosophy,because Indian thought also insists the essential unification of‘one and many’.Among the traditional scriptures,<Upanishad>and<Bhagavadgita>show the concept of principal unity(合一),peace and harmony(�'�),and‘emptiness’(虚).In chapter 7,I have compared the Laozi’s Dao with the Logos of western philosophy.Among the western philosophers,I chose the Heraclitus who is natural philosopher lived before Aristotle,because he has employed the concept,‘Logos’which can be compared to the Laozi’s Dao in many ways.There is a structural similarity between the two concepts.Heraclitus’s Logos concept has influenced over the modern philosophers such as Hegel and Heidegger.Therefore,I searched that how the concept of Logos and Dao can be compared.Especially for the Hegel’s theory,the self-movement of Logos and the unified dialect of universal reason are surveyed,focused on the concept of“oneness”of Laozi and Hegel.In case of Laozi and Heidegger,I have suggested the comparative insights such as the Laozi’s“nonactive affairs(无爲)”and Heidegger’s“being”,also about the“name and language”,and“Dao and nothingness”.In the last chapter 8,I have compared Laozi’s Dao with the concepts appeared on the Korean thoughts and religion,because the Laozi’s Dao already has influenced on the Korean thought and religion for more than one thousand years.Therefore,in comparing the Dao of Laozi to Korean thought and religion,I have chosen the two philosophers,Cui Zhi Yuan(崔致远)and Liu Dong Zhi(柳东植)who insist the Dao of Laozi and‘Feng Liu(风流)which is Korean traditional thought as a principle of moral and artistic life.One of the Korean new religions and thought,such as“Da Xun SiXiang(大巡思想),also was surveyed,because it was deeply influenced by the Laozi’s Dao conception.In conclusion,I ended up suggesting the comparative point of view around the concept of Laozi’s Dao with world Sage’s teachings for the harmonious and co-exist world without war and struggle.