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Notes on video lecture:
Mozi's Doctrine of Impartial Caring
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on September 26, 2017 (go to class or lectures)


Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
inside, intellectual, right, disturbing, objective, respect, parents, rewards, fact, materially, Moism, desires, consequences, objective, logical, punishment, wrest, Singer, behavior, pyramid, livestock, warring, overriding, opposite, wrong, force, worthies, inevitable, benevolence, horrify, not, impact, spontaneously, love, partial, eternal, superseded, everyone, emotional, benefiting, heaven
Mozi wanted standards of rightness
believed this was modeled on
the central principle of : jian ai
usually translated as impartial caring
sometimes has been translated as universal
both terms are
jian = impartial
distribution that is done in a fair and way
we need to get away from our view
for the Confucians, on the other hand, we are naturally partial to our families
you obey your parents
for Mozi it is the
it is the partiality to family members that creates the chaos of the states
ai = caring/
caring for someone materially
ai does not describe an emotional state of love, but a
e.g. you ai
feeding them, making sure that they are safe and warm
it's not an , emotional feeling
it about an external behavior of benefiting someone
this goes along with a broader theme in Mozi, that he doesn't care about states
he doesn't care what you are feeling on the
he's not trying to change the way you are feeling on the inside
what he wants is to modify your behavior by making you materially content
this would Confucius
filial piety is about inner , not just e.g. making sure your parents have enough food, as Mozi suggests
Mozi would say, you care for horses and dogs, and you also care for your
for Mozi, ren means
not goodness in the general sense
someone who is ren benefits other people, someone who behaves benevolently and compassionately in a physical sense, not in a emotional sense
Mozi is concerned with external , with regulating your external behavior, and he doesn't really care what you feel on the inside
in fact, he expects that you're going to like it
he expects you to not like acting in accord with impartial caring
but you have to suppress your internal feelings, adopt this standard, and yourself to do it
it's very much about your hot cognition by using these cold insights
the cold insight being that impartial caring is the only way to behave toward other people if you're going to be a moral human being
Wu-wei is not an idea for Mozi
practicing impartial caring is not something you can do
it's never going to become something that is natural
you don't follow your heart's
your hot tendencies will be to favor yourself and your family
you have to consciously counter this
spontaneity has nothing to do with morality, in fact, spontaneity leads to immorality
the Mozian of persuasion
people aren't going to like impartial caring
it goes against our nature
it is counter-intuitive
that you should care for
and not just yourself and your family
persuades people in different levels
1. the
they get the logic of his argument
they simply adopt his ideas
when heaven sends down rain, it rains on people impartially
act toward other people's fathers the way you want them to act toward your father
he sees these arguments as verifiable
practicing impartial caring leads to the best benefit for the state
these are the highest level
2. not quite self controlled enough to understand it, but are motivated by
people who practice impartial caring get rewards and they want rewards
Mozi sees this as inevitable
3. mass of people who lack the capacity and self control to put it in the practice
you have to use and the threat of punishment to motivate them to practice impartiality
this is how you order out of the chaos of the warring states
Confucian vs. Mohist ethics
reason
Confucius: virtue involves feeling the thing
Mozi: emotion has not place in morality at all
he doesn't care what you feel, and he believes what you feel is going to be immoral
human partiality
Confucius: it's , an organic virtue is grounded in the feelings of partiality that we have
Mozi: the family can be , family ties can be overridden
looks very much like modern views of ethics
Peter , Australian moral philosopher
utilitarian
consequentialist, rationalist, morality is about rationality
deeply suspicious of human partiality
he has a site that shows the of charities
it's how our psychologies are set up to favor ourselves and our families
Spelling Corrections:
spontenaity ⇒ spontaneity
superceded ⇒ superseded
Ideas and Concepts:
Mozi's concept of impartial caring via this evening's Ancient Chinese Philosophy course:
"The central principle of Moism is jian ai which is usually translated as impartial caring. Sometimes it has been translated as universal love, which is incorrect.
Jian means to be impartial, or to distribute goods in a fair and objective way. With this term, Mozi insists that we need to get away from our partial view. For the Confucians, on the other hand, we are naturally partial e.g. to our parents and our families. Confucius teaches that we must obey our parents, and our families, and after establishing this obedience, we learn to be obedient to others in society.
For Mozi it is the opposite:he believes that it was partiality to parents and family members that created the chaos of the warring states in the first place.
The term ai means caring, but more in the sense of benefiting someone materially. The term ai does not describe an emotional state of love, but a behavior. For instance, you ai your livestock, i.e. you feed them, and you make sure that they are safe and warm, but you don't have any deep emotion for them. Ai is not a an eternal, emotional feeling, but simply indicates the behavior of providing for people materially.
This goes along with a broader theme in Mozi, that he doesn't care about emotional states. He doesn't care what you are feeling on the inside, he's not trying to change your emotions, but rather he wants to produce in you reasonable behavior by making sure you are materially content."
"The central principle of Moism is jian ai which is usually translated as impartial caring. Sometimes it has been translated as universal love, which is incorrect.
Jian means to be impartial, or to distribute goods in a fair and objective way. With this term, Mozi insists that we need to get away from our partial view. For the Confucians, on the other hand, we are naturally partial e.g. to our parents and our families. Confucius teaches that we must obey our parents, and our families, and after establishing this obedience, we learn to be obedient to others in society.
For Mozi it is the opposite:he believes that it was partiality to parents and family members that created the chaos of the warring states in the first place.
The term ai means caring, but more in the sense of benefiting someone materially. The term ai does not describe an emotional state of love, but a behavior. For instance, you ai your livestock, i.e. you feed them, and you make sure that they are safe and warm, but you don't have any deep emotion for them. Ai is not a an eternal, emotional feeling, but simply indicates the behavior of providing for people materially.
This goes along with a broader theme in Mozi, that he doesn't care about emotional states. He doesn't care what you are feeling on the inside, he's not trying to change your emotions, but rather he wants to produce in you reasonable behavior by making sure you are materially content."

Mozi's concept of ren (benevolence) via this evening's Ancient Chinese Philosophy course:
"For Mozi, filial piety is not about inner respect for your parents, or any inner feeling at all. It's simply about making sure your parents have enough food and are properly cared for.
This would horrify Confucius, who suggests that this is how we care for horses and dogs. Yet Mozi would say, yes, you care for horses and dogs by providing them with the food and warmth they need, and that is how you care for your parents as well.
For Mozi, ren means benevolence, not goodness in the general sense. Someone who is ren simply benefits other people. A person who is ren is someone who behaves benevolently and compassionately in a physical sense, not in an emotional sense.
Mozi is concerned with external consequences, with regulating your external behavior, and he doesn't really care what you feel inside. In fact, he expects that you're not going to like it. He expects you to not like acting in accordance with impartial caring, but you have to suppress your internal feelings, adopt this standard, and force yourself to do it.
In today's psychological terminology, it's very much about overriding your hot cognition by using these cold insights, namely, that impartial caring is the only logical way to behave toward other people if you're going to be a moral human being."
"For Mozi, filial piety is not about inner respect for your parents, or any inner feeling at all. It's simply about making sure your parents have enough food and are properly cared for.
This would horrify Confucius, who suggests that this is how we care for horses and dogs. Yet Mozi would say, yes, you care for horses and dogs by providing them with the food and warmth they need, and that is how you care for your parents as well.
For Mozi, ren means benevolence, not goodness in the general sense. Someone who is ren simply benefits other people. A person who is ren is someone who behaves benevolently and compassionately in a physical sense, not in an emotional sense.
Mozi is concerned with external consequences, with regulating your external behavior, and he doesn't really care what you feel inside. In fact, he expects that you're not going to like it. He expects you to not like acting in accordance with impartial caring, but you have to suppress your internal feelings, adopt this standard, and force yourself to do it.
In today's psychological terminology, it's very much about overriding your hot cognition by using these cold insights, namely, that impartial caring is the only logical way to behave toward other people if you're going to be a moral human being."
