Yang Zhu (楊朱)
c. 440–360 BCE · Hundred Schools · Obscure
Yang Zhu taught in the early Warring States period in China and survives only through rivals who despised him. Pluck one hair to save the world? He would not, and that line is close to everything we have of him. His rule was for oneself: keep yourself intact, your own life and your own nature first, which leaves Confucian ritual duty and Mohist love of everyone alike in the way.
Signature
The position Yang Zhu is most identified with in the Profiler:
- Society
- leans Individualism
- Ethics Basis
- Egoism
Positions on the 3 axes the sources answer
- Society
- leans Individualism (87 on a 0–100 scale from Collectivism to Individualism)
- Nature
- leans Harmony (82 on a 0–100 scale from Mastery to Harmony)
- Polity
- leans Liberalism (75 on a 0–100 scale from Illiberalism to Liberalism)
17 of 20 axes are left blank: the sources do not answer them, or Yang Zhu refused the framing. Nothing is imputed; a blank is not a middling score.
Foundational questions
- Highest Good
- Other
What is the highest good? - Ethics Basis
- Egoism
What is the ultimate basis of ethics? - Authority
- Self-Sovereignty
What is the legitimate source of authority? - Primary Bond
- Self
What is your primary bond and loyalty?