Acting as if watched

Introduction

明鬼下, On Spirits III, is one of the longest of the ten doctrines and the one modern readers most often skip. Do not skip it. It is not about ghosts. It is about accountability.

Mozi starts from the usual diagnosis: the world is in disorder because people "are confused about whether spirits exist and do not understand that spirits can reward the worthy and punish the violent." If everyone believed that spirits reward and punish, "how could the world be in disorder?"

Then a key passage on what 明鬼 actually does: "Officials who are corrupt in office, men and women who keep no propriety, the spirits see them; people who commit violence, robbery and rebellion, who with blades, poison, water and fire waylay the innocent on the roads and seize carriages, horses, clothes and furs for themselves, the spirits see them." And the week's theme line: "Even in deep ravines and broad forests, in hidden valleys where no one is, they cannot act carelessly, for the spirits see them."

Most of the chapter is a three-tests argument. First and second tests: a series of apparitions. The ghost of Du Bo shoots King Xuan of Zhou dead, and "of the Zhou people present none failed to see it, and none at a distance failed to hear of it." The stories of Duke Jian of Yan, Lord Wen of Song and Lord Zhuang of Qi all carry the same refrain. This is "the facts of the people's ears and eyes": so many saw it, how can it be denied? Then the writings of the former kings. Third test: belief in spirits "above secures the blessing of the spirits, below gathers people in fellowship and wins the affection of the village": the wine and grain of sacrifice are not wasted; the whole community eats together.

Then, near the end, a passage that nearly flips the whole argument: "Now if we prepare clean wine and grain and offer them in reverent sacrifice, then if the spirits do exist, we are feeding our fathers, mothers and elder brothers, and is that not a great benefit? And if the spirits do not exist, we have only spent the cost of the wine and grain. And even that is not poured into a ditch and thrown away: the clan within and the village without all get to eat and drink together." If spirits exist, sacrifice feeds our elders; if not, nothing is wasted, because the community eats. It is a consequence argument: believing someone is watching has good results whether or not it is true.

The Community asks no one to believe in spirits. We read 明鬼 as accountability: everyone acts on the assumption that what they do will be seen and checked. In 墨者之法 that is the record system: assignments report, accounts are open, decisions are filed. "No carelessness where no one is" comes not from ghosts but from habit and structure.

The three tests

This chapter works the three tests hardest and most contestably. The second (people have seen spirits) fails completely today. The first (the former kings' writings record spirits) cannot count as evidence of existence either.

What stands is the third: believing one is watched keeps one careful. That Mozi turns to the consequence argument at the end is honest.

Ask: with only the third test left, what remains of 明鬼? The Community's answer is "accountability." Is that answer enough?

For families

• Ask a child: when no one is watching, do you do homework as carefully as when someone is? Why?
• Tell the "deep ravines" line in today's words: what you do when no one is watching is who you really are.
• Do a round of "good deeds no one knows": each person does one without saying who; guess at the weekend.

For chapters

• Reading: the passage "even in deep ravines and broad forests," and the closing passage "if the spirits do exist... and if the spirits do not."
• Debate: focus on how an organization keeps people careful when no one is watching. Ask the records assignment to explain the chapter's record-keeping and disclosure.
• Three-tests review: honestly record the failure of the first and second tests. Discuss: can a claim that passes only one of the three be adopted? Record the chapter's view for the annual self-review.