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That the mohists became so irrelevant in later dynasties was in my opinion a great loss. They were among the earliest universal consequentialists and great sie
by bigpumpkin 6y ago
That the mohists became so irrelevant in later dynasties was in my opinion a great loss.
They were among the earliest universal consequentialists and great siege engineers.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohism
- smitty1110 6y agoThe problem with Mohists was the fanatical level of utilitarianism in the philosophy. Art is a waste, if you have time for art you have time to do something productive. Music is a waste, both in producing instruments and wasting time. People chafe under such strict precepts, like with the Legalists.
- R0b0t1 6y agoThe way it contrasts to Confucianism is very interesting. It seems like they were trying to break cycles of clan based violence in addition to being very utilitarian.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- contingencies 6y agoSee also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Names There are only two hard problems in civilization: accounting, dynastic change and naming things.
- zozbot234 6y agoConfucious says: There are only three hard problems in civilization: accounting, dynastic change, naming things and identifying hard problems.
- earthboundkid 6y agoYes, it’s a real shame that China was the world leader in civilization, government, science, arts, and literature for only 2,000 years. If it weren’t for those damn Confucians, I’m sure they would have gotten in an extra couple of hundred years.
- Symmetry 6y agoMy understanding is that to make an effective movement based on benevolence you need to be able to draw a line and say, "OK, if you do this much you're a good enough person and while more would be better we're not going to give you flak for not doing more." And the Mohists failed to succeed at doing this and had a purity spiral that wiped them out. Something we Effective Altruists have to bear in mind.
- skykooler 6y agoI see a similar problem in the vegan movement, with people going vegan only to be told that they're not doing enough due to owning a car with a leather steering wheel, or buying coconut oil that contributes to destruction of orangutan habitats.
- R0b0t1 6y agoCan you give me more info on that? It looks like they thought the amount of charity was fine, they just wanted it to be more equally dispersed.