  The Mohists justify their consequentialist ethics by appeal to the intention of Heaven (Tian), which they believe provides an objective criterion of morality. Among their reasons for obeying Heaven’s intention are gratitude for its gifts, fear of punishment, and their belief that it is the noblest, wisest moral agent in the cosmos.  Here we will examine this third, philosophically more interesting rationale, setting aside for the moment Heaven’s role as an object of  religious worship  and enforcer of moral order.