What question does the article raise from it?

Whether occupying or conquering a space is an act against the order of nature, since empty space is essential to allow the natural flow of things, or whether the simple act of being born could already be considered a disturbance of that order.

Does the article choose non-action over action?

No. It says acting and not acting are separate in terms of responsibility, and concludes that everything has its moment of action, as transformation and movement are constant and natural.

Concept

Taoism

What is Taoism and how does the Agency editorial use it?

Taoism is the Chinese philosophical and religious tradition centered on the Tao, the way or natural course of things. The Agency editorial retrieves from it what the author calls the Eastern concept of Taoism's space, and with it the idea of non-action.

In short

Taoism grew from texts such as the Tao Te Ching, attributed to Laozi, and teaches harmony with the natural flow of the world. One of its best-known ideas is wu wei, usually translated as non-action. In Writing.2, the author's philosophical draft borrows the tradition as a tool for the next stage of its investigation: to exist involves the act of occupying a space, while non-action refers to allowing things to move and exist in the available space.

Key facts

What does the article take from Taoism?: The concept of space and the idea of non-action. The article says that to exist involves the act of occupying a space, while non-action refers to allowing things to move and exist in the available space.
What question does the article raise from it?: Whether occupying or conquering a space is an act against the order of nature, since empty space is essential to allow the natural flow of things, or whether the simple act of being born could already be considered a disturbance of that order.
Does the article choose non-action over action?: No. It says acting and not acting are separate in terms of responsibility, and concludes that everything has its moment of action, as transformation and movement are constant and natural.

What is Taoism?

Taoism is one of the great traditions of Chinese thought. Its founding text, the Tao Te Ching, is attributed to the sage Laozi. It teaches that there is a way, the Tao, by which nature unfolds, and that wisdom lies in following it without forcing things. Emptiness has a positive value in this tradition: the usefulness of a vessel or a room, the Tao Te Ching says, lies in its empty space.

How does Taoism appear in the Agency editorial?

Writing.2 names Taoism once, in the middle of The Condition of Nature, the author's numbered draft. After finding a paradox between thought and action, the author writes that he retrieves the Eastern concept of Taoism's space as a tool for the next stage of the investigation.

From that point on, the draft is built on the pair action and non-action. The state of non-action is said to supplement a reality that completely escapes the control and even the desires of the agent, and the text ends with a planet that rotates in a continuous flow, taking all its spaces with it.

Source editions

Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.

Writing.2 - AphorismsSeptember 21, 2023Read the edition

Also from these editions: concepts

Also from these editions: terms

Related terms

Inertianoun: The tendency of an object to remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force, or a state of sluggish inaction in organizations.