Mohists yangists mencius PDF

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With Professor Conrad Schirokauer...

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MOHISTS 

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mo di (mozi) - lived during the ~century b/w death of confucius and birth of mencius o mo is prob not a surname; some think it was a form of punishment and he may have been a prisoner/slave mohism came to be associated with interests of artisans, merchants, and small-property owners o mozi text often characterizes confucians as pretentious aristocrats -> maybe some plebeian hostility from mozi's followers mozi condemned confucian skepticism of heaven/spiritual beings, their tendency toward fatalism, and their preoccupation with ritual mozi's arguments blend populism and authoritarianismd o "honoring the worthy" chapter - govt positions should be filled by most qualified individuals o "identifying with the superior" chapter - need for uniformity of thought (through thought control) to achieve social order  people must ultimately identify with heaven itself most characteristic doctrine basically "all human beings are equal before god" o practice universal love that's based on utility - love for all human beings thru satisfying immediate material needs + abandoning all forms of activity/expense that don't contribute to feeding/clothing/housing of people  condemned ritual/music, extravagant entertainment, and offensive warfare some chapters of mozi believed to represent views of later followers

YANGISTS  

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yang zhu - early fourth century BCE; made human nature (xing) a central topic in chinese thought believed human nature implanted in us by heaven; following our nature = following the way o natural for humans to preserve their own lives + satisfy their desires, so mohists/confucians advocating self-sacrifice are wrong yang zhu's way has been described as o psychological egoism - humans motivated only by self-interest o ethical egoism - humans should only do what is in their self-interest o privatism - humans should do what is in the interest of themselves + immediate family "robber zhi" represents yangist views

MENCIUS 

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meng ke (mencius) - lived in 4th century BCE, more than a century after confucius o shared most of confucius's values, though not without transforming many o traveled from one feudal state to another during the warring states period; spoke to rulers about govt and deplored warfare/made the case for humaneness mencius records conversations b/w mencius and rulers of contending feudal states, disciples, and philosophical adversaries; also includes pronouncements by mencius o d/n have an authorial presence, but is a disparate, fragmented collection of exchanges o one recurring theme: "what ultimately matters in human interactions is the motivation of the actors and their capacity for mutual respect and regard based on recognition of a common humanity"

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appeals to rulers to draw on ren (humaneness) and yi (rightness = what is right in particular situations in individual lives) o mentions that war interferes with ability for human beings to satisfy certain basic needs o his discussions draw on historical memory - a time before the beginning of the dynastic system  rulers chosen based on merit rather than heredity  gained empire through the will of Heaven o believed in human moral potential  qi - a psychophysical energy directly related to moral effort  "four beginnings" - natural tendencies in humans that can be cultivated/developed into humaneness, rightness, propriety, and wisdom  human capacity for perfectibility through self-cultivation o primary antagonists  yang zhu - defended individual's withdrawal from public life/official service in interest of self preservation; mencius saw as denial of one's ruler  mozi - morality based on self-regarding calculation of personal advantage -> universal love; mencius saw as denial of one's parents mencius was the single most influential contributor to a view of human nature that would ultimately become dominant

CLASS 9/18 

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china has had three major crises o crisis one: breakdown of shang/zhou civilization (sp?) -> led to political fragmentation of the world  first main response to crisis was classical chinese thought o crisis two: comes at end of han -> led to adoption of a foreign religion (buddhism), new appreciation of arts o crisis three: 19th century, still living in the era of the new consolidation what can you do when the world collapses? o confucians - put the world back together again as they believed it had once functioned o new times require new means o the hell with the world for next time, reading two daoist texts o dao de jing - after bible, second most translated chinese text

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analect 4.1 - stresses importance of one's surroundings how can one become known? o concern with recognition - wanted to be known by literate/elite/emperor  advisor, tutor of heir, chancellor

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of all three groups, mohists were most organized o mohists argued against warfare bc of universal love/ethical principles  love sometimes translated as concern bc it's cold, calculating, trying to figure out utility

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virtue ethics o includes aristotle, confucius deontology consequentialism mozi - followers disappeared after 221 BCE; one of the reasons mohism didn't make it is bc confucianism did confucian argument against universal love is that you should be partial to your family, parents esp. o if you're really filial, you'll want to live in a mohist world (e.g., if father lives next door to someone, they will be more egalitarian than self-interested)

class 9/25 re: mencius  at the beginning of the mencius selections, he's speaking to a king o king shouldn't ask about profit; should be speaking of humaneness and rightness  talking about good will benefit/profit the state  why will a virtuous state triumph?  people are an asset  mencius was known as being a tricky debater  there is no transcendental god o mencius argued that human nature is good (during warring states period)  the goodness of human nature is like the tendency of water to flow down  in analogy, he mentions that ppl becoming bad is like forcing water to reverse its flow  vast majority of confucians also think we have good human nature o if a person sees a baby falling into a well, they will spontaneously save it  need to feed/clothe/educate people o some work with their minds and some work with their bodies (those who work w minds are supported by latter)...