Legalism in Chinese Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry)

This is Yuri Pines's Legalism in Chinese Philosophy entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, first published 10 December 2014 and substantively revised 7 April 2023, maintained by the Metaphysics Research Lab at Stanford University. As a peer-reviewed, continuously revised scholarly reference by a specialist in early Chinese statecraft thought it covers the Legalist tradition associated with figures such as Han Feizi and Shang Yang and its emphasis on law, statecraft and political control. Its strength is that Stanford Encyclopedia entries are written and periodically revised by recognized specialists under editorial oversight. Its limit is that it surveys the tradition broadly across multiple thinkers, so a claim needing close analysis of one Legalist figure's own text needs a source addressing that text directly.