What should the ideal government have?
It’s a question many political scientists and philosophers ask themselves. According to advocates of Legalism, the answer is simple: an authoritarian emperor who can enforce laws. This would be in contrast with what we know today as democracy. This post is a continuation of the first blog posts. I think in order to understand why Legalism was so effective, we need to talk about what it would have been like for people living during this time period.
For starters, Legalism emphasized stoicism and discipline. It also placed more emphasis on education than other philosophies of its day did (which were often heavy into the practice or discussion of philosophy) because they thought that having an educated population would make them better subjects for their rulers.
They also had a very strong belief in meritocracy – not only does everyone deserve equal opportunity but every person should be rewarded based on how well they do with those opportunities given regardless of background or familial connections which lead someone else’s way instead. This legal
