philosopher advocating ethical egoism

philosopher advocating ethical egoism

Yang Zhu (about 395-335 B.C.), a great thinker and philosopher in the early Warring States period of China, was born in the state of Wei (about Qin).

Yang Zhu advocated the thought of "valuing oneself", "rebirth" and "everyone does not lose a cent". He is the founder of Taoist Yang Zhu school. His opinions are scattered in Liezi, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Hanfeizi, lvshi Chunqiu, etc. In the Warring States period, there was a phenomenon that "the words of the world did not belong to Yang, but to Mo".

Ideas and propositions

Basic theory

Yang Zhu school was unique in the Warring States period, competing with Confucianism and Mohism. Zhuangzhou, the guardian of Taoism, and mengke, the founder of Confucianism, had been repelled and attacked. Probably because of the influence of this criticism, scholars passed on to later generations stopped. Moreover, the Qin emperor burned books, and Hanwu respected Confucianism, so it disappeared in the Qin and Han Dynasties. However, it did not mean that his theory and influence were lost. It was just that he was buried among the people. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Zhang Zhan annotated it and then reappeared it. Zhang Zhan said that Yang Zhu Pian is one of the "only existences" in Liezi Xu, which is not a fabricated word.
As for Yang Zhu's theory, it has always been or originated from Lao Tzu (such as Chapter 13 of Lao Tzu), "if you regard your body as the world, you can send it to the world.". Love takes the body as the world, if you can trust the world. ") They are close to Taoism, but reluctantly belong to Taoism; or because they are not completely consistent with Lao Tzu's thoughts, Lao Tzu valued softness while Yang Zhu valued himself, and they were denounced by Zhuang Zhou, so they do not belong to Taoism; most of them start from Lao Tzu, Confucianism and Mo, which is really unique, "Yang Zhu" is their own family. To sum up Yang Zhu's speech, his thought must be "valuing oneself", or "for me". In fact, Yang Zhu's words have the nature of the times. In the late spring and Autumn period and the early and middle Warring States period, Confucius advocated that the world should be regarded as the world. However, it has become a hypocrisy to say that the princes and princes are fighting against each other, invading and destroying each other for the benefit of death, and the monarch's good life leads to the death of his subjects. Yang Zhu was angry with the world and advocated the saying of "valuing oneself." the ancient people, if they lose a dime to benefit the world, don't cooperate with them; if they know that the world is dedicated to one, they don't take it. Everyone does not lose a cent, everyone is not good for the world, and the world is governed. " He also said: "those who are good at external governance may not be able to govern things; those who are good at internal governance may not be chaotic. If we govern the outside, the law can be temporary in a country, but not in line with the people's will; if we govern the inside, we can push it to the world. " We should treat ourselves as our own people, and we should not invade or damage each other. We should respect ourselves and love ourselves, so that we can take care of ourselves and govern the world? Starting from "valuing oneself", Yang Zhu constructed his theory: < br > (1) on life and death: there is life and there is death, which is the same for everyone. There are differences between the virtuous and the foolish, the poor and the humble in life, and the rotten bones in death. There is no difference between Yao and Shun and Jie and Zhou.
(2) valuing oneself: life is the most precious thing in one's life. Life is hard to meet and death is easy to reach. This short life should be extremely valuable. To be happy with life, it is important to save oneself. Don't damage him. If you go away, you will never come again.
(3) wholeness fidelity: the so-called wholeness refers to the nature of conforming to nature. It is convenient to have everything that is already there, and it is convenient to enjoy everything that is healthy. However, it is irreversible for life to be envious of life, and accumulation of things to be tired of. As long as there are "rich houses, beautiful clothes, good taste and good color" to satisfy life, it is enough. Don't be insatiable, and don't hurt life for external things.
The so-called fidelity is to keep the authenticity of my body endowed by nature, and not lose the pleasure of the year; move freely, and not go against the good of nature; swim freely, and not go against the good of all things; do not cherish the reputation of the moment, and not be proud after death; do not envy longevity, fame, position, and goods, but be fearless of ghosts, people, power, and profits, and keep and conform to the self-confidence The nature of nature, however, controls its own destiny. According to Zheng Bin's textual research in biography of Yang Zhu, the fourth volume of ancient history differentiation, the above-mentioned materials include Yang Sheng, Yang Zi, Yang Zhu, Yang Ziju, Yang zicuo and so on. It is concluded that "the surname is Yang (or Yang), the name is Zhu, the word is Ziju (or zuozico)", and it is a Qin person. As for the date of Yang Zhu's birth and death, I think it must be later than that of Mozi and earlier than that of mengke. Menqiming's comparative study of Yang zhupian and Yang Zi, the second part of Volume IV of ancient history differentiation, concludes that "the approximate date of his birth and death should be between 450 and 370 BC (i.e. from the 15th year of King Zhending to the 6th year of King lie of Zhou)

Moral point of view

Yang and Zhu are true to nature, light to things and precious to oneself. Laozi, the silk book of Mawangdui, said: "to be void, to be extreme; to be sentimental, to be expressive.". What is precious is love, which is in line with the original intention of Laozi. It's not that we used to think that we were just doing nothing for personal interests. "Liezi · Yang Zhu" belongs to Yang Zhu both in Han Dynasty and modern times. It maintains the original intention of Yang Zhu's thought and does not fundamentally contradict "Yang Zhu". From the point of view, Yang Zhu is not a person who benefits others at the expense of himself or indulges in lust. "Yang Zhu thinks:" the ancient people, if they lose a dime to benefit the world, don't cooperate with them; if they know that the world is dedicated to them, they don't take them. Everyone does not lose a cent, everyone is not good for the world, and the world is governed. " In this regard, Mr. He Lin said: "if you don't pull out a dime to benefit the world, that is to say, it will neither harm yourself to benefit others, to show that it is contrary to altruism at the expense of others, nor to show that it is contrary to the villains at the expense of others and themselves, but to take the middle road at both ends." When commenting on Yang Zhu's idea of "disadvantageous to the world, not taking the world", Mr. Lu simian pointed out: "if the wife does not lose a cent, there will be no Yao and Shun; if everyone is disadvantageous to the world, there will be no Jie and Zhou; if there is no Jie and Zhou, there will be no chaos at that time; if there is no Yao and Shun, there will be no future malpractice. So it's called "the rule of the world.". If Yang Zi says this for me, he can be said to be very subtle in terms of philosophy. If he looks at it in terms of selfishness, he will be able to judge Yang Zi The modern scholars' sympathetic understanding of Yang Zhu's reasonable egoism is in line with Wang Bi's middle way theory of "no loss, no benefit", which is put forward in his interpretation of the ninth two hexagram of "loss", and it also shows people's recognition of the moral value of reasonable egoism. Because true or reasonable egoism, in order to maintain their own life, interests or happiness, although they will not intentionally do altruistic things, but at least do not harm the happiness of others, can be regarded as self-interest. "Self protection and self-interest is the natural instinct, but also has considerable intelligence and training, in order to safeguard their own interests; also requires considerable self-cultivation and restraint, in order not to harm the legitimate interests of others. Therefore, egoism also has its moral value. ".

political thought

Yang's idea of "one society for all" is unfavourable. It is recorded in Shuoyuan Zhengli that Yang Zhu once discussed with the king of Liang that "governing the world is like good luck.". He compared himself to Yao and Shun, claiming to be a sage who "can rule the big but not the small, and can make great achievements but not the small". Instead of running his family, he specialized in political activities. Han Fei said that Yang Zhu had the same talent as Mo Zhai. Yang Zhu opposed the French king. He thinks that to give up the present people and praise the ancient Kings is to praise the withered bones of the dead. Therefore, he advocated the establishment of a new society. This political view is derived from the theory of "for me" instead of "invading things". That is to say, on the one hand, from "to damage a cent for the world, not also", derived from "everyone does not damage a cent, everyone is not conducive to the world, the world is governed.". On the other hand, it should be derived from the fact that everyone does not benefit from the world, and everyone does not benefit from the world. That is to say, everyone does not profit from the world, nor does he profit from the world; everyone does for himself, but does not invade others; then the world will be peaceful. Because Yang Zhu thinks that life is more important than everything, and life is only for people once. Therefore, he only emphasized the interests of the individual, but did not pay attention to the interests of the country, which led to the theory of no monarchy. Yang Zhu believes that the people who govern this society should be "virtuous" and have the virtue of modesty. "To be virtuous is to be virtuous rather than to be virtuous.". Yang Zhu believes that all members of this society should be cautious. Xunzi wangba tells the story of Yang Zhu crying "wrong way", which reflects this psychological state. According to the story, when Yang Zhu came to the crossroads, he said with emotion, "if you go in the wrong direction in this place, it will lead to a thousand mile error." So he began to cry bitterly. Yang Zhu's crying "wrong way" is just for the road of life. If we choose the wrong road carelessly, it will cause endless harm. Members of Yang Zhu's ideal society should be "for me" and not "invade things". But it's not easy to do these two things. We need to consider every step in our life. Yang Zhu advocated the establishment of a society in which everyone was for himself without infringing others. However, this kind of society can not exist in class society at all. It is just a beautiful illusion of human beings. As pointed out in Han Fei Zi Ba Shuo when criticizing Yang Zhu, Yang Zhu's proposition, though insightful, does not conform to the actual situation at that time and is totally impractical. "Mencius" said: "Yang Zi take for me, pull out a hair and benefit the world, not for it." (on the heart) Lu's spring and Autumn Annals (the third century BC) said: "Yang Sheng GUI Ji." Han Feizi (the third century B.C.) said: "there are people here today who are not willing to enter the dangerous city, not in the military, not to make a profit in the world It's also a man of light weight and rebirth. " (Xianxue) Huainanzi (the second century BC) said: "the integrity of fidelity, not the accumulation of things: Yangzi's foundation." (on the flood) in the above quotation, scholars have proved that Yang Sheng in the spring and Autumn Annals of the Lu family is Yang Zhu.

Chinese PinYin : Yang Zhu