In this episode, we delve into the Mozi’s “state of nature argument,” which includes a vision of human life before political order and an explanation of how humans left that state. The Mohists were history’s first consequentialists and an important and influential classical school of thought. Were they right about the foundations of political society and government? Join us as we examine the Mohists’ most influential moral and political ideas and explore how moral disagreement and self-interest shape political order. Continue reading →
Category Archives: Mohism
Episode 13 of “This Is the Way”: Family Before State
Confucianism is well known for prioritizing familial responsibilities and love over other competing demands such as public interest or duties to the state. In this episode we explore two of the best known passages from early Confucianism that some modern scholars believe makes Confucianism morally problematic. The first passage we discuss is the “Upright Gong” passage, Analects 13.18, which has Confucius advocating mutual “covering up” of crimes by fathers and sons. The second passage is Mengzi 7A35, in which Mengzi is asked what the sage king Shun would have done if his father had committed murder. Mengzi’s answer, briefly stated, is that Shun would have given up his throne and would have fled with his father to care for him for the rest of his life.
Through these passages we explore questions about justice, consequentialist ethics, and the nature of moral dilemmas (and Confucian ways of handling them). Continue reading →
The Mojing: New Translation of Sun Zhongyuan’s Research on Mohist Logic
Brill has recently published the English translation of Sun Zhongyuan’s work on Mohist Logic, The Mojing. In this book, Sun investigates the historical contributions made to the research of logic in China, its modern value, its significance to the world, and how the form of logic developed in China is united with those from the rest of the world, focusing on Mohist (mojia 墨家) logic in particular as its core concern. The book is accessible here.
Eric Schliesser discusses Mozi on the State of Nature
Mozi fans will be interested in Eric Schliesser (a scholar of European philosophy) discussing Mozi on the state of nature.
Harris Reviews Fraser, The Philosophy of the Mozi
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
2017.05.07 View this Review Online View Other NDPR Reviews
Chris Fraser, The Philosophy of the Mozi: The First Consequentialists, Columbia University Press, 2016, 293pp., $40.00 (pbk), ISBN 9780231149273.
Reviewed by Eirik Lang Harris, City University of Hong Kong
When I was a graduate student casting around for ideas for a dissertation topic, one of my mentors suggested that I find some topic X, generally denigrated in the literature, and formulate an argument of the sort, “X is not as stupid as it sounds.” In an important sense, this is what Chris Fraser has done in examining the early Chinese text the Mozi. He examines the philosophical ideas of the Mohists as they appear in this text and provides not only the most charitable account of their philosophical ideas to appear in any Western language but also the first book length treatment of this text by a philosopher in at least 50 years.
Perkins Reviews Harris, The Shenzi Fragments
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
2017.03.05 View this Review Online View Other NDPR Reviews
Eirik Lang Harris, The Shenzi Fragments: A Philosophical Analysis and Translation, Columbia University Press, 2016, 173pp., $55.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780231177665.
Reviewed by Franklin Perkins, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
PhD opening in Mozi and Yang Zhu Studies at KU Leuven, Sinology
This position is offered in the context of a research project on the creation of Mozi or Yang Zhu from “heretics” into “philosophers.” We are looking for a young MA student in Sinology, Chinese studies, or Chinese philosophy willing to study an epoch in this creation. One’s research focus should be on one of the two figures in one (or more) epochs of the candidate’s choice. For more details, see this attached document.
Post at Leuven for Taiwanese Scholars interested in Mozi or Yang Zhu
KU Leuven is advertising a PhD position for the study of the “creation of Mozi and Yang Zhu as philosophers”: see here. This position is only for Taiwanese scholars, though I am assured that soon another call will come out for all scholars.
New Book: Fraser, The Philosophy of the Mozi
I am very happy to share the news that Columbia University Press has published Chris Fraser’s (ahem, long-awaited :-)) book:
The Philosophy of the Mòzi: The First Consequentialists
Congratulations, Chris! Information here.
Report on Mozi Conference
A Report on “Modern Interpretations of Mozi”
Lee Ting-mien (University of Leuven)
The workshop “Modern Interpretation of Mozi,” organized by University of Leuven (KU Leuven), was held on April 3, 4 in 2014. The participants – Annick Gijsbers (University of Leuven), Carine Defoort (University of Leuven), Joachim Kurtz (Heidelberg University), Lee Ting-mien (University of Leuven), Nicolas Standaert (University of Leuven), Nie Tao (University of Leuven and Sichuan University), Qin Yanshi (Sichuan Normal University), Tian Hanyun (Yangzhou University), Xie Qiyang (China University of Political Science and Law), Yvonne Schultz Zinda (University of Hamburg), Zheng Jiewen(Shangdong University) – were scholars and graduate students working on Mozi studies in late-imperial or Republican China. Nine papers were presented on the workshop, beginning in the Ming dynasty and ending in the middle of the 20th century:
