Chapter 12 Section 4: The Social and Political Ethics of Utilitarianism

Later Mohists believed that the social conditions of ancient and modern times were different, so the political systems and ethical concepts of ancient and modern times should also be different. If we look at today from the perspective of ancient times, even the wise Yao could not govern well. "Since the present is solid, Yao cannot govern it" ("Jing Shuo Xia").The reason why Yao was a good ruler at that time was that he was able to govern the society at that time with the principles of that time.From the perspective of Mohists in the later period, the times have changed, and the "righteousness" of the past and the present is also different. .That is to say, there are different times in ancient and modern times, so what people call Yao's "righteousness" refers to the "name" of "righteousness", not the "reality" of his "righteousness". People in the past saw Yao's "righteousness". " is the "truth" of his "righteousness", so the "righteousness" of Yao that people refer to today is different from the original "righteousness" of Yao.The "righteousness" of the Mohists in the later period is "benefit", "righteousness, benefit" ("Jingshang").They regard "profit" as the criterion for measuring social life.

In the later period, Mohism inherited and developed Mozi's theory of "love each other and benefit each other" in terms of social and political views, and took "benefit" as the criterion of social life.They believe that "benefit" is to make people satisfied, "benefits are happy with what you get" ("Sutra").And "harm" is to make people feel disgusted, "harm, gain and hate" ("Sutra").Starting from this principle, they believe that moral behavior is to make people seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. The late Mohists proposed that in action, people should give up the current small gain to avoid the future big harm, or endure the current small harm and seek the future big gain.They call this intelligent choice "quan".They said: "The weight of power in the body is called power. Quan is neither right nor wrong; right is right. Cut off the fingers to survive.

From the above perspective, later Mohists interpreted various socio-political and moral categories. "Da Qu" said: "Righteousness benefits; unrighteousness harms; meritorious deeds are justified." It is believed that "righteousness" is not only a matter of subjective motivation, but also beneficial to people in terms of objective effects.They use "li" to explain concepts such as "loyalty", "filial piety" and "gong".They say: "Loyalty benefits the ruler"; "Filial piety benefits relatives";The utilitarian view of Mohism’s sociopolitical ethics in the later period represented the interests of rising craftsmen and businessmen.

In the later period, Mohists opposed the viewpoint of "benevolence inside and righteousness outside".In their view, benevolence refers to love, and righteousness refers to benefit. These all refer to people's subjective motives, and they are all guilt.And what you love and what you benefit, both refer to the result of behavior, and they are all external.Therefore they say: "Benevolence, love; righteousness, benefit. Love for benefit, this; what you love and benefit, that. Down").In the later period, Mohism inherited Mo Zi's thought of "integration of ambition and merit", and put more emphasis on "gong".In their view, the subjective motivation "Zhi" does not necessarily match the objective effect "Gong", and "Zhi Gong cannot follow each other" ("Da Qu").Therefore, people's intentional "will" and purposeful activities are not necessarily correct. They must be combined with "gong" to produce a "correct" standard. ("Jing Shuo")

Later Mohists believed that "benefit" is not just "benefit" for someone, but should be "mutual benefit" (mutual benefit).They said: "Be generous to Yu for the sake of the world, and be generous for Yu; to love Yu deeply for the sake of the world is for Yu's lover. Be generous with Yu's deeds for the world, but be generous with Yu's deeds for the world; if the evil robber's deeds are for the world , and the evil thieves will not be added to the world" ("Da Qu").To treat and love Yu for the sake of the world is to be public; this is because Yu loves and respects everyone in the world.If you only love Yu alone, it will not benefit the people of the world. This is not for the public but for private; this is the same as hating only a certain thief and not hating all the thieves.That is to say, the later Mohists inherited Mozi’s "universal love" and regarded "benefit" as "public benefit" to a certain extent.Moreover, they believe that this kind of "public interest" includes personal interests, "Loving others is nothing more than oneself, and oneself is in the love" ("Da Qu").This theory is related to its purpose of consolidating and developing the private economy of industry and commerce.

Later Mohists regarded "utility" as the standard for judging right from wrong, good and evil. Their "utility" was the "profit" of handicraftsmen and businessmen, and it reflected the requirements of industrial and commercial people that were developing at that time, which were conducive to the growth of the feudal economy. The interests of the first class were linked to the interests of the emerging landlord class at that time. Later Mohists inherited and developed Mozi's thought of "upholding the same".In Mozi, the role of monarchy is more emphasized, "the same but not inferior".In the later period, the Mohists put forward: "The monarch, the minister, and the Meng (meng) have a covenant." ("Jingshang") This means that the monarch can restrain the ministers and the people, which is conducive to the consolidation of the newly-built feudal system and the feudal autocracy. Centralized, but also progressive.

In the late period of the Warring States period, Mohism developed epistemology and logic in the debate with sophistry, and raised epistemology and logic to a higher level.In the later period, Mohism abandoned certain superstitious elements in Mozi's thoughts, such as religious idealism, Tian Zhiming, and ghosts.This school of theory also played a positive role in promoting Xunzi's materialist epistemology and logical thinking.