Mohist

[Anonymous]

Curious if there is really another reason WHY Mohism never gained the number of followers or amount of popularity as the other 3 religions in the debate. As an AP World History teacher, Mohism is not even mentioned in the text at all as a popular religion in comparison to Legalism, Confucianism, and Doaism.

It was mentioned in class that Buddhism was looked at as the first religion that really emphasized the ideas that Mohism just repeated. I wonder if that was really the only factor that led to the lack of interest in Mohism??? What do you think???

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Mo Zi seems to believe that all the chaos in the world is the result of partial love people have toward their family, community, country, etc. It is because of this partial love for their own family, community, and country that people would do whatever it takes to make their family, community, and country better--even at the expense of people who are not from the same kin group. Mo Zi believed that this chaos can be simply rectified when people have universal love for everyone--regardless of whether or not they are their kinsmen. According to Mo Zi, universal love dictates that everyone should be treated as if they are members of the same family or country. When this happens no one will do harm to another person, or one country to another because everyone will be seen as members of the same kin group.

[Anonymous]

I find the idea of universal love in Mohism very appealing, but I question how this virtue was supposed to be instilled in the people. For better or for worse humans always seem to draw a line between the inside group and the outside group. Confucianism emphasizes filial piety reinforced by rituals, but love for family and putting family first are natural human impulses. Family is the ultimate inside group. In successive outer orbits are fellow believers in the same religion, one's ethnic group, and co-workers. What did Mo believe compelled people to see themselves in others especially others who are very different from ourselves. The Judeo-Christian tradition has One God uniting all people and a divinely revealed law. According to Mo, what inspires universal love in humanity?

[Author]

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