sima tan was the founder of legalism in china.
sima tan was the founder of legalism in china.
who was the founder of legalism in china?
sima tan
legalism or fajia () is one of sima tan's six classical schools of thought in chinese philosophy. literally meaning "house of administrative methods" or "standards" ("fa"), the "school" represents several branches of realist statesmen, or "men of methods" (), who played foundational roles in the construction of the bureaucratic chinese empire. in the western world, legalism has often been compared to machiavellianism, and considered akin to an ancient chinese philosophy of "realpolitik". the legalists emphasized a realist project of consolidating the wealth and power of the state and its autocrat, with the goal of achieving order, security and stability. with their close connections to the other schools, some legalists would go on to be a major influence on taoism and confucianism, and the current remains highly influential in administration, policy and legal practice in china today.
legalism (chinese philosophy)
the words 'legalism' or 'legalist' do not occur in the old or new testaments. legalism's root word, "law" (greek "nomos"), occurs frequently in the new testament, and sometimes is interpreted as legalism. in 1921, ernest de witt burton stated that in , ""nomou" is here evidently used ... in its legalistic sense, denoting divine law viewed as a purely legalistic system made up of statutes, on the basis of obedience or disobedience to which individuals are approved or condemned as a matter of debt without grace. this is divine law as the legalist defined it." the greek of paul's day lacked any term corresponding to the distinct position of "legalism", "legalist", or "legalistic", leading c.e.b. cranfield to commend "the possibility that pauline statements which at first sight seem to disparage the law, were really directed not against the law itself but against that misunderstanding and misuse of it for which we now have a convenient terminology" (legalism). messianic jewish bible translator david h. stern cited these two scholars to support the translation framework that often "'"nomos"' means 'legalism' and not god's "torah"", especially in paul's constructs "erga nomou" (literally "works of law", rendered by stern "legalistic observance of "torah" commands") and "upo nomon" (literally "under law", rendered by stern by 13 words, "in subjection to the system which results from perverting the "torah" into legalism").
legalism (theology)