A Comparison of Chuang Tzu's Ideas of Life and Death with those of Socrates - Essay Example

? A Comparison of Chuang Tzu's Ideas of Life and Death with those of Socrates Antin Tony Macko #3048457 Philosophy 231 Assignment 3 AthabascaUniversity Wolfgang Blaine December 11th, 2011 Introduction The issues of life and death are very difficult to understand and comprehend. Many people have tried in vein to unveil the reality of life and death. All they could achieve explaining is the theoretical assumptions, about life and death. You-Sheng revisited the Chuang Tzu’s argument that through the inaction of heaven, which is purity and that of the earth, which is space, things are brought to existence and are transformed mysteriously (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 14). He went further to explain that it is through this inaction that the living things have the mercy to grow and develop. One is born by chance, but once alive, death is imminent. Therefore, the essay is a comparison of Chuang Tzu ideas of life and death with those of Socrates. Chuang Tzu Ideas of Life and Death Watson examined Chuang Tzu’s basic writings to outline his ideas about life and death. He argues that during old age, the mind comes closer to death and probably nothing could restore the life to light (Watson, 1996, p. 32). Significantly, this comes as an automatic consequence of aging; therefore no one should be afraid of death. As a result, the people are in constant struggle and worry during their life, because they have to toil for their daily bread, and think that at one time, the life would be terminated (Watson, 1996, p. 32). Life and death, according to Tzu are fated and bound to happen (Watson, 1996, p. 76). In this regard, he equates their relationship to the succession between dark and down, through compulsion. As the dark nears its end, a new dawn succeeds it, meaning that as life nears its end, death dawns (Watson, 1996, p. 76). Here, he meant the practical succession by opposites in which one occurrence leads to another. In essence, the phenomenon cannot be reversed through actions of human, despite his/her economic, religious and social status. His thought about life was positive; therefore this made him convinced that his thought about death should also be positive since it causes rest after living till old age (Watson, 1996, p. 76). During life, Chuang Tzu notes that the people should take delight in the fact of change (Watson, 1996, p. 77). In essence, he attributes death to a means of change, and since everything is constantly changing, no one has the capability of preventing the change from changing. Therefore, we should accept the facts related to change, and welcome it when it reaches, and there would not be anything to fear about death. Moreover, according to his conviction, in the beginning and end, early death, old age, and at all levels of human development, he/she should be delightful (Watson, 1996, p. 77). Apparently, the belief makes us believe that life that life and death are equal, not any important than the other (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 37). As well, the argument suggests that the people should be aware that at one moment, perhaps after birth, he/she is bound to die, through whichever means. Therefore, he attributed death to an automatic exit from the known world to unknown world, where only Tao has good knowledge about (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 39). Drawing from the Masters’ agreement, he argues that this is something that one should believe (Watson, 1996, p. 80). This is justified from his acknowledgement that non-being is actually someone’s head, life is someone’s back and death is someone’s rump. In another controversial question, he wanted to know whether life and death are all one body (Watson, 1996, p. 80). In reality, there is a common belief that once a person is dead, the aspects of life cease to manifest on the body. The body becomes helpless, lifeless and useless to perform any function. Therefore, life and death, despite being very far apart from one another, are simply one. For instance, life results to death and they can never manifest together, each does distinctively. He also put forward an interesting claim that a person only receives life merely because the right time for it had come (Watson, 1996, p. 81). The person who be comes alive does not understand the source of his or her life, but attribute it to other powers beyond his or her comprehension. Since the person does not have control of the life, he/she finally loses it at an instant (Watson, 1996, p. 81). Probably, the passage obeys the Theory of Generation by Opposites, which binds all living things (Rex Pay, 2001). Chuang Tzu considers that death might result from greed for life, being overthrown, bowing beneath other dangerous things such as the ax, engaging in evil deeds, hunger and impact of cold, and old age (Watson, 1996, p. 114). In his encounter with the skull, Chuang Tzu makes it obvious the people’s pre-conceptions about death might not be true (Watson, 1996, 114). In addition, he uses this discussion to discourage the people who believe in life after death, urging them to reconsider their perception about death (Watson, 1996, p. 114). Personally, he does not believe in afterlife. As a philosopher, the reality of life and death really disturbed him and made him to raise concern and opinion about them. His arguments were inclined towards improving life conditions of human, stating that life was a unifying factor for all things and is naturally occurring (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 44). Specifically, he used the Theory of Generation by Opposites and believed that the opposite things cause one another (Rex Pay, 2001). Under his mutual causation statement, he stated that “life leads to death” (Rex Pay, 2001). This strong statement makes his proponents to believe that the mutual causation lays emphasis on a one direction relationship of the opposites, where the reverse rule does not happen. Indeed, this gives support to Chuang Tzu’s causation argument, once caused, not reversible. Indeed, the argument sounds real because, a lot of harassment to the body resulting to conditions such as stress, strain, depression, hard work, and lack of proper diet causes tear and wear to the human body, resulting to Death (You-Sheng, 2005, p. 45). Furthermore, he says the speed at which a person’s life experiences tear and wear determines the sooner, such a person would succumb to death, sad indeed! In fact, he thinks that it is easy to pity on realization that there are people who struggle during life (Watson, 1996, p. 33). Chuang Tzu also indicated that through observation of all living things, life and death are real and should be accorded the same weight. He also said that “to cry thus at one’s death is to evade the natural principles and increase human attachments” (Watson, 1996, p. 48). Indeed, this is a life preservation statement, indicating that life is very precious and the detachment is a source sorrow and pain to the close associates of the deceased (Watson, 1996, p. 33). He is convinced that life brings a lot of challenges, hardships, sometimes joy, and finally results to death. He also refers to death as a rest to the soul and body of the deceased (Watson, 1996, p. 76). In a more sacred manner, he confirms that “a kind arbiter to my life is the best arbiter to my death” (Huxley, 2006, p. 1). In this statement, he tries to make sense in the innate relationship between life and death; therefore, anything affecting someone’s life might have an impact which could cause death. In addition, he is of the idea that one’s life depends on personal attributes and the external forces exerting influence on the person (Huxley, 2006, p. 1). Therefore, the manner an individual responds to the two attributes defines the quality of life he/she might enjoy. Simply, controlling personal desire and external influences is the key to enjoying a happy and prosperous life. In another twist of his argument, it is difficult to identify what other living things enjoy during life (Watson, 1996, p. 110). Certainly, each living thing has preference that enable them enjoy life as much as they could. He criticized the idea that wealth, long life and eminence make the world a happy place for the people to enjoy life (Watson, 1996, p. 111). Furthermore, a life where the people are at ease, eat rich food, sees beautiful sights, wear decent clothes, and hear sweet sound could probably not enjoyable (Watson, 1996, p. 111). Certainly, each living thing has preference that enable them enjoy life as much as they could. In essence, the freedom to enjoy life determines a person’s level of happiness. However, the goodness or happiness of a person does not make them alive forever (Watson, 1996, p. 112). At the end all the good and bad people die in whichever way, therefore, it means that people should act in a way that respects the life of others. One should be left to live in a manner that suits him/her. Socrates Ideas of Life and Death According to the Socrates, he believed in afterlife (Cooper, 200, p. 14). In his pursuit for knowledge, he wanted to discover the truth surrounding life and death, thereby spent a lot of time in doing explorations. During his quest, he examined himself and other relevant philosophical topics, where he realized that the truth is in forms of nature, which are the objects of knowledge (Cooper, 200, p. 17). Besides, he found out that personal opinion cannot influence the truth about life and death. Therefore, his study demonstrated the practical end of having the knowledge on the specific ways to act rightly or virtuously, so that life could be meaningful. The Socrates also found that after death, the normality of occurrences was not his responsibility neither was it within human reach, but that of nature, therefore the people should not fear death (Cooper, 200, p. 24). The other radical position that Socrates maintained was that life was characterized by psychological thoughts and emotions, which interfere with one’s ability to think. Himself, he does not fear death because he had realized that the people cannot know the nature of death until they finally die. In a more optimistic sense, Socrates indicated that the people could live a fulfilling life that has no regret through maintaining virtues of life (Cooper, 2000, p. 38). In line with the argument, he believes that naturally, a human being has the choice of living virtuously to remain happy throughout his/her life (Grube, 1977, p. 21). As well, he acknowledges that for every living thing, life is very short and once born, death is inevitable. Similarly, he underscore that understanding the basic principles is the sure way of enjoying a flourishing life. In his idea, he equated life and death to possibility and impossibility, as opposite and interrelated (Cooper, 2000, p. 51). Therefore, it becomes a permanent relationship and contradicts the assumptions of life after death. Most Christians believe that after death, the person has a chance of living once again, forever in heaven. In addition, he states clearly that one exists with a mortal body, which would succumb to exhaustion after sometimes (Grube 33). Conclusion In summary, life is a privilege and one lives at the mercy of the creator, under the care of the parents. During life, the people experience challenges, moments of sadness and those of joy. There are many beliefs and explanations of life and death, according to one’s philosophical convictions and knowledge. Chuang Tzu and Socrates discovered many things about life and death during their quest for the truth and agreed that the people should not fear death. For example, the Theory of Generation by Opposites might be used to explain life and death due to the relationship between the tow. Truly, one leads to the other. For example, life subsequently ends in death, and the reverse is literally impossible. Once gone, gone for good. Notably, the tear and wear of life is caused by the harassments that one exerts on the body could be responsible for his/her death, and one has a social role to play in shaping his life and those of other people in the society. References Cooper, J. (2000). Plato-The Trial and Death of Socrates, (3rd Ed.). New York, NY: Hackett Publishing. Grube, G. M. A. (1977). Plato-Phaedo. New York, NY: Hackett Publishing. Huxley, F. (2006). Socrates in the Last Days. Meta-history. metahistory.org. Web. 08 Dec, 2011. Watson, B. (1996). Chuang Tzu Basic Writings. USA: Columbia University Press. Rex Pay (2001). Chuang Tzu. Available at: [Accessed on 08 Dec, 2011]. You-Sheng, Li. (2005). A New Interpretation of Chinese Taoist Philosophy. London, Canada: Taoist Recovery Centre. Read More