The semiotics of flourishing: unearthing a Daoist phenomenology of dynamic attunement
Thomas Michael
Chinese Semiotic Studies May 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1515/css-2025-0032 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Linguistics |
| Key points | Argues that excavated Daodejing manuscripts reveal a primordial Daoist phenomenology in which dao is an embodied, situational pattern of skilled engagement and the self a fluid construct, and that the later Huang-Lao metaphysical reading—centering an eternal "Constant Dao" and a cosmogonic hierarchy of wu and you—substituted a "semiotics of absence" for this "semiotics of presence." The author concludes the phenomenological vision offers a more fulfilling path to human flourishing through responsive participation in everyday experience. |
Abstract
Abstract This paper argues that excavated manuscripts of the Daodejing (Guodian, Mawangdui, and Beida) recover a primordial Daoist phenomenology that offers a more existentially rich conception of the good life than the subsequent, dominant metaphysical reading. This study provides a semiotic analysis of Daodejing Chapter 1 to demonstrate that the text’s transmission history involves a deliberate philosophical transformation. The Huang-Lao interpretive community systematically altered key terms, replacing the immanent “Temporalizing Dao” (hengdao) with an eternal “Constant Dao” (changdao) and reframing “nothingness” (wu) and “somethingness” (you) as a cosmogonic hierarchy rather than co-present aspects of phenomena. The resulting metaphysical reading posits a good life of contemplative alignment with an ineffable cosmic principle, a stance characterized as a semiotics of absence, where signs point to an unreachable truth. In contrast, the manuscript-based phenomenological reading presents a good life of dynamic attunement, where dao is an embodied, situational pattern of skilled engagement and name/self is a fluid construct. This constitutes a semiotics of presence that finds meaning not in a transcendent beyond, but in responsive participation within the everyday world. I conclude that this phenomenological vision provides a more fulfilling path to human flourishing by embracing the vibrant, challenging flow of lived experience.
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