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Another answer offers The Code of Hammurabi as an even older contender (18th century CE). The Code has even more metaphysical baggage than Ruism, however, since Hammurabi explicitly calls out glorification of, and prosperity for, rulers who advance the Code. In similar way as the Arthasashstra (3rd-2nd century BCE), it's not clear that Hammurabi's Code is not equally a 'manual for the most effective way to manage a population productively' as it could be a statement that the wellbeing of individual people/citizens are the ends to which government is a means. To the extent that Hammurabi insists that citizens know their rights and be able to avail themselves of the law, the whole thing still seems centered on 'so they can properly revere, serve, and bring prosperity to their king' as a central principle.

Another answer offers The Code of Hammurabi as an even older contender (18th century BCE). The Code has even more metaphysical baggage than Ruism, however, since Hammurabi explicitly calls out glorification of, and prosperity for, rulers who advance the Code. In similar way as the Arthasashstra (3rd-2nd century BCE), it's not clear that Hammurabi's Code is not equally a 'manual for the most effective way to manage a population productively' as it could be a statement that the wellbeing of individual people/citizens are the ends to which government is a means. To the extent that Hammurabi insists that citizens know their rights and be able to avail themselves of the law, the whole thing still seems centered on 'so they can properly revere, serve, and bring prosperity to their king' as a central principle.

The oldest definitive example is Plato's Republic which, despite advocating for the rise of philosopher-kings (a dictator with supreme power), clearly holds the wellbeing of the people to be the ends to which government is a means. Plato goes on, at length about how the interests of a ruler are at odds with the interests of their people, for example:

Another answer offers The Code of Hammurabi as an even older contender (17th century CE). The Code has even more metaphysical baggage than Ruism, however, since Hammurabi explicitly calls out glorification of, and prosperity for, rulers who advance the Code. In similar way as the Arthasashstra (2nd-3rd century BCE), it's not clear that Hammurabi's Code is not equally a 'manual for the most effective way to manage a population productively' as it could be a statement that the wellbeing of individual people/citizens are the ends to which government is a means. To the extent that Hammurabi insists that citizens know their rights and be able to avail themselves of the law, the whole thing still seems centered on 'so they can properly revere, serve, and bring prosperity to their king' as a central principle.

The oldest definitive example is Plato's Republic (4th Century BCE) which, despite advocating for the rise of philosopher-kings (a dictator with supreme power), clearly holds the wellbeing of the people to be the ends to which government is a means. Plato goes on, at length about how the interests of a ruler are at odds with the interests of their people, for example:

Another answer offers The Code of Hammurabi as an even older contender (18th century CE). The Code has even more metaphysical baggage than Ruism, however, since Hammurabi explicitly calls out glorification of, and prosperity for, rulers who advance the Code. In similar way as the Arthasashstra (3rd-2nd century BCE), it's not clear that Hammurabi's Code is not equally a 'manual for the most effective way to manage a population productively' as it could be a statement that the wellbeing of individual people/citizens are the ends to which government is a means. To the extent that Hammurabi insists that citizens know their rights and be able to avail themselves of the law, the whole thing still seems centered on 'so they can properly revere, serve, and bring prosperity to their king' as a central principle.

The idea that justice demands we set aside our own wellbeing for the sake of others' is the core spirit of the idea that government exists for the promotion of the citizenry's wellbeing.

The idea that justice demands we set aside our own wellbeing for the sake of others' is the core spirit of the idea that government exists for the promotion of the citizenry's wellbeing, which is then later made explicit in Book 4:

...but that our aim in founding the State was not the disproportionate happiness of any one class, but the greatest happiness of the whole; we thought that in a State which is ordered with a view to the good of the whole we should be most likely to find Justice, and in the ill-ordered State injustice: and, having found them, we might then decide which of the two is the happier...