Fall 2021 Colloquium Series - 5 November
Chris Fraser, University of Toronto :: A Path with No End: Skill and D脿o in M貌z菒 and Zhu膩ngz菒
Friday, November 5, 2021
Abstract: How does skill relate to d脿o, the ethically apt path and its performance? For the M貌z菒, a key to following d脿o is to set forth explicit models or standards for guiding and checking performance. By applying the right standards, we develop the skill needed to follow the d脿o reliably, just as a carpenter uses a set square as a standard to develop the skill of producing square corners. Following d脿o鈥攁nd thus pursuing the ethical life鈥攊s strongly analogous to the performance of skills.
The Zhu膩ngz菒 presents a sharply contrasting stance. Consider the famous story about a skillful butcher who carves up oxen as smoothly and elegantly as if dancing along with a symphony. Praised for his skill, the butcher responds that what he cares about is d脿o, which is 鈥榓dvanced beyond skill鈥�. The ensuing discussion implies that the process of acquiring, performing, and extending skills exemplifies d脿o, yet there is something more to d脿o than skill. What is this something more? On a 鈥淶huangist鈥� view, a key difference between skill and d脿o, I propose, is that d脿o has no fixed, predetermined ends. D脿o is a general, open-ended process, one that is continually shifting and transforming. Unlike fixed skills, we never fully master d脿o, nor do we even know exactly where it will lead, as the nature of d脿o is such that we must regularly find creative ways of extending it as we proceed along it.
Here a problem arises. The butcher and other skill exemplars make it clear that a distinction obtains between adept and poor performance of d脿o. But if d脿o has no fixed ends, by what criteria can we distinguish more from less fitting paths and more from less adroit ways of pursuing them? A plausible answer, I propose, is that particular contexts themselves yield provisional grounds for such evaluations. These grounds can then be revised or replaced in response to developing circumstances and continuing performance of d脿o. The resulting approach to understanding and living the good life, I will suggest, can informatively be labeled an ethics of d脿o and d茅 (virtue), referring to the path we follow and the capacities by which we follow it.
Talk will be held at the Burnaby Campus in room WMC 3260 from 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Please note that attendance is restricted to 丁香园AV students, faculty, and staff.