Reference: Confucianism
Reference: The World’s Religions by Huston Smith
[NOTE: In color are Vinaire’s comments.]
The application of the Realists’ philosophy of social order proceeded by way of an elaborate mechanism of “penalties and rewards.” If rewards are high, then what the ruler wants will be quickly effected; if punishments are heavy, what he does not want will be swiftly prevented.
When tradition is no longer adequate to hold society together, human life faces the gravest crisis it has encountered. It is a crisis the modern world should have no difficulty in understanding, for in recent years it has returned to haunt humanity in an acute form. The United States provides the clearest example. A genius for absorbing peoples of varying national and ethnic backgrounds has earned for her the reputation of being a melting pot; but in weakening the traditions that immigrant groups brought with them, the United States has not provided them with a compelling replacement. This leaves the nation perhaps the most traditionless society history has known. As the alternative to tradition, the United States has proposed reason. Educate citizens and inform them, and they can be counted on to behave sensibly—this is the Jeffersonian-Enlightenment faith on which the United States was founded. It has not been fulfilled. Until recently the world’s leader in education, the United States leads likewise in crime, delinquency, and divorce.
When tradition is no longer adequate to hold society together, human life faces the gravest crisis it has encountered. China faced it 2500 years ago. Now United States is facing it.
With the Enlightenment’s answer to the problem of human coherence having still to vindicate itself, it is of more than antiquarian interest to look at the options that ancient China proposed. One of these was put forward by the Realists. What do you do when people don’t behave? Hit them. It is a classic answer to a classic question. What people understand best is force. Once individuals emerge from the chrysalis of tradition and start to steer their lives by reason, the pull of passion and self-interest is so strong that only the threat of heavy reprisal will keep them in line. Prate as you please of reason and morality, in the last analysis it is brute force that carries the day. The only way to avoid universal violence in a society composed of self-seeking individuals is to maintain an effective militia that stands ready to bat people back in line when they transgress. There must be laws that state clearly what is and is not permitted, and penalties for violation must be such that no one will dare to incur them. In short, the Realists’ answer to the problem of social order was: laws with teeth in them. It was essentially the answer Hobbes was to propose in the West. Left to the devices of individuals, with no absolute hand to restrain their self-seeking, life is “nasty, brutish, and above all, short.”
The Realists’ answer to the problem of social order was: laws with teeth in them. Left to the devices of individuals, with no absolute hand to restrain their self-seeking, life is “nasty, brutish, and above all, short.”
The application of the Realists’ philosophy of social order proceeded by way of an elaborate mechanism of “penalties and rewards.” Those who did what the state commanded were to be rewarded; those who did not were to be punished. Given this approach, the list of laws obviously had to be long and detailed—pious generalities, which could be bent out of shape by self-seeking interpretations, would not do. “If a law is too concise,” said Han Fei Tzu, the leading spokesman for the Realists, “the common people dispute its intentions. An enlightened ruler, when he makes his laws, sees to it that every contingency is provided for in detail. Not only must the requirements of law be spelled out; penalties for infractions should likewise be clearly specified. And they should be heavy. “Idealists,” Han Fei Tzu continues, “are always telling us that punishments should be light. This is the way to bring about confusion and ruin. The object of rewards is to encourage; that of punishments, to prevent. If rewards are high, then what the ruler wants will be quickly effected; if punishments are heavy, what he does not want will be swiftly prevented.”
The application of the Realists’ philosophy of social order proceeded by way of an elaborate mechanism of “penalties and rewards.” If rewards are high, then what the ruler wants will be quickly effected; if punishments are heavy, what he does not want will be swiftly prevented.
The estimate of human nature from which this political philosophy proceeded was obviously low. It was low in two ways. First, it assumed that base impulses predominate over noble ones. People are naturally lustful, greedy, and jealous. Goodness, if it is to emerge, must be built into them as wood is straightened in a press. “Ordinary people are lazy; it is natural to them to shirk hard work and to delight in idleness.” Many will feign moral attitudes when they think these will enable them to get ahead; indeed, a country may reek with sham morality and faked altruism. But when push comes to shove, self-interest will out.
Reactive behavior is more basic than the analytical and thoughtful behavior.
The second way the Realists’ view of human nature was low was in judging people to be short-sighted. Rulers must envision the long-term good, but subjects are not capable of this. Consequently, they will not voluntarily accept present sacrifices as necessary for future gains. Suppose a baby has a scalp disease. “If the baby’s head is not shaved, there is a return of its malady; if a boil is not lanced, it will go on growing. But while such things are being done to it, though someone holds it close and soothes it and its own mother lovingly performs these operations, the child will nevertheless scream and howl the whole while, not understanding at all that the small pain to which it is being subjected will result in a great gain.” Similarly, the masses “want security, but hate the means that produce security.” If they are allowed to follow the promptings of immediate pleasure, they will soon be victims of the pains they most dread; whereas if they are made to accept some things they currently dislike, they will be brought in the end to the pleasures they want.
If the people are made to accept some things they currently dislike, they will be brought in the end to the pleasures they want.
This low estimate of human nature in general did not lead the Realists to deny that nobler sentiments exist. They simply doubted that these were in sufficient supply to keep the state in order. Occasional geniuses appear who are able to draw perfect circles freehand, but can wheel-making wait on these? One person in a thousand may be scrupulously honest, but of what use are these few when millions are involved? For the millions, audits are indispensable. One ruler in a thousand might be able to inspire a people to live cooperatively without sanctions; but to tell the Chinese people, caught as they were in the Period of the Warring States, to wait for another model ruler of the order of the legendary heroes of the past, is like telling a man who is drowning in Middle China to hope that a skilled swimmer from the border provinces will materialize to save him.
This low estimate of human nature in general did not lead the Realists to deny that nobler sentiments exist. They simply doubted that these were in sufficient supply to keep the state in order.
Life is hard. We may wish that it were not, but wishing does not change realities.
No lake so still but that it has its wave;
No circle so perfect but that it has its blur.
I would change things for you if I could.
As I can’t, you must take them as they are.
The harsh facts of existence call for unwavering realism, for compromises annul action by trying to move two ways at once. “Ice and embers cannot lie in the same bowl.” Actually, a social philosophy as different from the Realists’ as fire from ice did exist alongside it in Confucius’ China. Known as Mohism after its principal spokesman, Mo Tzu or Mo Ti, it proposed as the solution to China’s social problem not force but love—universal love (chien ai). One should “feel toward all people under heaven exactly as one feels toward one’s own people, and regard other states exactly as one regards one’s own state.”
Life is hard. We may wish that it were not, but wishing does not change realities. The harsh facts of existence call for unwavering realism, for compromises annul action by trying to move two ways at once.
Mutual attacks among states, mutual usurpation among houses, mutual injuries among individuals, these are [among] the major calamities in the world.
But whence do these calamities arise?
They arise out of want of mutual love. At present, feudal lords have learned only to love their own state and not those of others. Therefore they do not scruple about attacking other states. The heads of houses have learned only to love their own houses and not those of others. Therefore they do not scruple about usurping other houses. And individuals have learned only to love themselves and not others. Therefore they do not scruple about injuring others. Therefore all the calamities, strifes, complaints, and hatred in the world have arisen out of want of mutual love….
How can we have the condition altered?
It is to be altered by the way of universal love and mutual aid.
But what is the way of universal love and mutual aid?It is to regard the state of others as one’s own, the houses of others as one’s own, the persons of others as one’s self. When all the people in the world love one another, then the strong will not over-power the weak, the many will not oppress the few, the wealthy will not mock the poor, the honored will not disdain the humble, and the cunning will not deceive the simple. And it is all due to mutual love that calamities, strifes, complaints, and hatred are prevented from arising.
Calamities arise out of want of mutual love. And it is all due to mutual love that calamities, strifes, complaints, and hatred are prevented from arising.
Mo Tzu simply disagreed with charges that his emphasis on love was sentimental and impractical. “If it were not useful, even I would disapprove of it. But how can there be anything that is good but not useful?” It may have been the radicalness of Mo Tzu’s position that led him to believe that it was backed by Shang Ti, the Sovereign on High, a personal god who “loves people dearly; ordered the sun, the moon, and the stars; sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew; established the hills and rivers, ravines and valleys; appointed dukes and lords to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked. Heaven loves the whole world universally. Everything is prepared for the good of human beings.”
As love is obviously good, and the God who orders the world is good as well, it is inconceivable that we have a world in which love does not pay. For “whoever loves others is loved by others; whoever benefits others is benefited by others; whoever injures others is injured by others.”
Reason specifies love but there is reaction to be overcome.
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