Theorist of Law and Method
Han Fei
Your quest companion appears in the header, offers one of their ideas on your home page each day, and cheers you on in lessons. You can change companions at any time, and your progress stays the same.
A prince of the state of Han who, by the traditional account, studied under Xunzi. He became the leading voice of the school later called Legalism, arguing that rulers should govern by clear published laws, rewards and punishments rather than by hoping for virtue.
Key work: Han Feizi
“To govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong.”
Key ideas, in brief (in our words)
Publish the law so that everyone can know it.
Rewards and punishments work better than waiting for virtue.
As times change, the way of governing must change too.
Read more: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Legalism in Chinese Philosophy
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The Published StandardWhen the Rule Fails
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