Daoism and Human Rights: Integrating the Incommensurable

Abstract

There is practically no explicit discourse on human rights in the Daoist tradition or in contemporary Daoist scholarship and practice. This article begins by discussing the ontological incommensurability between Daoist notions of inner spontaneity and self-transcendence, and the external frameworks of contractual rights and obligations between self-interested individuals and agonistic legal systems that underpin human rights regimes. And yet, while Daoism and human rights may be incommensurable, they are compatible. Since, in the reality of the world of common people and rulers, most people are unable to control their desires and their will to power over others, human rights are thus necessary as a basic protection for each individual against the interference of others and of the state. But a Daoist might see human rights as simply a desirable foundation, that must be coupled with the supreme value of union with Dao, ultimately transcending the very need for human obligations and rights.