Law Respects No Privilege
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Everyone is equal before the law; the powerful do not get their cases bent. The model is institutional rigidity: the force of a rule comes from universal application, and once an exception is made the rule loses its authority. Han Feizi's line is that the law does not favor the noble, just as the plumb line does not bend for crooked wood.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Require no exceptions: build the no-exception rule into the system from the start. - Enforce upward: apply the rule first to the hardest and most privileged case. - Refuse double standards: hold yourself to the same rule you impose.
Anchor fast decisions
A rule's authority comes from being applied to everyone. Once an exception is carved out for the privileged, each additional exception erodes the rule's normative force, expectations collapse, and the rule degrades into an instrument of privilege. Institutional rigidity is simply uniform application.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikisource.orghttps://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%9F%93%E9%9D%9E%E5%AD%90/%E6%9C%89%E5%BA%A6verified
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