Academic Senate Policy On Integrity Of Scholarship Analysis

Matthew Truong

A09941133

“This paper has been prepared in accordance with the Academic Senate Policy on Integrity of Scholarship.”

-Signed Electronically

Neo-Legalism

According to the historical context in “A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy,” translated and compiled by Wing-Tsit Chan, China experienced the most change in the twentieth century compared to any other periods in its history (Chan, p. ix). “If one word could be used to characterize the entire history of ancient Chinese philosophy, that word would be humanism — not the humanism that denies or slights a Supreme Power, but one that professes the unity of man and Heaven” (Chan, p. 03). If one name could be used to represent the origin of all ancient Chinese

14 -15). In the book, Chan then goes on to emphasize the relevancy of humanism and how it serve as the core foundation of most ancient Chinese schools of thought. Since “humanism was an outgrowth of historical and social change,” (Chan, p. 03) this is because most of the ancient Chinese schools’ belief intertwined with one another other. Each of these individual ancient Chinese schools of thought were founded by very well-known and highly educated philosophers. Though, these ancient schools of thought may have had similar views on certain aspects, Chinese philosophers from their respective school, don’t necessarily all agree with one another. Amongst the many ancient schools that may have surfaced throughout China’s history, the Legalist School [Han Fei Zi] and the Neo-Confucianism School [Wang Yangming] is a perfect example that demonstrated this. Their similarities and differences played an

Legalism was believed to have originated from the Confucianist teachings of Xunzi, who was later considered to be the precursor to Legalism. Xunzi, known as Hsün-tzu in the book, believed that all human beings were born naturally evil. All of Xunzi’s teachings were emphasized on the importance of education, law, and self-improvement. He believed that in order to become good and accumulate virtue, human beings must be educated and must seek for self-improvement. Since Xunzi viewed human beings as naturally evil, he argued that all men were born with a natural self-desire and interest that only seek for materialistic gains. In time, these selfish desires will eventually influence their bad decision making habits, so it is common to not expect them to act