Ways of living and governing in early China

Part 2 · Early debates about life and reality

Can people learn to act well, and what should a government do when they do not? The readings in this module connect the formation of character with concern for others, with ways of acting and with the design of institutions.

We begin with learning in the Analects, move to the Mohist case for concern beyond one’s own circle, and then compare the accounts of human development offered by Mengzi and Xunzi. The Daodejing and the Zhuangzi challenge familiar assumptions about action and perspective, and the Han Feizi asks whether institutions can work without a virtuous ruler. Later lessons return to these arguments in new settings; the next module turns to selected Greek and Roman inquiries.

Time, place and approach. The course now steps back in time, to early China. Confucian, Mohist, Daoist and political writers disagreed within their own traditions as well as across them. Where their questions resemble those of South Asian thinkers, the resemblance invites comparison, but it is not evidence of influence.

After these lessons

• Compare reasons for cultivating character with reasons for changing institutions.
• Explain how the Daodejing or the Zhuangzi challenges an ordinary assumption about action or perspective.
• Describe a disagreement within a tradition, such as the one between Mengzi and Xunzi, as well as a disagreement between traditions.

Useful preparation

If you want a refresher on telling a claim apart from the reasons offered for it, lesson 2 provides one. Each lesson introduces its Chinese texts and explains unfamiliar terms as they arise, and you can begin without remembering every argument from the previous module.

• Review: What does a reason actually support?