Reference:
Kocherov O.S..
Mo Di’s Ethics of War
// International relations. – 2018. – ¹ 3.
– P. 40-54.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0641.2018.3.27429.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0641.2018.3.27429
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Abstract: The article considers the views on the war presented in "Mozi", the ancient Chinese philosophical treatise. The relevance of the study is derived from the manifestation of the Mohist paradigm of strategic culture in the modern Chinese foreign policy, in particular, with regard to defenñe of the State and control over problem areas (South China Sea). The purpose of the research is to consider the specifics of ancient Chinese ethics of war in the context of the Western theory of Just War as well as to reveal the importance of Mohist views on war for the modern theory of international relations and China's foreign policy strategy. The material of the study includes "Mozi" text as well as official statements of the modern leaders of China. The study applies both methods of world political science (content analysis, study of documents, case method) and methods of philosophy (dialectical, hermeneutic, pragmatic). In contrast to the "liberal "and "conservative" interpretations of Mo Di's doctrine expressed by researchers of Mohist political philosophy, the author of this article makes a conclusion about the practice-oriented approach of ancient Chinese philosophy and "moral practice" as a criterion of political legitimacy. The author makes a comparison of the Mohist ethics of war with the Western theory of Just War and concludes that they are conceptually close. However, "Mozi" is much closer to the ideas of defensive pacifism due to the specifics of the Mohist ideas about the legitimate actor. Among other distinctive features of Mo Di's political doctrine are the focus on highly sophisticated defence, the idea of "humanitarian protection", humanism and mutually beneficial cooperation as a guarantee of international security. At the current stage, elements of the Mohist ideas about the war and the Mohist paradigm of Chinese strategic culture are manifested in the Chinese defensive concept A2AD.
Keywords: Mandate of Heaven, International legitimacy, Humanitarian defense, A2AD, Defensive pacifism, Just war theory, War ethics, Mo Di, Moral practice legitimacy, Humanitarian intervention
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