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Notes on video lecture:
Mozi's Anti-Confucian Chapters
Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on February 28, 2018 (go to class or lectures)
Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:
cultivate, external, suffering, nepotism, innovate, utilitarian, essential, control, desire, communist, funeral, power, heaven, insights, objective, internal, consequentialist, stratified, ancient, emotional, now, order, benefit, fair, reshaping, musical, waste, ritual, inhuman, subsistence, balance, expensive, livestock
Mozi is a materialist, state
measuring material profit and ("li")
wants to maximize the
wealth
population
of the state
characteristics which can be measured
in the Warring States, population is
you can measure ideas and processes with these three criteria
Mozi believes there are many things going on in the Warring States societies which don't pass these three tests
the anti-Confucian chapters
against Confucian practices
wants them more moderate
condemnation of performances
condemnation of fatalism
against Confucians themselves
problems with Confucianism
partiality is built into Confucianism
don't treat your own parents better than other's parents
for Mozi, this doesn't pass the order principle
leads to and chaos
Confucian ethics are built upon family ties
Confucianism produces a lot of
music and ritual consume vast amounts of material and labor resources
he's not against music per se, but it is very and provides no benefits
he means public music, massive orchestras
Confucian bells put in arrays
expensive to built
expensive to play
Mozi is a
materialist and so only materialist goods matter to him
goods that you can actually measure
externalist
only characteristics matter
he is not trying to you
for Confucius, music is about people from the inside out
Mozi doesn't care about these states
Mozi was later criticized as being
people want to sing and Mozi won't let them sing
there's no obvious answer to how you cultural goods, art, and moral improvement
Confucian counter argument
we want people to have enough food to eat, but human beings aren't
human beings need other things, too, e.g. beauty and culture
to reduce human live to survival is not the best goal
at what point is spending on art and culture too much, at what point is spending on social services not enough
every society has to grapple with and it will define their society
Mozi has a passionate moral vision
Confucians are spending money on things that we don't need and that are not , or at least we shouldn't think about until basic needs are met
is upset that the Confucians think the past is good in and of itself
their mindless aping of the past
The Confucians say, "The superior man must use speech and wear ancient dress before he can be considered benevolent."
"...but we answer: The so-called ancient speech and dress were all modern once, and if at that time the men of antiquity used such speech and wore such dress, then they must not have been superior."
why would you want to only transmit and not in the modern world
it comes down to practical benefits
against fatalism
Confucians say that there are things outside your
how long you live
whether you are wealthy or not
will give it to you or not depending on fate
Confucianism
you want to focus on the internal goods of the Confucian way
money and fame are either going to come or not
says things cannot be changed.
if officials believe in fate, they will become lax in their duties
Mozi vs. Laozi on social reform
Mozi has a social reformer mission behind him
they both are opposed to Confucianism
think that there is something wrong with the elites
for Laozi, the elites cause suffering because they're greedy
greediness is caused by desire so let's eliminate
disband these large-scale societies and get everyone to go back to farming in agricultural communes
for Mozi, the elites are causing in that they are doing wasteful activities
keep hierarchical society but do it in a way
not because you are related to someone, or you look nice, or you can sing the odes
but because you're a worthy person and good at your job
we keep large-scale society
material goods are not the problem, but we should distribute it more fairly
some people portray Mozi as socialist or , that he wants everyone to share things
his society is a very social one
but people get their position in society based on measures
Mozi vs. Confucius on human nature
Confucius
people without culture were not human beings
we wouldn't want to live in a world where we didn't have these things
Mozi
everyone has there basic needs met but there's no music, no , when our parents die, we bury them in an unmarked grave and go back to work again
the argument that we need to cultivate culture is the way spoiled elites think
in the Warring States period, many people didn't have their basic needs met
the beauty of this debate is that it was happening in the 4th century B.C. China and it's happening
reading about ancient people grappling with these problems can give us new into our world
Ideas and Concepts:
On the balance of cultural and economic welfare, via tonight's Ancient Chinese Philosophy class:
"Mozi was a materialist and so was only interested in material goods, i.e. external goods that you can be measured in society, e.g. wealth, population, and order.
He used this as a litmus test to measure and determine how useful things were to society. So while he wasn't against music per se, he saw the way that music was supported by Confucian society, e.g. public money financing musical performances, massive orchestras of Confucian bells played by state-sponsored musicians who spent much of their lives learning to play these bells with expertise, was a waste of money, time, and effort. Publicly sponsored music for Mozi was expensive and provided no benefits.
While Confucius saw a goal of music to reshape people's characters from the inside out, Mozi didn't care about these supposed internal states. He was an externalist and so only external characteristics mattered to him. He was not trying to internally cultivate people as Confucius was, but was interested only in external production that could be measured.
For these views, Mozi was later criticized as being inhuman. It was said, for instance, that people want to sing and Mozi wouldn't let them sing.
But the moral tension that Mozi raises is a real one that we deal with today in our societies as well. We have societies that are taking public money and using it to support massive symphony orchestras which encourage healthy, young people to spend their time practicing music instead of growing food or doing something more obviously useful in societies that suffer from homelessness and poverty.
We have publicly sponsored universities with professors and students wasting their time learning about ancient Chinese philosophy when they could be learning how to maximize carbon removal from the atmosphere or something more obviously useful and measurable.
So there's no obvious answer to this question of how you balance public support of providing for people's physical needs and financing cultural goods such as music, art, and the opportunity for people to learn about philosophy, religion and other languages to encourage them to improve their intellectual and moral development.
There's a tension between cultural goods and the fact that basic material needs of a large part of our societies are not being met. And so we don't want to be too glib about dismissing Mozi on this point of societal reform to solve the material needs of people in the most efficient way possible."
"Mozi was a materialist and so was only interested in material goods, i.e. external goods that you can be measured in society, e.g. wealth, population, and order.
He used this as a litmus test to measure and determine how useful things were to society. So while he wasn't against music per se, he saw the way that music was supported by Confucian society, e.g. public money financing musical performances, massive orchestras of Confucian bells played by state-sponsored musicians who spent much of their lives learning to play these bells with expertise, was a waste of money, time, and effort. Publicly sponsored music for Mozi was expensive and provided no benefits.
While Confucius saw a goal of music to reshape people's characters from the inside out, Mozi didn't care about these supposed internal states. He was an externalist and so only external characteristics mattered to him. He was not trying to internally cultivate people as Confucius was, but was interested only in external production that could be measured.
For these views, Mozi was later criticized as being inhuman. It was said, for instance, that people want to sing and Mozi wouldn't let them sing.
But the moral tension that Mozi raises is a real one that we deal with today in our societies as well. We have societies that are taking public money and using it to support massive symphony orchestras which encourage healthy, young people to spend their time practicing music instead of growing food or doing something more obviously useful in societies that suffer from homelessness and poverty.
We have publicly sponsored universities with professors and students wasting their time learning about ancient Chinese philosophy when they could be learning how to maximize carbon removal from the atmosphere or something more obviously useful and measurable.
So there's no obvious answer to this question of how you balance public support of providing for people's physical needs and financing cultural goods such as music, art, and the opportunity for people to learn about philosophy, religion and other languages to encourage them to improve their intellectual and moral development.
There's a tension between cultural goods and the fact that basic material needs of a large part of our societies are not being met. And so we don't want to be too glib about dismissing Mozi on this point of societal reform to solve the material needs of people in the most efficient way possible."
Questions that define a society, via this morning's Ancient Chinese Philosophy class: "At what point spending on art and culture is too much, and spending on social services is not enough, are questions that every society has to grapple with, the answers to which will in a very comprehensive way will define life in that society."
Mozi on the importance of believing in personal responsibility, via this afternoon's Ancient Chinese Philosophy class:
"The Confucians believe firmly in the existence of fate and propound their doctrine, saying that long life and early death, wealth and poverty, safety and danger, order and disorder are all decreed by the will of Heaven and cannot be modified.
If the various officials believe such ideas, they will be lax in their duties, and if the common people believe them, they will neglect their tasks."
"The Confucians believe firmly in the existence of fate and propound their doctrine, saying that long life and early death, wealth and poverty, safety and danger, order and disorder are all decreed by the will of Heaven and cannot be modified.
If the various officials believe such ideas, they will be lax in their duties, and if the common people believe them, they will neglect their tasks."