Q0690
“To kill one man is called unrighteousness and incurs one capital crime;…” — Mozi (Mozi, Against Offensive War I)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Mozi, Against Offensive War I. Theme: justice.
English
To kill one man is called unrighteousness and incurs one capital crime; by this reckoning, to kill ten men is ten times unrighteous and incurs ten capital crimes.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Mozi, Against Offensive War I and files it under Mohism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Mozi
Mozi (Mo Di, c. 470–c.
How to read this passage
Distributive, retributive, and restorative justice name different problems. Political philosophy asks what a just society owes its members and outsiders. This passage enters that discussion through justice, morality, ethics.
Concepts in this quote
- Justice
- Justice concerns fairness, rights, desert, and the arrangement of institutions that claim to treat people as equals.
- Morality
- Morality in philosophy concerns right and wrong, obligation, and the standards by which we judge persons and acts.
- Ethics
- Ethics appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat ethics as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Mozi. (n.d.). To kill one man is called unrighteousness and incurs one capital crime; by this reckoning, to kill ten men is ten times unrighteous and incurs ten capital crimes. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0690
MLA: Mozi. “To kill one man is called unrighteousness and….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0690.
Chicago: Mozi. “To kill one man is called unrighteousness and….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0690.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “To kill one man is called unrighteousness and…”?
The passage is attributed to Mozi, Mozi, Against Offensive War I. The archive attributes this English wording to Mozi, Against Offensive War I and files it under Mohism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Mozi mean by justice?
Distributive, retributive, and restorative justice name different problems. Political philosophy asks what a just society owes its members and outsiders. This passage enters that discussion through justice, morality, ethics.