Han Feizi’s Critique of Confucianism

Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Date Han Feizi’s Critique of Confucianism Confucius, an ancient Chinese philosopher, had entirely a different view of how the rulers should run the government. The unique view of Confucius is that the government should be run with the utmost transparency and integrity so that the rights of the governed are protected. According to Confucius, a good ruler or an excellent leader is one who serves his people according to what is right and if he cannot do so he should retire from the position. Han Feizi, on the other hand, holds a contrary opinion to Confucianism. Han Feizi looks down on people being governed and suggests that they cannot do the right thing unless laws are instituted to govern them. Han Feizi states that it is not wise for a leader to rely on people to be good on their own. Rather, people should be made to follow the laws so that they can act in the right manner. Confucius’ and Han Feizi’s philosophies are conflicting and debatable. While Confucius believes that the government should work with good intentions and should be answerable to the people, Han Feizi believes that the rulers should decide what to do. The primary point of Han Feizi’s criticism of the Confucianism is that Confucius overestimates the power of transforming people to be good and morally upright. This criticism aims at attacking the methods, and the Confucius’ suggestions that people can be transformed so that they can be self-governing. Relying on virtue ethics as a method of governance is destined to fail, and it cannot help bring order to a nation (Hutton 429). Han Feizi also states that a political order cannot be achieved by giving the citizens the right to self-determination. The proposition by Confucius about the willingness of people to always want to be good is a point of criticism by Han Feizi. The latter holds that people are always evil unless there are strict laws and regulations governing them. Confucius followers think that people will always be good if the government is always good to them. Also, they suppose that the government is supposed to lead by an example and people will therefore follow. On the other hand, Han Feizi philosophy is that people will never be good if they are given the freedom to self-govern. Precisely, Han Feizi notes that “the Confucian approach to achieving order will not succeed and that one simply cannot achieve the Confucian state in which the majority of people are good and orderly of themselves” (Hutton 429). Therefore, according to Han Feizi, giving people excessive freedom usually results in lawlessness and disorder in a nation. Confucius believes in the power of virtue and morality to change the society which he states that the government should aim at transforming the people through good deeds so that the public can also emulate the leaders. The way to achieve order among the governed is by being good to them which would, in turn, make them good to the government and the entire society (Hutton 431). In contrast, Han Feizi believes that the Confucian philosophy of changing others to be good through virtues cannot succeed. To Han Feizi, a Confucian student is “the one who knows that what he pursues is impossible and yet persists anyway” (Hutton 431). Han Feizi believes that rulers can get people to be law-abiding citizens but it is not possible to make people truly good all by themselves. However, Han Feizi is positive about people cultivating morality so long as they do not interfere or disobey the laws, though he is not completely sure about how people can be good through the influence of others. Confucius himself lived and viewed the community and the society in which he lived with apprehension. He also brought the idea of using “the old to criticize the present” (Bellah 401). This idea was mainly applied by many who practices Confucianism, amongst them some Chinese rulers, such as the first Qin emperor. According to Confucians, poetry and history were the most important educational resources which people could use to educate themselves on the right virtues. Further, they suppose that the government should embrace history so that they could act by the deeds that proved to be good in the past. However, Han Feizi’s reaction to historical events is different (Hutton 430). He says that history is not important or valid in helping to make the government more powerful. Therefore, historic events and poetry were useless and only served to waste peoples time. He suggests that the government should focus on the present and the future by studying the behavior of people and make laws which would help it to maintain order in the future. In matters about the existence of a government, Confucius suggested that a government is essential. Confucius further suggested that a ruler should be good for his subjects for them to be good to him in return. Confucius again adds that the main reason for the existence of the government is for the benefit of the citizens and not the other way around. Confucius spent the entirety of his time from spring to autumn preaching that what separates the rulers from the common masses is that rulers should be people of great service to the people (Bellah 402). The rulers were supposed to take great responsibility in offering sacrifices in ceremonies. Confucius states that it is a noble task for a ruler to take life to feed the people who gave him power. On the contrary, Han Feizi's view is different as he suggests that people are supposed to serve the government. He also states that the government comes before everyone or everything in a legalist society. Contrary to the teachings of Confucius, “legalist teaching was entirely oriented to the ruler and consisted largely of advice as to how a ruler could obtain and increase power” (Bellah 457). Another criticism of Han Feizi towards Confucius is that people should sacrifice their energy and efforts for the government to be successful and powerful. Confucians usually advocate for peaceful coexistence between th...