Oneness and Spontaneity

Abstract

This chapter elaborates on the connections between oneness, moral agency, and spontaneity by distinguishing between two general kinds of spontaneity: untutored spontaneity, which is characteristic of traditions such as Daoism, and cultivated spontaneity, representative of traditions such as Confucianism. This discussion intersects with oneness on the matter of “metaphysical comfort,” the sense of oneness, harmony, and happiness that one experiences when acting or reacting spontaneously, on either the untutored or cultivated model. Daoists argued quite plausibly that this experience goes hand in hand with certain kinds of untutored spontaneity, but an important objective of the chapter is to show that even cultivated spontaneity can provide the same comfort. The chapter makes the case that both forms of spontaneity are familiar, though largely unrecognized, in all forms of human life and that the descriptions provided, inspired by early Chinese philosophy, offer important theoretical resources for philosophy today.