Freedom, Legalism (fajia) and subject formation: The question of internalization

With self-determination as its implication, freedom can create room for such psychological mechanism as internalization to perform the function of transforming the external social regulation into self-regulation. For this transformation to be viable, however, subject needs to be formed and subsequently social regulation becomes redundant, thanks to the formation of subject. Freedom as a necessary condition for the subject formation and this transfiguration of social regulation is often neglected in favor of social order. Drawing on various intellectual resources, this article explores the inner logic and consequence of Legalism, in its segregation of politics (social order) and morality.