School
Legalism
Also known as Fa tradition, Fajia
Warring States current of political realism that sought a rich state and a strong army through impartial laws, rewards and punishments rather than moral virtue.
“Legalism” is a popular but inaccurate name for the fa (“standards” or “law”) tradition, which flourished in the second half of the Warring States period (453–221 BCE). Its thinkers assumed that people will always be selfish and covet wealth and fame, and so looked for order not in moral teaching but in clear standards, dependable rewards and punishments, and the power of the ruler’s position. Its ideas shaped the Qin state that unified China in 221 BCE.
- Tradition
- Chinese
Philosophers
- Han Feifl. 260 – d. 233 BCE
Terms on this page
- fa
- Standards, models or law (法). The Mohists sought objective standards for judging right and wrong; the fa thinkers, often called Legalists, sought impartial standards of rule, enforced by rewards and punishments.
Sources
- Yuri Pines, Legalism in Chinese Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy