On being “without-desire” in Lao-Zhuang Daoism

This study clarifies how and why Daoist philosophers critique desires. For the Daoists, desires perceptually obstruct the capacity for people to understand and interpret situations. In particular, desires also obstruct the ability to understand that all things are interdependent and do not exist as independent ‘things’. Contrary to recent claims by scholars that Daoist philosophy encourages people to develop certain desires, in reality, the Daoist insists that we stick with our basic animal needs and do not depart from them.