Publication Date

4-1-2026

Document Type

Contribution to a Book

Publication Title

Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy

Volume

20

DOI

10.1007/978-3-032-00106-1_28

First Page

583

Last Page

615

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to explain a Daoist holistic vision and approach on the fundamental relation between language, thought, and the world, as highlighted in the opening message of the classical Daoist text Dao-De-Jing 《道德經》and suggested in its whole text. I examine and explain how the points of the opening message and relevant messages in the context of the Dao-De-Jing concerning three closely related reflective pursuits in the Dao-De-Jing (that is, the pursuit of the Dao (道), its language engagement, and a strategic semantic-truth approach) are unified into a Daoist holistic account. My strategy is this. First, through examining the opening message of the Dao-De-Jing in its whole context, I spell out one of the fundamental insights in the Dao-De-Jing on the pursuit of the genuine Dao through its language engagement (i.e., pursuing the Dao through language as powerful means and media in hooking up to the world and capturing the way things are). Second, I explain how the addressed insight on the Dao pursuit through its language engagement is intrinsically related to, and further enhanced by, a Daoist semantic-truth approach that makes the Dao pursuit through its strategic truth concern. From a broader and higher vantage point of cross-tradition engagement, I thus explain how the addressed Daoist approach unifies the three closely related reflective pursuits in the Dao-De-Jing, i.e., the Dao pursuit, its language engagement, and the strategic truth concern, into one holistic outlook on the fundamental relation between language, thought, and the world. In so doing, I also explain how the addressed Daoist approach is philosophically interesting and significant, and how it can contribute to our understanding and treatment of the issue under examination.

Keywords

Dao (道) pursuit, Daoist semantic-truth approach, Language engagement, Reference, Truth

Comments

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-00106-1_28

Department

Philosophy

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