Mozi (Mo Tzu), Chinese Philosopher, Notes and Outline

Mozi(Mo Tzu) - Mohism

• 480-390 B.C.E.
• Represents a separation from Kongzi
• mo – means black ink – may have been a convict, branded on the face with tattoo
• had his own little military, exercised great control
  • hence may have been a convict, revolutionary
• some say he may have been member of aristocratic elite
• critical of a family based political system
  • problem of partiality
    • if you are the ruler, you may promote or pick other leaders in the family, in being loyal to them
    • Confucianism has preference as a part of it – filial piety
• rather than engaging in filial piety (preference for you own family), instead we should engage in universal love, or impartial care
  • if people were promoted within the state, who the leader is closest to, the most competent may not always be working
• Mozi is similar to Utilitarianism
  • also called state consequentialism
  • utilitarianism is a consequential moral theory – actions judged based on their consequences
  • good consequences → right action
  • bad consequences → wrong action
  • a ritual/cultural norm is a good one only if it has good consequences; bad if it has bad consequences
  • Mozi's Good Consequences
    • 1. Big Population
    • 2. Order
    • 3. Prosperity
    • this is the standard Mozi uses to find right and wrong
    • ex. funerals, prolonged mourning – too much money spent, time
      • Mozi puts material prosperity before Kongzi's important relationships – p. 80
• Mozi downplays the following of rights and culture and rituals
  • only are valuable when they conform to objective morality
  • for any given ritual, we can ask, “Is it justified?” Is it a good thing that we practice it?
  • Kongzi focuses on order, supported by ritual
    • believes the rites are inherently valuable
  • Mozi thinks there can be good rituals and bad ones
  • how is a ritual justified? → must be some external standard
  • cultural rites are not inherently valuable, but must be justified by appeal to an objective moral standard
    • *objectively good regardless of what anybody thinks of it
      • it is an objective fact that there is a table in front of the room
      • a rite could be bad even if nobody realized it, if it were a cultural norm

there must be an objective basis for morality
• Does Mozi succeed in finding such a basis for morality
• would Kongzi define his system as objective?
• Suppose: ex. somebody says Betty has Ren and Fred does not
  • is there an objective basis for this statement?
• Morality is not based on personal opinion

objectivity

• P is objectively true
  • just in case
  • P is true regardless of what anyone believes about it

• ex. Is there harmony in Baghdad?
  • Lack of social order, Mozi would not approve of it (no finger pointing), it is not harmonious
  • anybody who says otherwise is wrong
• so...Mozi would say there is an objective criteria for order
  • objective criteria for prosperity
• anybody who acts in a way that consequently supports harmony is acting rightly
• objection to utilitarianism: what about individual human rights?

• Morality not grounded in convention
  • a rite is justified merely by the fact that we perform it (it's tradition!)
• Right/Wrong not a matter of cultural standards (practices) – not a matter of convention
  • it has an objective standard
• find people who are effective at other jobs than politics, then put them in political power
  • promote people based on their ability to run the state effectively
• Mozi: these things are objectively valuable
  (and inherently – order is valuable because it is order; self-evident)
  1. prosperity
  2. population
  3. order
  • these are objective (measurable)
• John Stuart Mill – Hedonic Utilitarianism
  • the most inherently, primitive, ultimate good thing is happiness (pleasure)
  • “happiness is good” -- self-evident

• Mozi is arguing to the Confucian
  • defended against the Confucian who argues for the primacy of rites/virtues
  • Mozi argues that mourning for 3 years would not improve prosperity
    • you can't have an expensive funeral without prosperity – money
    • in this way Mozi is a materialist
  • does social order require prosperity?
  • the nice thing about an objective basis for morality is that disagreements can can be settled easily
  • Mozi: parents are many, but virtue is rare
• impartial caring
  • people who hate and steal are partial
  • lack of order, crime, come from partiality
  • one is impartial when everybody is treated as equally important
    • we are all importance
    • we are equal so I treat you as I would like to be treated
  • partiality: some people are more important than others
    • ex. my family is more important than your family
    • ex. I would rob you only if I saw myself as more important than you
  • impartiality can be understood as a take on Kongzi's reciprocity, and the golden rule
  • 'regard other people's states as you would your own'
• looks more like a modern western moral theory
• An Attack on Fatalism
  • fatalism – fate or destiny
  • shouldn't believe in fate/destiny
  • this belief has bad consequences: it doesn't matter what I do, it won't make any difference
  • the die is already cast, what is in the cards is in the cards and isn't gonna change, so why try to change anything?
  • **A presupposition of working hard to change your future is that it be possible to change it – there is no such thing as fate
    • you can't change anything if you don't think it is first possible to change
• :: promoting some views, like belief in ghosts, has good consequences, therefore, let us tell people there are ghosts
  • believing in what has good consequences