Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersWhat is the Tao?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 8 Flashcards — The Tao — 'the Way'
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
What is the Tao?
Answer
'The Way' — the nameless source and pattern that everything flows from and follows.
Question
'The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao'?
Answer
The real Tao can't be captured in words — naming it shrinks the whole into just one labelled thing.
Question
Why is the Tao 'nameless'?
Answer
A name cuts one thing off from the rest, but the Tao is the undivided whole every named thing is cut from.
Question
Is the Tao a thing or a god?
Answer
Neither — it's the current, not an object on it; the natural Way things go, empty and prior to named things.
Question
'The ten thousand things'?
Answer
An old Chinese phrase for 'everything' — all of which the Tao gives rise to, like a spring giving rise to a river.
Question
A finger pointing at the moon?
Answer
Words can aim your attention at the Tao but aren't the Tao itself — don't mistake the label for the thing.
Question
Why do words fall short of the Tao?
Answer
Words divide the world into boxes ('hot' vs 'cold'); the Tao is what holds the world together before we chop it up.
Question
The limits-of-language point (Go further)?
Answer
Some things can be shown or lived but not fully stated — naming that gap is a top-band move.
Read the notes
Full study notes for The Tao — 'the Way'
Topic 10.10 hub
Tao Te Ching — Lao Tzu
More from Topic 10.10
All flashcards in this topic
Philosophy exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free