Han Fei Zi and Modernity: An Outline

The most positive evaluation of the classical(pre-Qin) Chinese philosophy so far is to compare it with classical(Greek) philosophy,taking both as thoughts of the axial age.However,not only is the Chinese thought a form of political philosophy,but the times when the classical Chinese philosophers lived in were more comparable with those of Western modernization,meaning that the problems they were dealing with were problems of modernity.Among these modern political philosophers,Han Fei Zi most ably demonstrated his explicit awareness of the nature of political and social changes of his times through his writings.His discussion of the distinctions between the ancients and the moderns can still shed light on the debates between moral conservatism and moral nihilism as well other issues of modernity.Furthermore,to evaluate his thoughts critically can also help us to deepen our understanding of modernity and to criticize some ideas of liberalism and pluralism.