Everything about Mohism totally explained
Mohism or
Moism was a
Chinese philosophy developed by the followers of
Mozi (also referred to as Mo Di;
470–c.
391 BC). It evolved at about the same time as
Confucianism,
Taoism and
Legalism and was one of the four main
philosophic schools during the
Spring and Autumn Period and the
Warring States Period (from
770 to
221 BC). During that time, Mohism was seen as a major rival to Confucianism. The
Qin dynasty which united
China in
221 BC, adopted
Legalism as the official government philosophy, and
suppressed all other philosophic schools. In the modern era, Mohism has all but disappeared as a school of philosophy, although some Asian secret societies consider themselves to be the modern followers of Mohist thought.
Important beliefs
Mohism rested on the concept of "impartial care" or "universal love" . Mozi believed that "everyone is equal before heaven", and that people should seek to imitate heaven by engaging in the practice of impartial and collective love. His epistemology can be regarded as a form of
empiricism; he believed that our cognition ought to be based on our perceptions – our sensory experiences, such as sight and hearing – instead of imagination or internal logic, elements founded on our capacity for abstraction. Mozi's philosophy was described in the book
Mozi, compiled by his
students from his lecture notes.
Morality
Mozi is best known for his insistence that all people are equally deserving of receiving material benefit and being protected from physical harm. In Mohism, morality is defined not by tradition, but rather by a constant moral guide that parallels
utilitarianism. Tradition is inconsistent, and human beings need an extra-traditional guide to identify which traditions are acceptable. The moral guide must then promote and encourage social behaviors that maximize general utility.
Impartiality
Mohism promotes a philosophy of impartial care - equal care for all individuals.
- Assessing them basing on history
- Assessing them basing on the experiences of common, average people
- Assessing their usefulness by applying them in law or politics Much like Euclid's first and third definitions and Plato's 'beginning of a line', the Mo Jing stated that "a point may stand at the end (of a line) or at its beginning like a head-presentation in childbirth. (As to its invisibility) there's nothing similar to it." Similar to the atomists of Democritus, the Mo Jing stated that a point is the smallest unit, and can't be cut in half, since 'nothing' can't be halved. along with principles of space and bounded space. It also described the fact that planes without the quality of thickness can't be piled up since they can't mutually touch. The book provided definitions for circumference, diameter, and radius, along with the definition of volume.
Further Information
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