History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

HPC 56. Yuri Pines on Legalism

An interview about fa-thinkers like Shang Yang and Han Feizi, exploring their relationship to the Qin dynasty and to other schools of thought.

HPC 55. More Gain, Less Pain: the Legalists on Human Nature

Did the fa-thinkers recognize that human beings natural have moral capacities or dispositions? How did they try to manipulate human nature?

HPC 54. Learning to Unlearn: Han Feizi and Confucianism

Does Han Feizi’s focus on “standards” allow him to provide a more realistic political theory than the Confucian focus on moral cultivation?

HPC 53. A Worm Riding Clouds: Standards, Strategy and Power in the Han Feizi

The Han Feizi and its “three pillars” of Legalist philosophy: fa (standards), shu (strategy), and shi (positional power).

HPC 52. The Empire State: the Qin Dynasty

Was the short-lived Qin empire, which unified China to put an end to the Warring States period, Legalism in action?

HPC 51. Standard Bearers: What is “Legalism"?

The “fa-thinkers” Shang Yang and Han Feizi encourage the rigorous application of “standards,” including law, reward, and punishment.

HPC 50. Bryan Van Norden on Warring States Philosophy

To celebrate reaching 50 episodes in this series, Karyn and Peter both chat to a leading scholar of Warring States philosophy.

HPC 49. Hans-Georg Moeller on the Zhuangzi

An interview on humor and amoral ethics in a Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi - and its relation to Confucianism and Legalism. 

HPC 48. Off the Beaten Path: Wandering in the Zhuangzi

How is it possible to walk two roads simultaneously? And where does wandering lead us?

HPC 47. Live and Let Die: the Zhuangzi on Death

Why does the Zhuangzi tell us that death is nothing to fear, to the point that it recommends celebrating the death of loved ones?