Lao-Tzu, from his work “Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching”, offers political protocols for the leader through the abandonment of action and guidelines on how people should live their lives. Although Mary Wollstonecraft, in her work “Of the Pernicious Effects Arising from Unnatural Distinctions Established in Society,” claims the theme of inequality between men and women, her approach to sociopolitical issues offers actions to be taken. The disparity that prevails in society, according to Wollstonecraft, undermines the development of a rationalized nation, where half the population is neglected by work and education monopolized by men, and would therefore never reach the pinnacle of a virtuous nation. On the other hand, Lao-Tzu's criterion for a successful nation is one that rejects passive governance in which the community gets to determine its own moral values, seeking to justify its own instincts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Lao-Tzu also opposes the idea of intellect or progress towards an urbanized life, while Wollstonecraft encourages women to gain insight and be part of highly-skilled working populations through education. The correlation between inaction (Lao-Tzu) or action (Wollstonecraft) and sociopolitical order increases their perception of the world, where Lao-Tzu can be considered an idealist while Wollstonecraft a realist. Despite the paradoxical views that both parties have against each other, they have a mutual ultimate goal, which is to create sociopolitical order and morality in society. Action is necessary to achieve certain goals. Wollstonecraft's entire regime of creating a sociopolitical order in society suggests the element of action. He discusses the marginalization between men and women, which he finds inimical to the well-being of a rational society. She explains: Greater equality must be established in society, otherwise morality will never gain ground, and this virtuous equality will not rest firmly even founded on a rock, if half of humanity is chained to its bottom by fate, for they will continually be weakening it through ignorance or pride (656). For a society to be virtuous, it must be full of rational beings who know how to make the right decisions. However, for this to happen, half of the population (women) are unable to make decisions based on their autonomy because they are constantly degraded and considered as a joint unit with their husband. “Laws that respect women…make man and his wife an absurd unit” (661). Wollstonecraft challenges the invalidation of women as they should be perceived as a unit even without the presence of their husband. In contrast, Lao-Tzu believes that inaction provides comfort from any wrongdoing by allowing society to lower its moral values. He clarifies, “Practice non-doing and everything will fall into place” (206). Lao-Tzu reflects on the concept of letting situations take their natural course, without government intervention. He further expanded his statement: “Throw away morality and justice and people will do the right thing” (207). This suggests how Lao-Tzu hypothesizes that inaction leads to sociopolitical order, where people use the justification of their instincts to determine what is morally right and wrong. Lao-Tzu and Wollstonecraft both present solutions on the sociopolitical order, however, with different temperaments. Wollstonecraft engages in an important controversy (gender discrimination) by suggesting pragmatic actions (specific to specific). On the other hand, Lao Tzusimplifies society's problems into a suitable solution that imposes certain philosophies on how the government and general population should act, which is inaction (from general to specific). Generally, discrimination falls into Lao Tzu's general category of social problems. In this case, Lao Tzu's philosophy is flawed because there has never been a law that intervened on the belittling of women, yet society has progressively synthesized the marginalization between men and women, placing the latter at the basis of all social distinctions. Intellect should not be dismissed as a negligible factor contributing to morality in society. Wollstonecraft considers intellect as the first building block towards equality. She clarifies, "[Speaking] of women in general, their first duty is to themselves as rational creatures" (661). In order to become “rational creatures”, women need to be allowed to obtain formal education to gain job qualification and to be independent from men. In fact, it encourages women to pursue highly skilled jobs. “Women could certainly study the art of healing and be doctors as well as nurses.” (664). She further explains the reason: how many women thus waste their lives prey to discontent, who could have practiced the profession of doctor, managed a farm, managed a shop and remained standing... instead of lowering their heads overloaded with the dew of sensitivity. .. (665) ). Women have the potential to exert greater influence in their socioeconomic sphere, however, their path to highly skilled jobs has been hindered by impertinent gender roles. This results in women being subjected as subordinate in terms of intellect, a notion that Wollstonecraft hopes to abolish. Lao-Tzu's view of the intellect is antithetical to that of Wollstonecraft. He explains, “Throw away…and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier” (207). Lao-Tzu creates a correlation between knowledge and happiness, suggesting that the less the population knows, the better it is for the whole. This statement deviates from the good of the general population, instead implying a negative connotation where the government is wary of the knowledge that people acquire, fearing that they may one day rebel. What good is there to bring to society by being apathetic? Furthermore, Lao-Tzu preaches counterintuitive ideologies towards the development of technology. “They enjoy the work of their hands and waste no time in inventing labor-saving machines” (214). He praises his ideal society, which has stagnant development in terms of intellect and urbanization where no new knowledge or technology should penetrate the sphere of the population. In contrast, Wollstonecraft encourages women to study and be employed in the tertiary sector. He believes that the state of having a sociopolitical order is when the satisfaction of men and women coincides, where both men and women are free to do what they aspire to and not be forced into the mold in which a discriminatory society is formed. He explains, “If men would generously break our chains and content themselves with rational communion instead of servile obedience, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters… in a word, better citizens” (666). The expression “better citizens” suggests a mutually beneficial relationship between men and women, where women's liberation allows for the disposition for a greater good to create them as human beings with deep perception. Wollstonecraft evokes the parallelism between African American slavery and women: Why subject her to blind ownership, if she is capable of acting from a more.
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