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The philosophies of an ancient Chinese masterVery little is known about Master Mo, or the school he founded. However, the book containing his philosophical ideas has survived centuries of neglect and is today recognised as a fundamental work of ancient Chinese philosophy. The book contains sections explaining the ten key doctrines of Mohism; lively dialogues between Master Mo and his followers; a discussion of ancient warfare; and an extraordinary series of chapters that include the first examples of logic, dialectics and epistemology in Chinese philosophy. The ideas discussed in The Book of Master Mo—ethics, anti-imperialism, and a political hierarchy based on merit—remain as relevant as ever, and the work is vital to understanding ancient Chinese philosophy.For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
This edition is excellent. I have the earlier larger hard cover, which is great because it has more exhaustive commentary and the Chinese characters, but that version is so large and unwieldy that the pages are starting to come out. This is a standard sized paperback that you can carry around and read wherever you are. Johnston has made minor changes to the translation and included some very interesting end notes. I'm trying to discern what Mohist doctrines actually were, which isn't as simple as you might think. It's kind of a fun puzzle. For example, meritocracy is to be used to motivate those with needed skills (who are also ren and yi) but all forms of luxury are condemned in various ways: so what rewards are those being motivated supposed to take? For figuring out stuff like this you have to flip back and forth and look at the various statements, and for that the paperback is much more manageable.
