한
All perspectives

Mohist texts, 5th–3rd century BCE

Mozi and the Mohists — Public standards, inclusive care, and office

Can a standard checkable by all restrain a ruler's arbitrariness, or can it also suppress disagreement?

Mozi and the MohistsMozi

Evidence-backed account

The received Mozi is a multilayered compilation of anonymous material from roughly the fifth to third centuries BCE, not a finished book securely attributable to Mozi alone.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Mozi

    Transmitted Mohist corpus; Chinese Text Project · Classical Chinese text with James Legge historical English translation

    Locator: Chapter structure

    Open source

  • Mohism

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 1

    Open source

Mohist fa are connected with the search for public models or standards by which conduct and rule can be checked, rather than relying on custom or rank alone.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Mozi

    Transmitted Mohist corpus; Chinese Text Project · Classical Chinese text with James Legge historical English translation

    Locator: Book 4

    Open source

  • Mohism

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 3

    Open source

Inclusive care and benefit-harm standards support arguments that excluding persons, families, or states from moral concern generates conflict and harm.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Mozi

    Transmitted Mohist corpus; Chinese Text Project · Classical Chinese text with James Legge historical English translation

    Locator: Books 14–16

    Open source

  • Mohism

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 7

    Open source

Promoting the worthy calls for office to consider moral and practical qualifications beyond kinship and for officials to exemplify consistent standards.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Mozi

    Transmitted Mohist corpus; Chinese Text Project · Classical Chinese text with James Legge historical English translation

    Locator: Books 8–10

    Open source

  • Mohism

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 6

    Open source

The Mohist discussion of upward conformity joins unified standards with hierarchical teaching, reward, and punishment, exposing a tension between constraining arbitrariness and centralizing authority.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Mozi

    Transmitted Mohist corpus; Chinese Text Project · Classical Chinese text with James Legge historical English translation

    Locator: Books 11–13

    Open source

  • Mohism

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 6

    Open source

Mohist social benefit includes material sufficiency, population, order, and reduced violence, but it should not be reduced to a single modern utility score.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • Mohism

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Sections 2 and 7

    Open source

  • Social and Political Thought in Chinese Philosophy

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Section 2.2

    Open source
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