Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study

Must absolutist states resort to intimidation and coercion to tackle subjects' disobedience driven by their pursuit of reputation? Since canonical early modern Western thinkers broached but did not solve this question, I turn to the most renowned ancient Chinese Legalist Han Feizi's unders...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: LIU, Antong
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4061
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5319/viewcontent/han_feizi_on_reputation_pvoa_cc_by.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
id sg-smu-ink.soss_research-5319
record_format dspace
spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-53192024-10-17T03:12:54Z Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study LIU, Antong Must absolutist states resort to intimidation and coercion to tackle subjects' disobedience driven by their pursuit of reputation? Since canonical early modern Western thinkers broached but did not solve this question, I turn to the most renowned ancient Chinese Legalist Han Feizi's understudied account of reputation for answers. Whether as a means or an end, individuals' pursuit of reputation always challenges the authority of the absolute monarchy that endeavors to centralize state power. Forcefully confronting this pursuit is the barely but only acceptable way for the state to tackle this challenge, as non-confrontational strategies favored by many Western thinkers inevitably fail due to their incompatibility with the logic of political absolutism. Thus, Han Feizi unwittingly exposes the tension between political absolutism and reputation. This exposure adds nuances to his view of human nature and helps us understand how individuals' morally ambiguous pursuit of reputation obstructs the centralization of state power. 2024-09-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4061 info:doi/10.1017/S0003055424000662 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5319/viewcontent/han_feizi_on_reputation_pvoa_cc_by.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Comparative Politics Political Science
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Comparative Politics
Political Science
spellingShingle Comparative Politics
Political Science
LIU, Antong
Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study
description Must absolutist states resort to intimidation and coercion to tackle subjects' disobedience driven by their pursuit of reputation? Since canonical early modern Western thinkers broached but did not solve this question, I turn to the most renowned ancient Chinese Legalist Han Feizi's understudied account of reputation for answers. Whether as a means or an end, individuals' pursuit of reputation always challenges the authority of the absolute monarchy that endeavors to centralize state power. Forcefully confronting this pursuit is the barely but only acceptable way for the state to tackle this challenge, as non-confrontational strategies favored by many Western thinkers inevitably fail due to their incompatibility with the logic of political absolutism. Thus, Han Feizi unwittingly exposes the tension between political absolutism and reputation. This exposure adds nuances to his view of human nature and helps us understand how individuals' morally ambiguous pursuit of reputation obstructs the centralization of state power.
format text
author LIU, Antong
author_facet LIU, Antong
author_sort LIU, Antong
title Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study
title_short Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study
title_full Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study
title_fullStr Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study
title_full_unstemmed Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study
title_sort han feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: a comparative study
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2024
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4061
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5319/viewcontent/han_feizi_on_reputation_pvoa_cc_by.pdf
_version_ 1814047921788682240