Wang Yangming on blame

Abstract

This article explores the concept of blame through the philosophy of Wang Yangming 王陽明, a Neo-Confucian philosopher in the Ming dynasty of China. Some philosophers argue that blame can serve the function of valuing the victims by blaming the wrongdoers. This article goes further by drawing on Wang’s philosophy to develop a functionalist account of blame. Interestingly, this account emphasises the idea of demanding goodness (ze shan 責善) of the wrongdoers. By doing so, blame not only values the overt victims, but also the wrongdoers, who are victims in another sense. Specifically, the overt victims are valued as their external well-being (e.g. wealth, physical goodness) is to be restored through compensations and the prevention of further transgressions by the wrongdoers. Meanwhile, the wrongdoers are also valued as their internal well-being (i.e. virtue) is to be restored. The article, inspired by Wang, also points out that blame should be exercised with care, and that sometimes the absence of blame may not constitute a failure to value the victims and wrongdoers, given the considerations of how best to help transform the wrongdoers.