The pre-Qin period was an important period of academic prosperity in early ancient China, with a hundred schools of thought contending. During this period, Confucianism, Taoism and France all regarded science and technology as a dead end or disdained or explicitly rejected it. The Confucian classic "The Analects of Confucius" said: "Although there is a path, there must be considerable, which is a gentleman who is afraid of mud." Therefore, it is believed that gentlemen should devote themselves to self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world, and regard science and technology as "Tao" rather than doing it. Taoism advocates nature, small countries and few people, living and working in peace and contentment, and has an ambivalent attitude towards science and technology. Laozi said in the Tao Te Ching: "There are great fallacies in wisdom", "There are many sharp weapons in people, and the country is unconscious; There are many people (skills) and strange things are born. " It is believed that only by "abandoning wisdom and wisdom" and "skillfully abandoning profit" can the original natural color be maintained. Legalists saw the importance of science and technology for enriching the people and strengthening the country based on the requirements of "dividing and fighting" and "enriching Qiang Bing", but legalists did not admire science and technology.
During this period, only Mohism showed a unique value orientation to science and technology. Mozi put forward the idea of "mutual love and mutual benefit" politically, but he also made great achievements in the fields of geometry, mechanics, optics and other natural sciences, military technology, machinery and civil engineering. Liang Qichao said in the preface to the collation and interpretation of Mohist classics: "Mohist classics are the only ones in our ancient books that want to be linked to the so-called scientific spirit." Qian even praised: "There are hundreds of definitions and laws about natural phenomena and thoughts in a book, and this is the only Mohist scripture in the works of pre-Qin philosophers;" Among the ancient books seeking world coexistence, only a few works of ancient Greece are enough to make the other side sigh! " He also said that Mozi was "a rare scientist in ancient China". With the great revival of Mohism in the past 30 years, the scientific and technological achievements of Mohism represented by Mojing have been widely recognized and respected by academic circles, and Mozi has also been honored as a "saint". Yang Xiangkui, a famous contemporary Mohist expert, thinks: "A Mohist classic surpasses the whole of Greece in any aspect of natural science, at least equal to the whole of Greece. "The author believes that Mozi's scientific and technological achievements are worthy of pride, but his consistent' humanistic care' in scientific and technological practice is more worthy of cherish and has a positive guiding role in today's scientific and technological development.
First, "the unity of righteousness and benefit"-the utilitarianism of Mozi's scientific and technological thought.
The so-called scientific and technological utilitarianism is based on Mozi's view of justice and benefit, that is, what is the best problem. When Confucius answered this question, he opposed righteousness and benefit, and advocated "peace for the benevolent", "why bother to talk about benefit", "justice for the gentleman, benefit for the villain" and "doing more and complaining". When answering this question, Mozi advocated both "emphasizing righteousness" and "emphasizing profit", and put forward the viewpoint of the unity of righteousness and profit: it not only affirmed that "benefiting people" was the highest standard, but also safeguarded the dignity of moral principles; He also regards "righteousness" as a means of "benefiting people" and "benefiting the world"
Mozi put forward that "everything is more valuable than righteousness." Mozi returned to righteousness. He believes: "The righteous are also righteous. Why is knowing righteousness right? If there is righteousness in the world, it will be ruled, and if there is no righteousness, it will be chaotic. I take this as a righteousness. " (Mozi Tian) So "righteousness" is "righteousness". In Mozi Tian, Mozi also said: "Righteousness and benefit". (Mozi's theory of business) that is, righteousness is benefit, and advocates righteousness and benefit as the content. In Mozi's view, "profit" is a measure of value to judge whether things conform to "righteousness". "All words and deeds are beneficial to the people of heaven and ghosts; All words and deeds are harmful to ghosts and people "("Mozi returns to righteousness "). He clearly pointed out that "those who waste money and have no profit, do not do it for themselves" ("Mozi Ci"). What is written in the classic is "merit benefits the people", that is to say, only things that are beneficial to the people can have "merit". He also said: "The so-called people who cherish the treasure can benefit others. The jade of He Shen, the pearl of Sui and Hou Dynasties, with three spines and six differences, can't benefit people, and it is also a good treasure in the world. Nowadays, the rule of the country by employing people requires a large number of people, punishment and social security, and only those who do valuable things can benefit the people. And righteousness can benefit people, so it is said: righteousness is a good treasure on earth. " In other words, Mozi believes that justice and benefit are integrated, and "righteousness" is "a good treasure on earth".
Mozi believes that any behavior that conforms to "benefiting the world" and "benefiting people" is "righteousness"; The behavior of "benefiting people" and "harming people" is the difference between all the names of good and evil of "injustice" and is also based on whether it is beneficial or not. It is the perfect standard that is beneficial to the actual interests of people all over the world; On the contrary, anything harmful to people is evil. Mozi is willing to pay the price to gain profit in order to realize the purpose of righteousness he said in the article Daqu: "Broken fingers and wrists, similar to the world, have no choice. There is no choice but to live and die. " Through this passage, we can realize Mozi's broad feelings. As long as it is beneficial to everyone in the world, no matter whether it is broken fingers or wrists, no matter life or death, we will move forward without hesitation. Driven by the idea of "unity of justice and benefit" and guided by the banner of humanistic care of "emphasizing justice over benefit", Mozi and his disciples are striving to achieve utilitarian goals such as "justice and benefit" in their scientific practice, and finally realize that "the government of punishment, the equality of the people, the wealth of the country and the wealth of the people are sufficient, so they are better" (Mozi's scientific invention and creation is only his ".
Here, the author wants to point out that Mozi's "profit" is the benefit of meritorious service, and of course it also includes moral norms such as loyalty, profit, filial piety and kindness, rather than the benefit of wealth and goods respected by the world. To put it simply, Mozi's interests are public interests rather than private interests, not interests that harm others and benefit themselves. In Mozi's eyes, there are only "people's interests", "world interests" and "national interests"
Second, "the unity of Tao and technology"-the value goal of Mozi's scientific and technological thought.
"Mozi Lu Wen" records: "The loser cut bamboo and thought it was a magpie and flew away three days later. The loser thinks that he is smart, and Mozi says that he is a magpie, so it is better for a craftsman to run a car. In a flash, you can cut down three inches of wood, but you can weigh fifty stones. Therefore, what you do, people are smart, and people are stupid. "
"Everything is done by Han Feizi, the foreign reserve says left" records: "Mozi worked as a wooden kite for three years, but lost in one day. Disciple said: Mr. Wang is very clever and can make wooden kites fly. Mozi said: it is better to learn the skill of driving, which won't take long to learn. Instead, you can learn from the agreement of 30 stones, which will make you more powerful and last longer than your age. Today, it became a kite for three years, and it was lost in one day. Huizi listened: Mozi is smart, smart is a graupel, and clumsy is a kite. "
As can be seen from the above two paragraphs, Mozi's scientific and technological practice has strong humanistic feelings. Mozi's scientific and technological thought is a humanistic scientific view, which contains rich humanistic care and humanitarian spirit. Because Mozi's scientific and technological practice serves the righteous thought characterized by "saving the world", "Tao" and "technology" constitute the main elements of Mozi's scientific and technological thought, ensuring the development direction of "technology" and promoting its in-depth development. They are interdependent, mutually supportive and mutually restrictive.
In view of this feature of Mohism, Mr. Zhu Yazong thinks: "Mohist Group has successfully realized two combinations that are difficult to have in the early days of human society, one is the combination of scholars and craftsmen, and the other is the combination of sophistry and technology. This can be roughly regarded as a feature of Mohism. " The secret of the so-called "combination of scholars and craftsmen" is to use the imagination and understanding developed by scholars in amateur reading and thinking to refine the technical experience accumulated by craftsmen, thus creating new scientific knowledge. In this combination, the leisure of scholars and the practice of craftsmen are indispensable conditions. "And" these two conditions are perfectly combined with Mohist scholars. " Therefore, "Mohist Group is an ideal organization to realize the combination of scholars and craftsmen".
Mozi is both a great thinker and a great scientist, which is the external expression of his wisdom system at two levels. His people-oriented political ethics system is his "Tao" and his scientific inventions are his "skills". "Tao" is theoretical and "technique" is operational. The so-called "integration of Taoism and technology" refers to Mozi's "unity of people-oriented thought theory and science and technology". It is not difficult to find that Mozi's scientific and technological contributions are mainly concentrated in geometry, optics, mechanics and machinery manufacturing. The main reason is that these disciplines are most closely related to production practice and people's lives. Whether it is to develop geometry for construction and handicraft production, or to develop widely used production tools such as levers, pulleys and orange sticks, the purpose is to improve labor efficiency and increase social wealth in order to obtain real benefits. Mozi said, "Why a boat?" Car dealers travel on land and ships travel in valleys for the benefit of all directions. Any way to sail a boat is fresh with light, and it is not fresh without light. "(Mozi frugality) means that shipbuilding is used to communicate the interests of all parties. The principle of shipbuilding is to increase portability and convenience. If it can be increased, it will be increased, and if it cannot be increased, it will be removed. This sentence can best explain Mozi's standard of creating value. Mr. Zhang Dainian thinks: "The natural science research of Mohism is subordinate to Mozi's highest purpose" to promote the benefits and eliminate the evils for the world ".This paper profoundly expounds the true meaning of Mozi's scientific and technological thought.
Third, be alert to the labor cost in the development of science and technology.
Science and technology is a double-edged sword. In today's world science and technology sturm und drang, science and technology are holding the earth in the hands of rapid progress, and science and technology are also facing the danger of self-acceleration and deviation from the normal track. Science and technology, while pushing the world forward and bringing great benefits to mankind, are also threatening human civilization and established order, and are falling into an absurd situation of creating and destroying civilization. The serious consequences and social risks it brings have attracted more and more attention from the society.
1936, with the theme of "science and social welfare", the Lake Conference of the British Association for the Advancement of Science put forward an initiative to establish a worldwide scientific alliance, safeguard peace and academic freedom, and make the most effective use of science for the benefit of mankind. 1937 65438+February 3 1 day, the Committee meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science decided to study the impact of science on society as one of its goals. The Association invited the British Association for the Advancement of Science and all other scientific organizations with similar goals in the world not only to cooperate in promoting the interests of scientific undertakings and promoting peace and academic freedom among countries, but also actively urged the Scientific Association and Cambridge University to set up departments specializing in the study of the relationship between science and society and international relations. The activities of these groups represent the greatest consensus among scientists in this period. However, with the increasing utility value of scientific knowledge, science and technology have unlimited potential in improving labor productivity and creating wealth, but they are also being transformed into more and more emphasis on self-interest and utilitarianism. What is worrying is that some big interest groups are trying to seize the development of technology in order to seize too much monopoly profits. Technology has become the handmaid of capital, completely subject to the expulsion of capital.
At present, all the problems can be summed up in one aspect, that is, in the process of scientific and technological practice, "Tao" and "technology" are alienated and separated, "Tao" is shrinking day by day, "technology" is expanding rapidly without the protection of "Tao", and the complementary relationship is increasingly unbalanced. This kind of technology is a dwarf in humanistic care and a giant in technology, which is far from the technology advocated by Mozi. The former's science and technology completely violates the ethical principles that should be followed in the development of science and technology, and will certainly lead human society to the opposite side of its own development goals.
Brief introduction of mohists
Mohism is a school of philosophy in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China and one of the hundred schools of thought. It was listed as a school specializing in "natural science" in hundred schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, and was juxtaposed with "famous scholars" and "mathematicians".
Mencius, a representative of Confucianism, once said that "the words of the world do not belong to Yang (Yang Zhu, a representative of Taoism), but to Mo (Mozi)", which shows the brilliance of Mohism in China. Yang Mo is originally two sides of the same coin, so Yang Mo complements each other. However, it is unfair for people to evaluate Yang Mo with Mencius' general way of thinking. [ 1]
Mohism was born in the Warring States Period. The founder is Mo Zhai (Mozi). Mohism is a disciplined academic group, and its leader is called "tycoon". When its members go to various countries to serve as officials, they must implement Mohism and their salaries must also be dedicated to the group. Mohist school is divided into early and late stages: the early stage mainly involves social politics, ethics and epistemology, and pays attention to secular wars; In the later period, Mohism made an important contribution to logic and began to move closer to the field of scientific research.
The main ideas of Mohism are: equal love between people (universal love), opposing wars of aggression (non-attack), advocating economy, opposing extravagance and waste (frugality), attaching importance to inheriting the cultural wealth of predecessors (knowing ghosts) and mastering the laws of nature (ambition).
Han Feizi, a representative figure of Legalism, called Confucianism and Mohism "used by talents in the world". Due to the unique political attribute of Mohism and the collusion policy of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, Mohism was continuously suppressed and gradually lost its realistic foundation of existence, and it gradually died out in China. It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China that scholars excavated Mohism again from that pile of old papers and found its progress. In recent years, with the efforts of some new Mohists, some useful viewpoints in Mohist theory have begun to enter people's field of vision.
Mohism
The basic ideas of Mohism mainly include the following ten points:
Dedicate to fraternity
Complete and undifferentiated fraternity, contrary to Confucian kissing, extends the way of treating relatives to other strangers, such as the kindness of fathers and brothers, filial piety of children, respect for the elderly and love for friends, and youth.
There is a famous saying of Confucius in The Analects of Confucius: Harmony is the most important thing for courtesy.
Fraternity is also used to build peace and quell tragic struggles. Confucianism actually supports this goal, and its content focuses on persuading love and forbidding evil.
Father's kindness, son's filial piety, brother's friend, brother's love, three cardinal guides and five permanents, courtesy and forgiveness and other Confucian theoretical support. Forgiveness means forbidding hatred, and politeness means persuading good and forbidding evil. But change the noun. It is convenient for Confucianism to exclude foreigners.
harmless
It is meaningless to oppose the war of aggression, the damage caused by the war to the defeated, and the loss of life and talents. For the winner, only a few cities and taxes have been harvested, but in general, the damage and losses are also huge, so the war is meaningless. Mozi put forward just war and unjust war, thinking that just war is punishment, but he did not oppose it.
Shang Xian
Lao Zi, a silk book unearthed at Mawangdui, says: Tao can be Tao, but it is not constant. A name can be named, but it is not a constant name. Perseverance is old. It refers to the original hereditary system of the Zhou Dynasty: in the spring of the tenth year of Zuo Zhuan, Qi Shi attacked me. Duke Zhuang is going to fight. The king asked to see Lord Zhuang. His fellow countryman said, "People in power will plan this. Why do you want to participate?" ? ""Those in power are short-sighted and unable to think deeply, "Cao Gui said."
Due to the turmoil of the current situation, the decline of witchcraft culture, many hereditary aristocrats are decadent and incompetent, and the hostility of the big princes to the feudal system is getting stronger and stronger. The people also began to demand that the old unequal system be changed and the privileges of doctors and scholars be abolished. Mozi, from the people, suggested that people should not be thin even if they are humble. Thin, contemptuous, mean and humble.
Shang Tong
After the death of Confucius, Confucianism was in chaos, sages were unknown, and morality was different.
The same moral words, the same attitude of people, changed in an instant. Moreover, instead of directly denying morality, we should take words from the content itself and turn verbal criticism into a moral personal right. For example, you get something for nothing, that is, people who work hard govern others.
Because there is a gap to drill and it is profitable, one person shakes his arm and the literati class rushes in. One person is right, ten people are right, a hundred people are right and a thousand people are right.
Mozi believes that sophistry caused this kind of ideological confusion. Put forward a unified method to punish such writers who use the words of paying attention to danger and seeking personal gain.
Confucius said: It must also be justified, with incorrect names, fluent words, the same books, and the same cars.
Taking the caliber of the emperor as the standard, we should unify our thinking and caliber, prevent the collapse of rites and music, and meet the standards that are beneficial to civilians.
Tianzhi
Mozi believes that the construction of craftsmen always needs a unit scale as a measure, and skilled craftsmen can be described completely. Unfortunately, although they can't be completely correct, if they act according to the scale, the effect is better than relying on their own personal ability and subjective freedom to explore.
So Mozi proposed to act according to the rules and operate according to the articles of association. Benevolence, the heart also, is the inner feeling; Righteousness and externality are external standards.
Mozi thinks that "Heaven" is majestic, noble and wise, and its trip to Heaven is broad, selfless, generous and not virtuous, and it lasts for a long time, so we should use the scale of Heaven to measure our behavior. Mozi thinks that heaven is indiscriminate fraternity, and Xi loves it and benefits it? Instead of having both, eat it.
Today, there are no big or small countries, only the city of heaven. Everyone is a minister of heaven. So people must love everything. Finally, the unity of the first level is to love the whole, and all wars and academic contradictions are abolished by the practice of universal love.
Minggui
I hope the monarch will be vigilant with the theory of ghosts and gods, and killing innocent people is an ominous sign. I can't kill my subjects because of some anger. Therefore, like atheists, they don't believe in witchcraft and fate, but believe that there will be a soul after death.
Unnatural/violent death
It is natural to deny the existence of fate and think that the world is fair, that those who rely on strength can live, and that those who do not lose strength cannot live. It is believed that there is no so-called fate to arrange people's wealth, the will and contingency of life and death, and everything is made by oneself, which is inevitable and reasonable.
Le Fei
It is useless to get rid of the shackles of hierarchical rites and music and abolish the tedious and extravagant manufacture and performance of chimes. Ancient music is time-consuming and expensive, and it is not produced in China. The abolition of large-scale music conforms to the standards beneficial to civilians.
Reduce expenditure
Think noble extravagance and waste, too much sex, lead to people stealing. According to observation, everything is in harmony with Yin and Yang, so as to persuade nobles and save money.
Holiday funeral
In rural areas, a lot of family wealth was wasted on funeral preparations, dinners and reburies in the Zhou Dynasty, which was a trivial matter for the nobles, but for the poor, it was bankrupt and unable to work. Abolishing the funeral customs left over from ancient times is in line with the standards that are beneficial to civilians.
In addition, there is logic and so on. Mozi is also an outstanding scientist. He has made great contributions in mechanics, geometry, algebra and optics, which are beyond the reach of contemporary philosophers. Mohism's achievements in science have been praised by many scholars. Cai Yuanpei, the first director of education in the Republic of China, said: "Mozi was the only person who managed science in the pre-Qin period." Yang Xiangkui, a historian, said, "The scientific and technological achievements of Mohism in ancient China are equal to or exceed those of ancient Greece."
In the later period of Confucianism, Mohist thought was partially absorbed and transformed, became a part of its own thought, and was framed by other theories. For example, Xunzi also opposed forgiving the wicked. The result of learning from each other