The just war theory in the teaching of Mo Tzu.

摘要

Because of his low status and the rejection of his doctrines by the Chinese rulers and literati, Mo Tzu (c. 468-382 B.C.), together with his book, had been neglected in history. His works suffered a great corruption in the course of transmission. His doctrines, most important of which are universal love and condemnation of offensive war, have thus been forgotten. The revival of the study of Mo Tzu did not begin until the end of last century, but most of this work has been philological in nature.;This project represents the first attempt to study Mo Tzu's sociopolitical teaching, especially his teaching on war, and to undertake a cross-cultural comparison of his ideas and those of traditional Christian just war theorists, e.g., Augustine and Aquinas. The purpose is that this study may illuminate and enrich the Christian just war tradition, by showing how similar views worked themselves out in different cultural, religious, and intellectual settings.;The method of this study is expository and comparative in nature. The first section examines Mo Tzu's thought against its historical and intellectual background. Various teachings on war by different schools, e.g., Confucian, Legalist, Taoist, are dealt with in this section. The second section is a comparative study of Mo Tzu's teaching on war and the teaching of the Christian just war theorists.;The uniqueness of Mo Tzu's teaching on war-- namely his doctrine of universal love, his condemnation of offensive war, and his acceptance only of war for defensive purposes--puts him in a position commensurate with the traditional Christian just war theorists in terms of jus ad bellum. His failure to address right conduct in war resembles the early Christian view of jus in bello, a late development in the Western just war tradition.;However, Mo Tzu's strict jus ad bellum exactly corresponds to modern theories of warfare. His rejection of offensive war but approval of defensive war is precisely the trend in the modern world. In this sense, his just war theory can be relevant and illuminating for all ages.