ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some important philosophies that developed and matured between about 600 and 200 bce. Kongzi is often regarded as the first philosopher of China, even though he did not present himself as being an original thinker. Mozi was the first philosopher to challenge Kongzi's views and argue for an alternative philosophy. A charismatic leader who gathered an army of idealistic warrior philosophers around him, Mozi had a colourful political career. Some scholars regard Mozi, not Kongzi, as the key figure behind the emergence of philosophy in China because he introduced a culture of argumentation into the intellectual life of the early classical period. Mozi can't have been entirely convinced that his philosophical argument plus the religious sanction was enough to motivate people to be impartial altruists. In fact, Mengzi held that the dispositions are the tender sprouts of virtue which require nurturing through moral education.
