Compare And Contrast Legalism And Confucianism

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Janet Kuskin Chinese Philosophy Essay

How did each philosophy’s view of either humans or the natural world shape its approach to establishing order and harmony in Chinese society?

Confucianism, Legalism, and Taoism have drastically different philosophies to establish order and harmony in a Chinese society. Confucius, a famous Chinese philosopher and creator of Confucianism, sees the good in humans. He believes they are trustworthy, and should be praised. The bad in society are not corrected by laws, but by disregarding them leading them to self correct. On the contrary, Legalists believe that humans should not be trusted. A society needs a strict government in order to maintain peace. Taoism believes in simplicity and the natural …show more content…

According to a legalist, humans are naive and untrustworthy. Han Fei-tzu, a Chinese legalist philosopher, says, “The wisdom of the people is useless: They have the minds of little infants!” Legalists believe that humans are naive and not smart enough to make the right decision. They have the intelligence of a child, and therefore cannot be trusted to make decisions within the society. Han Fei-tzu also believes that “...not even ten persons can be counted on [to do good].” Humans are so bad and untrustworthy that one could not find ten people in a society that are good. Legalists believe all humans are bad, not just a small percentage, which influences the type of government within a legalist society. Legalism has strict laws and harsh punishments in order to ensure peace within the society. Han Fei-tzu states, “He should not devote his attention to virtue, but to law.” According to a Legalist, because humans are bad and not virtuous, laws needs to be enforced to have order within the society. It is not desired to make people become good natured themselves, but to create a system that focuses on law and punishment. “...The skilled ruler does not go after such unpredictable goodness, but walks the path of certain success…” (Han Fei-tzu). Legalists believe that a ruler, if intelligent, will not rely on the untrustworthy and unpredictable citizens, but rather enforce laws to for people to be good. Government and law enforcement is imperative to a successful and peaceful legalist

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