For Lao Tzu, causal evils bring about human suffering in the world. The human sufferings produced by causal evils are consequent evils. He explains that causal evils originate from the use of the human will. Causal evil results when a person asserts something in thought or action against his own nature, other individuals, or the natural world. Lao Tzu's goal is to eliminate causal and consequent evils from the world. Life without such suffering is the ideal state of existence. He is talking about man-made sufferings and not natural ones. A natural death is to be welcomed but early, violent, and untimely deaths are to be prevented.

          Lao Tzu maintains that inaction is the proper function of government. He is concerned with realizing peace and sociopolitical order. He wants to allow each individual as much freedom as possible. It follows that a Taoist ruler will not use coercion or permit others to use it against peaceful people. The government must not assert its will against individuals to exploit, dominate, or interfere with them. Although rulers possess weapons, it is preferable that they are not used. It is apparent that Lao Tzu views politics within a larger ethical context.

          He says that a good ruler is inconspicuous, humble, and demands nothing. Lao Tzu contends that codified rules and laws result in a society that is more difficult to care for. The more ordinances and laws, the more robbers and thieves there will be. When the state takes no action the people of themselves will be transformed. When the government engages in no activity the people will prosper. He says that life should be happy in a small state and that, without laws or compulsion, men would live in harmony.

          Lao Tzu disapproves of aggressive measures such as war, cruel punishment and heavy taxation which express a ruler's own desire for power and wealth. He cautions the ruler not to be oppressive with military strength. War is evil, brings suffering, and is a most assertive use of the will. Wars involve conflicts of wills usually for wealth, power or fame. To practice peace is to practice the Tao. Lao Tzu asks by what authority the ruler presumes to act upon others? He recommends the restraint of judges and observes that the internal violence of the state is embodied in cruel punishments – especially the death penalty. With respect to taxation, he says that the people starve because the ruler eats too much tax grain. Rulers thus prosper at the expense of the masses. Lao Tzu did not value competition and observed that exploitation or oppression of citizens by a ruler is a type of willful action or competition. He explains that peaceful actions do not require moral justification, but that coercive actions do require moral justification. Lao Tzu lived during a militant period and wanted to avoid constant feudal warfare and other conflicts.

          It is obvious that Lao Tzu viewed the state as a likely oppressor of the individual. He thought that any truth in government abides in nonaction and in weakness. The state should not be an organization of functionaries. Lao Tzu thus opposed a multitude of laws and thought that the state should and could control by means of noninterference. He observed that the fulfillment of others and of things results not from the prominence of a ruler's virtues but from the withdrawal of self.

          Lao Tzu criticized the civilization of his own time because of its wars, government oppression, taxation and the lofty values of human culture. He was skeptical with respect to utility of the artificiality and over-refinement of civilization. He was not totally opposed to technical and social contrivances. Lao Tzu did not completely dismiss technology but he was worried that it may engender a false sense of progression.

          He says that the fall from the Tao is caused by government and society having lost the truth. The fall from the Tao stems from desire, intention, and self-striving. The use of free will can interfere with Tao. People, including rulers, should therefore avoid determined action and strong will. A person should be passive and not try to change anything. A sage would move and live naturally and would be empty of pretense and free from desires. He would not attempt to help life along or make a display of himself. A sage would claim moral ignorance, would understand the reversibility of things in the world, and would endeavor to create a peaceful atmosphere.

          Lao Tzu's life-oriented philosophy advanced a doctrine of liberation of the individual through withdrawal. He speaks from the standpoint of perfection and eternity. In his radical naturalistic conception of the universe, individual happiness is the basis of a good society. He advocates nonaction both in personal fulfillment and in the sociopolitical order. His perfect ruler takes no willful action. In battle his principle is defense without aggression. He does not believe in revolution. Simplicity and spontaneity are keys to the truth. He says that nature does nothing but leaves nothing undone. Lao Tzu's ethics advocates withdrawal from society, contemplation, and cultivation of internal virtues. As a quietist, he says man cannot solve social problems but he can forsake them.