Metaphorical Metaphysics in the Dao De Jing

Abstract

Many readers of the Dao De Jing have identified an ontology associated with the text. In such ontological readings, the term dao 道 is taken to refer to some type of monolithic, eternal, abstract fundamental reality. They generally point to certain chapters of the text as supporting this interpretation. The implication seems virtually theological, at least in the impersonal “Advaitic Brahman” sense. However, if we carefully examine the passages to which such proponents refer as evidence of this position, it becomes clear that these chapters are metaphorical rather than metaphysical. I propose to examine several of these chapters to clarify the tentative and rhetorical nature of their expression.