Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
9-2024
Abstract
Must absolutist states resort to intimidation and coercion to tackle subjects' disobedience driven by their pursuit of reputation? Since canonical early modern Western thinkers broached but did not solve this question, I turn to the most renowned ancient Chinese Legalist Han Feizi's understudied account of reputation for answers. Whether as a means or an end, individuals' pursuit of reputation always challenges the authority of the absolute monarchy that endeavors to centralize state power. Forcefully confronting this pursuit is the barely but only acceptable way for the state to tackle this challenge, as non-confrontational strategies favored by many Western thinkers inevitably fail due to their incompatibility with the logic of political absolutism. Thus, Han Feizi unwittingly exposes the tension between political absolutism and reputation. This exposure adds nuances to his view of human nature and helps us understand how individuals' morally ambiguous pursuit of reputation obstructs the centralization of state power.
Discipline
Comparative Politics | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
American Political Science Review
First Page
1
Last Page
13
ISSN
0003-0554
Identifier
10.1017/S0003055424000662
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Citation
LIU, Antong.(2024). Han Feizi on reputation-driven disobedience: A comparative study. American Political Science Review, , 1-13.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4061
Copyright Owner and License
Author-CC-BY
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055424000662