This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
This Is The Way is a podcast on Chinese philosophy, exploring philosophical themes by reflecting on significant Chinese texts and through interviews with scholars of Chinese thought. We aim to offer discussions that are informative and accessible to a broad audience.
Please email us at: ChinesePhilosophyPodcast@gmail.com and follow us on X @ChinesePhilPod
This Is The Way: Chinese Philosophy Podcast
Episode 31: The Great Music Debate -- Mohists vs. Classical Confucians
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Is music an extravagance in a world of scarcity or a necessary expression of our humanity? We explore Mozi’s consequentialist condemnation of elaborate musical performances and Xunzi’s argument that music, proper guided, plays a critical role in taming unruly emotions and building social bonds. Beneath the disagreement lies a profound clash over basic human goods, how emotion should be shaped, and whether the arts are dispensable or essential to human flourishing.
Many thanks to The Hong Kong Ethics Lab for sponsoring this podcast series.
Want to continue the discussion? Need links to some of the sources mentioned? Go to the support page for this episode on Warp, Weft, and Way.
We thank Lena Li (LI La 李拉 ) for her expert editing and sound engineering. We also thank the blog Warp, Weft & Way for hosting the discussion for this episode.