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.
Key passages
“The State of Nature” (Mozi, chapter 11, “Obeying One’s Superior”)
[Part one: the diagnosis]
子墨子言曰：「古者民始生，未有刑政之時，蓋其語『人異義』。是以一人則一義，二人則二義，十人則十義，其人茲眾，其所謂義者亦茲眾。是以人是其義，以非人之義，故文相非也。是以內者父子兄弟作怨惡，離散不能相和合。天下之百姓，皆以水火毒藥相虧害，至有餘力不能以相勞，腐臭1餘財不以相分，隱匿良道不以相教，天下之亂，若禽獸然。
Our teacher Mozi says, “In ancient times, when people first came into being and before there were governments or laws, each person followed their own norm for deciding what was right and wrong. And so where there was one person there was one norm, where there were two people there were two norms, where there were ten people there were ten different norms. As many people as there were, that was how many norms were recognized. In this way people came to approve their own norms for what is right and wrong and thereby condemn the norms of others. And so, they mutually condemned each other’s norms. For this reason, within families, there was resentment and hatred between fathers and sons and elder and younger brothers that caused them to separate and disperse and made it impossible for them to cooperate harmoniously with one another. Throughout the world, people used water, fire, and poison to harm and injure one another, to the point where if they had strength to spare, they would not use it to help each other; if they had excess goods, they would leave them to rot away rather than distribute them to one another; and if they had helpful teachings, they would hide them away rather than teach them to one another. The chaos that ruled in the world was like what one finds among the birds and beasts.
[Part two: the solution]
夫明虖天下之所以亂者，生於無政長。是故選天下之賢可者，立以為天子。天子立，以其力為未足，又選擇天下之賢可者，置立之以為三公。天子三公既以立，以天下為博大，遠國異土之民，是非利害之辯，不可一二而明知，故畫分萬國，立諸侯國君，諸侯國君既已立，以其力為未足，又選擇其國之賢可者，置立之以為正長。
Those who understood the nature of this chaos saw that it arose from a lack of rulers and leaders and so they chose the best person among the most worthy and capable in the world and established him as the Son of Heaven. The Son of Heaven was established, but because his strength was not sufficient for the task of ruling the entire world, they chose among the most worthy and capable in the world and installed the best among them as the three imperial ministers. The Son of Heaven and three imperial ministers were established, but because the world is so vast it was impossible for them to know and judge in each case what would be right or wrong, beneficial or harmful for the people of distant states and different regions. And so, they divided up the myriad states and established feudal lords and rulers. The feudal lords and rulers were established, but because their strength was not sufficient for the task before them, they chose among the most worthy and capable in the world and installed them as governors and local leaders.
Mozi, chapter 11 (“Obeying One’s Superior”), Philip J. Ivanhoe’s translation
Sources and phrases mentioned
- Up in the Air (2009 film)
- Mohism
- jian’ai 兼愛, “impartial caring”
- state of nature arguments
- Thomas Hobbes
- John Locke
- Jean Jacques Rousseau
- Xunzi
- consequentialism
- yi 義, “norms,” “righteousness,” “rightness”
- Sangong 三公, “the three imperial ministers”
- guijian 規諫, “remonstrate,” “remonstration”
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue
- Chapter 12 of the Mozi (the second version of “Obeying One’s Superior”)
- Chapter 13 of the Mozi (the third version of “Obeying One’s Superior,” which arguably suggests that the people of the world choose the Son of Heaven)
- Chris Fraser, The Philosophy of the Mòzǐ
- Sun Yirang 孫詒讓, Qing-dynasty Mozi commentator
- Bryan Van Norden, Virtue Ethics and Consequentialism in Early Chinese Philosophy
- Hui Chieh Loy, “A Theological Voluntarist Consequentialism in the Mozi“
- The Euthyphro problem (closely connected to the Euthyphro dilemma)
