Taoism is said to have emerged in the sixth century B. Its founder, Lao Tzu composed a five thousand character script entitled the "Tao-Te Ching" meaning "The Way and it's Power" which has since been central, in a existentially skeptical way, toward expressions of the Taoist philosophy. Within the "Tao-Te Ching" there is an emphasis placed on the complete homogeneity with nature, individual freedom, spontaneity, tranquility, and a kind of social primitism. The central vehicle of achieving the values as outlined in the "Tao-Te Ching" is the Tao. Within this paper I will define and explain the concept of the Tao, and explain the Tao according to the views of Chuang Tzu , Lao Tzu's predecessor. I will follow by depicting the relation of the Tao to its power "Te". The paper will end with my opinion of what is philosophically problematic about Taoism.
In order to discuss the nature of the Tao, we must begin adapting the mind toward a framework from which it may be understood. Our starting point must be one in which we suspend all that we previously know or believe to know, in anticipation of halting judgment about practically everything. One must try to return as we once were as infants, to a point in our development when we knew nothing of the external or internal world. In taking this path toward the understanding of the Tao, one will hopefully be able to separate from their preconceived notions, and cultural biases which would inevitably prevent a true understanding towards a diverse and highly metaphysical way of viewing the "Nature" of things. .
The Tao is often described as: "the source and sustainer of all things", "the one ", "the path, course, or way in which all things happen". At the same time, as Tao is the law of change, it is also the sum total of all that changes. I perceive the Tao as an infinitely cyclical concept of the universe in which all things have a dynamic interplay and singularity in relation to one another.