Abstract
The aim of this article is to clarify the role of self-interest in Moist
thought and by doing so to refute the Self-Interest Thesis. Toward
these ends, I will examine passages from the Mozi bearing
on the role of self-interest in Moist ethics and psychology and show
that, in each case, an alternative interpretation explains them better
than the Self-Interest Thesis does. I will argue that the Moists recognize
the obvious truth that self-interest figures among people’s basic
motives, but they believe people also have other important sources of
motivation.