"Dao" Redefined

One thing I like about Hansen's arguments on a variety of topics is that they force us to think carefully about our positions and the reasons for holding them. I often find myself discovering new things about old texts in responding to his challenges. For example, proponents of Hansen's anti-metaphysical view of DAO4 sometimes suggest that it is implausible that DAO4 came to have a new sense without some writers warning us that it is being used in a new sense. I recently realized that DDJ 25 does, in fact, tell us that DAO4 is being used in a new sense. After describing what I take to be a metaphysical entity (more on this below), the text says,

"As yet I do not know its name.
I style it 'the way'."
(D.C. Lau, 1989 trans.)

Here we have, recorded for posterity, the moment in Chinese history when DAO4 is first used to refer to a metaphysical entity. The author says that the entity he is referring to currently has no name; however, he will refer to it as "DAO4." You wanted a passage which illustrates an awareness that DAO4 had not previously been used as a name for a metaphysical entity.

Date created: 10/30/96
Last modified: 10/30/96
Questions? Contact: Stephen C. Angle