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Page Count

216

Language

English

Description

We live in a time of abundance and comfort for some, scarcity and hardship for others—a period that seems to have all of us teetering on the brink. Certainly, there is no lack of modern crises, but do we possess the wisdom to overcome them, and where might we seek that wisdom? Ancient Wisdoms for Modern Crises: Learning From Laozi’s “Daodejing[JR1] [ED2] [NN3] ” looks to the Daodejing, a text written during the late Zhou Dynasty (600–400 BCE), for guidance. One of the core treatises of Eastern philosophy, it advocates humility, simplicity, and sustainable living. As both a personal and political philosophy, it is radically gentle, encouraging readers to embrace humility, modesty, compassion, and selflessness while simultaneously resisting the urge to conquer, control, and dominate—teachings that can help each of us navigate contemporary life. Finding solutions to such difficult problems requires all the wisdom, ancient and modern, that humans can muster. Replete with the author’s fresh translation of the eighty-one-verse Daodejing, this book touches on topics ranging from environmentalism and human suffering to biodiversity loss and the rise of authoritarianism in an effort to forge a more restrained, sustainable, just, supportive, and compassionate society.

ISBN

9781626712973

Publication Date

Winter 2-15-2026

Publisher

Purdue University Press

City

West Lafayette

Keywords

climate change, social inequality, Daoism, Eastern philosophy, evolution, meditation, mindfulness, poetry, psychology, sociology, Yin and Yang, wuwei, nature, unselfishness, selflessness, moderation, stoicism, cultural appropriation, fossil fuels, greenhouse gas, energy use, carbon dioxide, technological development, capitalism, human suffering, ecology, biology, DNA, consciousness, antihumanists, transhumanists, environmental determinism, systems of governance, colonialism, nonviolent resistance, asceticism, The Middle Path, altruism

Comments

Open access publication of this title is supported by Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies.

Ancient Wisdoms for Modern Crises: Learning From Laozi’s “Daodejing”

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