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Summary of legalism
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This is an executive summary of the concept legalism.
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LegalismWhat is legalism?
=philosophical belief that human beings are more inclined to do wrong than right bcs they
are motivated entirely by self-interest
Believed: human nature = evil
Historical background
Constant war and chaos
Shang Yong; seen as founding father
Han Fei -> Han Feizi: writer of the greatest legalist texts
Use of legalism unified China
How did it work
Reaction on ‘doing wrong’ -> severe punishment
If you behave good – reward / If you behave bad – punished brutal (hard labour; e.g. great
wall, grand canal)
Brutal because the more brutal the measure, the less it will be need to be used
<-> Confucius: punishment doesn’t work, need to give them responsibility
They banned all other philosophies, especially confusianism: insistence of basic goodness of
human being
Need for order is their top priority
Legalists= political realism (rich state and a powerful army)
How did it end?
It worked well during war but not in peace time
Punishments made it very unpopular with the people
Legalism was abandoned when Qin dynasty was overthrown
Legalism in relationship to other philosophies
As Confucianism is optimistic and gentle, legalism is the opposite
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