Response 6
Posted by maryaliced on April 16, 2008
Mary Alice Dewees
Writing 121/response #6
April 16, 2008
Advice and Persuasion
In a day and time when people feel free to give their advice or state their opinions, it is hard to believe there was a time when these acts could cost you your life. Could you imagine the President of the United States killing one of his advisors if they stated something he did not like? Well it is this type of instance that Han Fei Tzu writes about in his piece The Difficulties of Persuasion. Specifically, Han Fei Tzu is addressing how a counselor would go about advising a ruler, and the attention that must be paid to persuading the ruler in just the right way.
While persuading people to see your point of view is never easy, it must have been infinity more difficult in a time when such acts had severe penalties. Han Fei Tzu writes, “If you try to talk to a person into doing what he cannot do, or stopping what he cannot stop, then you will be in danger”(558). Throughout his piece Han Fei Tzu gives ample examples of what can happen when one does not thoroughly know who they are giving advice to. Furthermore, even if one initially earns the respect of his ruler it does not mean it is lasting, “…the fact that he was praised in the early days, and accused of a crime later on, was because the ruler’s love had turned to hate”(561).
Han Fei Tzu had the ability to recognize how complicated it can be to persuade people, especially people of power. Perhaps, one could learn from his ideas on persuasion; “…situation(s) require a thorough understanding of the audience and of how different kinds of advice are likely to be perceived”(557). It could be ventured to say that Han Fei Tzu had great respect and understanding for those for whom he advised and that is something every person from every era could learn from.
