Each Side Has Its Own Rights and Wrongs

Each Side Has Its Own Rights and Wrongs

“Each side has its own rights and wrongs” comes from the “Discussion on Making All Things Equal” in the Zhuangzi. The passage first says that this is also that, and that is also this, before asking whether the boundaries between the two — and between right and wrong — are truly fixed. Here, the sentence means that the other side has its scheme of judgement, while this side has another.

It does not follow that every judgement is equally correct. The sentence asks us to examine the position from which judgement is made. If we treat our own measure as the world itself, we cannot see how the other side's “right” becomes intelligible. A restrained modern use is therefore not to stop distinguishing, but to ask before concluding whether the boundary we rely on also needs an explanation.

https://ctext.org/zhuangzi/adjustment-of-controversies/zh


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