← The Dao De Jing
Chapter 2
Everyone Knows Beauty
天下皆知美之为美
The Text
天下皆知美之为美，斯恶已；皆知善之为善，斯不善已。有无之相生也，难易之相成也。
When everyone in the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises. When everyone knows good as good, the not-good arises. Being and non-being give rise to each other; difficult and easy complete each other.
Reading it
The pairs are not moral judgements but mechanics: each term creates its opposite the moment it is set up. The chapter is a description of how definitions work, not an argument for relativism.
成对的词不是道德判断，而是机制：一词既立，其对立即生。这一章讲的是定义如何运作，不是为相对主义张本。
Practice for the week
Pick a judgement you made this week. Name the opposite it silently created.
挑一个你这周做过的判断。说出它默默造出来的反面。