A Comparison of the Legitimacy of Power Between Confucianist and Legalist Philosophies
Asian Philosophy 10 (1):49-59 (2000)
| Abstract | The concept of legitimacy is at the heart of the theory of power. It is essential to understand how a political power is built and how obedience is obtained among the population. We examine here the legitimacy of power for two of the most important political philosophies of classical China: Confucianism and Legalism. We show how a specific group of the population, the scholar-officials, play a specialised role in the two systems, acting as a legitimisation group. We further compare rites and laws as a way to obtain social order, and morality vs punishments as a way to obtain obedience. We conclude that the Confucianist system is less fragile than the Legalist, but also more oppressive, since it allows fewer personal choices to individuals | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesEnzo Rossi (2012). Justice, Legitimacy, and (Normative) Authority for Political Realists. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 15 (2):149-164.
M. Coakley (2011). On the Value of Political Legitimacy. Politics, Philosophy and Economics 10 (4):345-369.
Stuart D. B. Picken (1997). The Imperial Systems in Traditional China and Japan: A Comparative Analysis of Contrasting Political Philosophies and Their Contemporary Significance. Asian Philosophy 7 (2):109 – 121.
Thomas Szasz (1982). On the Legitimacy of Psychiatric Power. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 3 (3):315-324.
A. Buchanan (2011). Reciprocal Legitimation: Reframing the Problem of International Legitimacy. Politics, Philosophy and Economics 10 (1):5-19.
Fabienne Peter, Political Legitimacy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Vatro Murvar (ed.) (1985). Theory of Liberty, Legitimacy, and Power: New Directions in the Intellectual and Scientific Legacy of Max Weber. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Li (2000). A Comparison of the Legitimacy of Power Between Confucianist and Legalist Philosophies. Asian Philosophy 10 (1):49 – 59.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-08-10Total downloads5 ( #160,284 of 549,041 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,185 of 549,041 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
