Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Mozi
Universal love for all people without distinction — the anti-Confucian, anti-war, proto-utilitarian philosopher of ancient China
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Mozi |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Scripture |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Mozi
Time in the Mozi is historically oriented — Mozi appeals to the sage-kings of the past as exemplars of universal love and good governance, and criticises the present for falling away from their standard.
Space
Mozi
The spatial frame is the Warring States Chinese world — fragmented, violent, and in need of the unifying principle of universal love. Mozi's anti-war arguments address the specific spatial reality of interstate aggression.
Matter
Mozi
Material welfare — food, clothing, shelter, defence against aggression — is the Mohist standard of value. Wasteful expenditure (lavish funerals, extravagant music) is condemned because it depletes material resources.
Observer
Mozi
The observer is the morally active agent who measures policies by their consequences for the welfare of the people. The observer is embodied, practical, and responsible.
Energy
Mozi
The energy of the Mohist programme is practical — defensive engineering, frugal administration, efficient governance. Wasted energy is a moral failing.
Information
Mozi
The three standards (san biao) of Mohist epistemology — the precedent of the sage-kings, the evidence of the common people's eyes and ears, and the practical results of application — constitute the informational framework for moral and political judgment.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The central tension is between universal love and the Confucian objection that impartial care is psychologically impossible and socially destructive — Mencius calls Mozi's doctrine "fatherless" because it denies the special obligations of kinship. A second tension is between Mozi's utilitarian rationalism and his appeal to Heaven and the spirits as moral sanctions — a surprising theistic element in an otherwise pragmatic philosophy. A third tension is the school's eventual disappearance: despite its intellectual sophistication, Mohism did not survive the Qin-Han unification.