Masters Mozi and Laozi are two famous philosophers from the Warring States Period; however, their theories about how to govern a state are opposed. Master Mozi advocates for impartial caring and non-offence in the application of enforceable rules, while Master Laozi favors “trying not to try”. In this paper, I will analyze these two Chinese philosophers’ ideas regarding solutions to crime. This analysis will include a brief comparison and comments on their thoughts.
Mozi, when emphasizing his state view, argued that “social good and harm”, which means societal benefits should be the main goal of a state. According to this view, a increasing crime rates may be effectively solved by enforcing rules and punishing people who harm societal benefits.
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In chapter 3, Laozi explains that sages should be “opening people’s hearts”, “filling their bellies”, “weaken the people’s commitments”, and “strengthen their bones” (Ivanhoe and Norden 164). These four points are general conditions when performing a non-action strategy. People who are rich enough will not steal from or cheat others because they are not struggling to live. Also, people who do not measure their worth by material objects will not fight for luxury goods, and that is because they know what is truly precious and what is truly cheap. Trying to banish awareness of outside materialism and making sure that every citizen can eat their fill and keep their bodies warm are two main targets for sages in ruling …show more content…
However, Mozi’s idea of enforcing rules on people can be merciless in some conditions. For example, when unexpected meteorological impacts cause crop failure, poor people do not have enough food to live, while some selfish people store up plenty of grains and are not willing to share with others. To survive this famine, hungry poor people rob others who have a great deal of grains. Should we just kill them because they violated the rules? Moreover, when authoritative structures gain too much force, social stratification is created, as well as unequal distribution of political powers. In this kind of society, social problems like stealing and robbing are more likely to happen because of envy and desire. For the two reasons I mentioned above, Mozi’s ideological views may not be a perfect way to decrease crimes. However, Laozi’s thoughts may also not work for normal citizens because most of us have something that we want in our lives, such as a high grade on a test, a delicious meal for dinner, or a good working position after we graduate. It seems impossible to achieve Daoism’s ideology of a world with no demands or desires; yet, Laozi’s ideas can be a lifelong goal to perfect ourselves. To decrease crime in society, Mozi’s strategies will work immediately but only in the short term, whereas Laozi’s strategies will not have an instantaneous
During the Warring Sates Period there were three main philosophies in china, that influenced their actions and way of thinking. The three perspectives were Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism. For each there was a social thoughts, political thoughts, ethical teachings, and a way of public life. These three philosophies where created because of the political fragmentation. (McKay,Pg.70)
In China during 406-221 BCE, the battling states between the Zhou and the Han Dynasties? were in a state of governmental disorder. Although the era was in a disruptive state, it ushered in a cultural opening that left a long lasting imprint on the Chinese history. As a result, three major belief systems surfaced Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism in an attempt to achieve a sense of political order in a disorder period. There are distinctions in the way each of the belief systems approached the many problems that plagued the Chinese society. First, all of the founders were contemporaries in China. As well as considered philosophies, who studied the future, and sat out to focus on the present rather than the past. In contrast, Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism established various paths in search of an optimistic future for the success of China. Second, both Legalism and Confucianism developed a social belief system, but are considered a religion. However, both Legalism and Confucianism purpose was to create an orderly society in the hopes of prosperity. In contrast, Daoism does
All societies have rules and regulations as well as penalties for those who violate them. There are numerous theories about the philosophy behind these laws and punishments, and the reasons we implement them. A short analysis of two of these perspectives can shed light on the differences between the various ideas while illustrating that, in reality, each theory carries some validity.
Criminology is a field that has been researched prolong. Most of the information explaining crime and delinquency is based on facts about crime (Vold, Bernard, & Daly 2002, p.1). The aim of this paper is to describe the theories of crime and punishment according to the positivists Emile Durkheim and Cesare Lombroso, and the classical criminologist Marcese de Beccaria. The theories were developed as a response to the industrialisation and the modernisation of the societies in the 18th and 19th centuries and were aiming to create a rational society and re-establish social solidarity (Vold et al 2002, p.101). The criminological perspectives of crime and punishment will be discussed in a form of dialogue between the three theorists exploring
Four theories were done to see what stability through could be counted as a crime. “Each theory, has its intellectuals, practitioners, and critics”. When using one of the theories it turns out that one of these key concepts happen: “retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, or incapacitation”. Retribution is when the system keeps
Although Daoism believes in modesty, and Confucianism emphasizes honesty, ruling a kingdom effectively during a time of turmoil requires sovereignty. Legalism is a system of pure power that demands restraint and discipline with an emphasis on strict laws. Daoism maintains the balance of nature and embrace harmony by utilizing “The Dao.” Confucianism highlights virtues and morality wanting people to become The Superior Man. For an East Asian Kingdom plagued by famine, war, and civil unrest, Legalism would bring order to the Kingdom by a centralized and powerful government, strict laws that govern the people, and once peace ensues, a secure economy.
concentrates that law is purely used to promote good by the state. Furthermore, law should
Criminal law is a construct of the government, enforced through tangible measures. In a democratic society, the government is elected by the citizens, and as such, laws are generally conceived with the aim to reflect whatever ethical or moral standards are presently acceptable. However, in order to be truly effective, some legislation must circumvent current sociological viewpoints in order to create laws that are genuinely in the best interests of society. This results in a delicate balancing act, as lawmakers attempt to weigh the views of the majority against the need for laws to be both reasoned and objective.
Perhaps in his time Lao-Tzu viewed that his interpretation of human nature was entirely possible, but as far as the twenty-first century is involved, the idea that if societies are left unattended we are able to “Trust them” (§ 75, 59) is absurd. It can be argued legitimately that Lao-Tzu’s concepts have been applied and in fact have proven to be extremely effective. For example, a capitalistic, laissez-faire approach to governing, particularly the form advocated by American Republicans. However, cases of removing regulations and adopting the leadership standards Lao-Tzu advises have been strictly applied to market economics, not to each and every facet of government.
In recent years, the death penalty is still existing in everywhere although there is less number of convicted offenders than the old time. Some people think that death penalty is the way to constrain people to do not offend or violate the legislation while some have an argument that this punishment should be abolished. In this essay, I will compare two articles. “Why Japanese support the death penalty? “ by Shanhe Jiang, Rebecca Pilot, and Toyoji Saito (2010)(article 1) and “ Does it matter if the Death Penalty is Arbitrarily Administered ? ” by Stephen Nathanson (2009)(article2).
Society has a need for quality and equal justice along with protection for everyone and the process of how to effectively implement such a thing has been an issue for many years. Focusing on the problems of society incorporates methods of trying to fix it from political measures to law enforcement measures. The combined effort of the two brings out the issue of what method should be used to dominate the problems. Looking at
Complied during the Warring States Period, the Daodejing is widely known as one of China’s famous philosophy literature. This text reflects the general lament of a civilization that has been worn down from war and seeks to find peace by teaching people how to live by “the Way”. From a war-torn perspective, the Daodejing deems war and government corruption as evil and traces them back to greedy and power-hungry motives. As a successor to Confucius, it still carries some of his ethics. Because of its mystical overtones, it has acquired a large variety of interpretations. Its main teaching is if a person does nothing, then peace will be restored; it is the concept of non-action or 无为。When a person does not try to interfere and allows things to
Crime was seen by Durkheim as inevitable, he argued that a constant level of crime can be functional and only becomes harmful to society when crime rates are abnormally high or low. According to Durkheim the purpose of punishment is not to eliminate crime completely but rather to maintain the norms and values of the majority, in order to keep a relative amount of “social order”.
In this paper I will explore and provide my own insights on the shortcomings of both ideologies; how Legalism was more persuasive in getting people to accept their ideas and more effective as an ideology and how Confucianism lost out in both aspects.
We have covered the general accounts of human nature found in Confucianism and Taoism in light of the historical backdrop of the Period of Warring States. Use your responses to the following general questions below as an opportunity to refer either to the Smith text and accompanying assigned scriptures(s), Smith video(s) on China, Confucianism, and Taoism, or any additional material covered in class. Look ahead to the next question on the chun tzu in order to plan on avoiding repetition of answers verbatim within each essay if there are areas of potential overlap.