China’s two greatest philosophers, Confucius and Lao Tzu, were intensely interested in how we should live and how a good society is governed. The central concepts of Confucianism are li, the proper ordering of society through rituals and ceremonies, and zhen, the proper ordering of the self through humaneness, benevolence, and love. Daoism, taught under such masters as Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi, meditates on the interdependence of opposites and teaches the path of non-resistance. Westerners are only now beginning to understand the central importance of the tradition and community emphasized in Chinese thought for over two thousand years.

The World of Philosophy series is a dramatic presentation, in understandable language, of the concerns, questions, interests, and overall outlook of the world’s great philosophers and philosophical traditions. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations gives you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life.