Mozi
Mozi · 300 BCE
Excerpt
“Mozi's impartial care starts from the concern for others' parents and treats my own parents the same way. (paraphrase of the jian xiang ai chapters)”
Why the atlas keeps it
The one ancient Chinese text that argues for impartial care as a principle rather than as a sentiment: regard others' parents as your own, reject aggressive war and defensive hierarchy, and justify both by an explicit standard. The excerpt below paraphrases the jian xiang ai chapters rather than quoting a translation.
Terms this text reaches for
Ranked by the codex search index against the summary above, not hand-picked.
Just war
ethicsThe rules limiting when war may be begun and how it may be conducted.
Chinese room
philosophySearle's thought experiment arguing that syntax alone cannot constitute understanding.
Care versus justice
philosophyThe standing debate over whether obligation is built from relationships or from impartial rules.
Care ethics
ethicsObligations arise inside relationships, are partial, and resist general principles.
Constitutional AI
technicalTraining a model to critique and revise its own outputs against a written set of principles.
Person-affecting principle
ethicsThe view that an action is wrong only if it affects someone for the worse.