Morality And Human Nature:A Study Of Han Feizi’s Political Thoughts

Morality and human nature are always two important questions in the academic circles about judging the attribute of Han Fei’s political philosophy.In Han Feizi’s thought,there is “morality” as the ontology,which determines all aspects of everything,and has the ability to produce,promote,and guide everything;it also serves as a specific “morality” that guides the behavioral norms that the secular society should abide by.And the law,the specific "morality" is implemented on people,forming ethical morality,which regulates the development and ultimate destination of human nature.People with morality are called "virtuous people";when implemented in politics,they constitute The concept of governance that uses "law","technique" and "power" as specific means is a politicized morality,and moral politics is called "a ethical government."Human nature is the realistic foundation of Han Feizi’s political thought.As the main body of practice in politics,the different judgments of human nature determine the level of human moral quality and also determine the different trends of political practice.The viewpoint of the separation of human nature and human relationship explained in Guo Dian " Spirit Stems from Fate" has influenced the construction of many masters’ human nature thoughts afterwards.Xunzi of Confucianism,Shang Yang and Shen Dao of legalism all showed the tendency of emphasizing humanity and politicization in their human nature theory.As the terminator of preQin Zixue,Han Feizi realized the thorough politicization of human nature theory.Han Feizi believes that "morality" is neither good nor evil,and that people can understand the Tao,become a good person,be reasonable in doing things,and the administration must conform to people’s feelings.Han Feizi emphasized that moral training has no effect on political development,and that human nature and goodwill are harmful to politics.This is reflected in the lack of talents of the monarch,the fear of the law,and the people hate social stability.Han Feizi advocates the use of extreme possessions.The "law," "technique," and "potential" features of "de-morality" are used to achieve the political goals of "educate the people by law","search for spies by strategy",and "use power to force talented people".In this way,human nature is guided,the moral bottom line of the society is guaranteed,and a moral society with the distinctive characteristics of "establishing public and abolishing private" is established.Therefore,the essence of Han Feizi’s political thought is "political philosophy that removes private morality and returns to public morality." It has had a profound and far-reaching influence on ideological theory and social practice.