ABSTRACT
The concept of nothingness forms a central thread in Daoist philosophy. The concept of wu features prominently in the Laozi and the Zhuangzi, and through them, though there were of course other contributors, it came to represent a major theme in Daoist philosophy. At the ethical level, the concept of wu finds expression in a mode of being characterized by the absence of desire and the absence of active striving. According to the Sanguo zhi, He Yan believed that the sage does not have pleasure and anger, or sorrow and joy; his arguments are very cogent. The idea of Daoist oblivion is present in the Zhuangzi, and not surprisingly this view finds eloquent support in Guo Xiang, arguably the greatest Zhuangzi commentator in Chinese history. In particular, the analysis of affectivity, especially the way in which affects and judgments are shown to form an integral whole, should be of some interest to contemporary discussions of ethics and moral psychology.
