Chinese Logic Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025, Chinese Studies in History

As more forms of instructional print for the public, whether officially sanctioned or not, become increasingly accessible to scholars in the field of modern China, the contextualization of these pedagogical sources has been placed at the... more

As more forms of instructional print for the public, whether officially sanctioned or not, become increasingly accessible to scholars in the field of modern China, the contextualization of these pedagogical sources has been placed at the center of a growing number of historical and literary inquiries. The two books under review, albeit from different perspectives, follow this emerging trend of uncovering the mechanism for producing and disseminating certain types of educational texts in line with the sociopolitical transformation. Both examining the dynamics between politics and literature in short-lived reforms, Lu Yin’s book covers the period from China’s humiliating defeat in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, while Feng Miao’s book focuses on the Nanjing decade (1927–1937), which came to a halt after the launch of China’s all-out War of Resistance against Japan.

2025, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae

The Chinese perception of Daqin – widely accepted to denote the Roman Empire in pre-6th century texts – has been at the center of scholarly attention for a substantial time now. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of previous analyses... more

The Chinese perception of Daqin – widely accepted to denote the Roman Empire in pre-6th century texts – has been at the center of scholarly attention for a substantial time now. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of previous analyses focused on standard dynastic histories. Besides these texts compiled at the imperial court, however, numerous other sources, including geographical treatises, religious texts, and encyclopedias also mention Daqin, and provide differing accounts of the distant land. Therefore, the present paper provides a comprehensive analysis of these non-dynastic accounts of Daqin including a completely new translation of the Chinese texts and an in-depth comparison of dynastic and non-dynastic accounts providing valuable additions to the previously known picture of Daqin.

2025, Journal of Chinese Philosophy

I will first describe the core principles that underpin the traditional Chinese perspective on temporality and future, focusing particularly on the Later Moist view. Then I will introduce the concept of time as developed by St. Augustine,... more

I will first describe the core principles that underpin the traditional Chinese perspective on temporality and future, focusing particularly on the Later Moist view. Then I will introduce the concept of time as developed by St. Augustine, whose work is central to Western philosophy because of its introspective examination of time as an inner, psychological experience, distinct from the more empirical approaches of his predecessors. This foundation in Augustine's thought provides a critical contrast to the Moist view and enriches our exploration of the subjective and objective dimensions of time. Through a comparative analysis of these two perspectives and the application of the method of transcultural comparative sublation, I aim to illuminate how different approaches to understanding future can shape human perceptions of realities.

2025, Journal of Chinese Philosophy

I will first describe the core principles that underpin the traditional Chinese perspective on temporality and future, focusing particularly on the Later Moist view. Then I will introduce the concept of time as developed by St. Augustine,... more

I will first describe the core principles that underpin the traditional Chinese perspective on temporality and future, focusing particularly on the Later Moist view. Then I will introduce the concept of time as developed by St. Augustine, whose work is central to Western philosophy because of its introspective examination of time as an inner, psychological experience, distinct from the more empirical approaches of his predecessors. This foundation in Augustine's thought provides a critical contrast to the Moist view and enriches our exploration of the subjective and objective dimensions of time. Through a comparative analysis of these two perspectives and the application of the method of transcultural comparative sublation, I aim to illuminate how different approaches to understanding future can shape human perceptions of realities.

2025, Synthesis Philosophica

The article follows the presumption according to which analogical inferences in Chinese tradition followed a structure that connected all elements within a particular kind. This structure functioned as the basic element of analogies.... more

The article follows the presumption according to which analogical inferences in Chinese tradition followed a structure that connected all elements within a particular kind. This structure functioned as the basic element of analogies. Another crucial characteristic of classical Chinese analogies is the method of combining meanings. The composition of clas sical Chinese sentences tends towards the intrinsic connection among the individual parts of the sentence, and rarely applies morphological signs. This particular feature of the Chi nese language also influenced the prevailing methods of thought that manifested themselves in the processes of inferences, based upon proximity, similarity and identity. Focusing upon early Confucian and Mohist philosophy, the author shows how and why these methods could lead to the creation of a specifically Chinese type of analogism.

2024, Epistemological Theory in Classical Chinese Philosophy

This book was originally written in 2000 as a handbook for my students in the Department of Asian Studies at Ljubljana University and published in 2005 by Ljubljana University Press in my native Slovenian. Since it was completed a... more

This book was originally written in 2000 as a handbook for my students in
the Department of Asian Studies at Ljubljana University and published in
2005 by Ljubljana University Press in my native Slovenian. Since it was
completed a quarter of a century ago, it relies on many sources that are now
outdated, and it does not account for newer works published in the intervening
years. Nevertheless, the publication remains valuable, particularly because
the traditional Chinese theory of knowledge continues to be a relatively
unexplored area. I believe this book will be both intriguing and beneficial
to those studying this field. Additionally, it provides an overview and
analysis of China's intellectual history, spanning from ancient texts to the
early modern period. This aspect should appeal not only to academics but
also to non-academic audiences newly engaging with Chinese philosophy
and the history of ideas.

2024, Asian Studies

This article addresses some basic methodological problems in the field of transcultural post-comparative studies of ancient logic by comparing the famous flying arrow paradox of Hui Shi (370-c. 310 BCE) with an apparently similar paradox... more

This article addresses some basic methodological problems in the field of transcultural post-comparative studies of ancient logic by comparing the famous flying arrow paradox of Hui Shi (370-c. 310 BCE) with an apparently similar paradox attributed to Zeno of Elea (495-430 BCE). The article proceeds from a general introduction to the basic framework of semantically determined classical Chinese logic, to an illumination of Hui Shi's specific contributions to the field, and finally to a preliminary explanation that emerges from a contrastive analysis of Zeno's and Hui Shi's respective views on the problem of motion and stasis as manifested in their corresponding paradoxes. The contrastive analysis, based on an exposition of some basic problems in the field of transcultural methodology and a description of the so-called sublation method, points to the importance of considering different paradigms and frames of reference in identifying differences between apparently similar theses.

2024, Russell: the Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies

Bertrand Russell’s trip to China (1920–21) led him to write numerous articles about China culminating in The Problem of China. This paper reconsiders The Problem of China using Edward Said’s discussion of Orientalism and contextualizes it... more

Bertrand Russell’s trip to China (1920–21) led him to write numerous articles about China culminating in The Problem of China. This paper reconsiders The Problem of China using Edward Said’s discussion of Orientalism and contextualizes it with Russell’s other published and unpublished writings on China and the reactions of his Chinese contemporaries. I argue that Russell’s views reflect his prior philosophy and Western influences more than an analysis of his trip and reveal that this was what his Western readers wanted. Moreover, his reliance on the research of other scholars and popular writers was unusual, even at the time. He was an intellectually honest but relatively unqualified and imprecise interpreter, not a Said-style Orientalist. He recognized Orientalism, but was unable to avoid reproducing Orientalist stereotypes. These findings help us understand both how Russell processed foreign phenomena and the origins of Western perceptions of China in the 1920s.

2024

Presentation file for a talk on the white horse paradox

2024, Asian Philosophy

This paper addresses the question of whether it is possible to develop theoretical methods to reconcile absolute principles on the one hand and relative tenets on the other. I will look at this question through the lens of classical... more

This paper addresses the question of whether it is possible to develop theoretical methods to reconcile absolute principles on the one hand and relative tenets on the other. I will look at this question through the lens of classical Chinese logic and, more

2024, Early China

The main achievement of Professor Hansen's book is a careful and original reinterpretation of the "White Horse Dialogue" by Gongsun Long as reconstructed by Professor A. C. Graham in Asia Ma.jor (1965). Avoiding the common attribution to... more

The main achievement of Professor Hansen's book is a careful and original reinterpretation of the "White Horse Dialogue" by Gongsun Long as reconstructed by Professor A. C. Graham in Asia Ma.jor (1965). Avoiding the common attribution to Gongsun Long of a historically implausible concern with abstraction and identity relations between abstract terms, Hansen takes the sentence bai ma fei ma to mean not "White-horseness is not the same as horseness" but rather "the white-horse-kind-of-thing is not the same as the horse-kind-of-thing." Hansen suggests that if you take a noun like ma as a term meaning something like "the-horse-kind-of-stuff" not only the "White Horse Dialogue" but the whole of early Chinese philosophy of language and indeed all of early Chinese intellectual history will be much more properly understood. He credits the ancient Chinese with a philosophy of language and a philosophy of mind that avoid what he perceives as the Western Platonic tradition of assuming such entities as abstract properties and mental representations.

2023, Russell: the Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies

2023

Forthcoming in the Handbook of Logical Thought in China

2023, Journal of Chinese Philosophy

Introduction Later Mohist logic is displayed in parts of the Mohist Canon (jing shang c , jing xia d), in the Explanations (jing shuo shang e , jing shuo xia f), and in the fragments concerning names and things reconstructed from da qu g... more

Introduction Later Mohist logic is displayed in parts of the Mohist Canon (jing shang c , jing xia d), in the Explanations (jing shuo shang e , jing shuo xia f), and in the fragments concerning names and things reconstructed from da qu g and xiao qu h. Its interpretation is the object of a more reasonable consensus than the controversial interpretations of Gong Sun Long i 's celebrated essays. One reason for this is that there is more material to work on and that the logic is not so strange. It remains, however, important to evaluate the consistency of the Mohist logical approach. I have argued in a preceding article 1 that Gong Sun Long's logic is perfectly coherent, provided we interpret it with contemporary logical instruments and, as was implicit in the article, we do not restrict ourselves to a traditional syllogistic approach. I think that a similar approach can also clarify Mohist logic, and the object of this article is precisely to propose such an approach or, more modestly said, to give some elements of reflection going in that direction. The article is organized as follows: I will start from the most obvious problem, that of understanding that "although robbers are people, killing robbers is not killing people"; I propose a solution inspired by the logic of sorts which I defend in examining the Mohist notion of lei j and in showing that it gives a common background allowing one to interpret such different logics as the logics underlying Gong Sun Long, the Mohist and contemporary classical logic. Preliminaries "Robbers are people, but killing robbers is not killing people" k2. This reasoning and the like are absolutely necessary for Mohist ethics and are the object of much attention in their logic. Although it is

2023, Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate a new approach to transcultural postcomparative philosophy, which may be tentatively called “the method of sublation,” using the example of Adorno and Gong Sunlong’s respective views on the... more

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate a new approach to transcultural postcomparative philosophy, which may be tentatively called “the method of sublation,” using the example of Adorno and Gong Sunlong’s respective views on the relationship between concepts and objects. The term sublation is a neologism commonly used to translate Hegel’s idea of Aufhebung. It is derived from the Latin term sublatio, for its original meaning covered all three crucial connotations of Hegel’s Aufhebung – to lift up, to preserve and to eliminate. The method thus encompasses all three of these three notions that are crucial to any process of creating something new from the interactions between two or more distinct discourses. In this philosophical sense, it has the three meanings of producing, eliminating, and preserving arguments, propositions, or ideas. Moreover, unlike “synthesis” the term “sublation” refers to a process rather than a stage. The sublation method aims to develop new forms of tr...

2023, Anali PAZU HD

Pričujoči članek predstavlja eno od najzanimivejših filozofskih šol kitajske antike, namreč Šolo imen ali Šolo nomenalistov. Razprave te šole nas v marsičem spominjajo na osnove zahodne formalne logike, vendar izhajajo iz drugačne osnove:... more

Pričujoči članek predstavlja eno od najzanimivejših filozofskih šol kitajske antike, namreč Šolo imen ali Šolo nomenalistov. Razprave te šole nas v marsičem spominjajo na osnove zahodne formalne logike, vendar izhajajo iz drugačne osnove: nomenalistov namreč niso toliko zanimale zakonitosti mišljenja, kot njihova konkretna aplikativnost, torej umetnost »pravilnega« mišljenja kot predpogoj natančnejšega izražanja. Zato so predstavniki te šole posvečali veliko pozornosti izrazni obliki in semantičnim konotacijam pojmov, kategorizacijam, razčlenitvam in definicijam, ki so zapisane v obliki disputov. Skozi analizo treh najpomembnejših predstavnikov te idejne struje avtorica poskuša preseči na zahodu še vedno razširjene predsodke o tem, da je antična kitajska filozofija temeljila zgolj na moralnih in proto-teoloških diskurzih.

2023, T'oung Pao

1. Introduction
2. Patterns of Distribution of Zhuan yue in Early Chinese Texts
3. Locations, Contexts, and Literary Patterns: A Formal Analysis
4. Exclusion, Inclusion, and Variation: An Intertextual Examination
5. Conclusion

2023

Chinese logic and Aristotelian logic are very different. The communication between these two language games is generally difficult. But, the attempt to understand the unfamiliar and the novel are commonalities of human beings. To... more

Chinese logic and Aristotelian logic are very different. The communication between these two language games is generally difficult. But, the attempt to understand the unfamiliar and the novel are commonalities of human beings. To understand different ways of thinking, effort must be made from both sides. The evidence that strongly supports this argument is the discourse between Jesuit and Chinese mathematicians in 17 century China. They applied a common rule, Pointing Out, which make it possible, while doing geometry, for Aristotelian logic to be understood gradually by the Chinese. This dialogue is an excellent example of keeping space open for the sense of wonders. This is the hope for human knowledge.

2023, Antik Cag Cin Felsefesi ve Mantık Calısmaları (Temaşa)

Bu çalışmanın amacı, “Antikçağ Çin Felsefesi ve Mantık Anlayışı” nın özgün yapısını, mevcut kaynaklar ışığında, mümkün olduğu kadar Batı’lı anlamda Felsefe ve Mantık Anlayışı ile sistematik bir karşılaştırma yapmadan ortaya koymaktır. Bu... more

Bu çalışmanın amacı, “Antikçağ Çin Felsefesi ve Mantık Anlayışı” nın özgün yapısını, mevcut kaynaklar ışığında, mümkün olduğu kadar Batı’lı anlamda Felsefe ve Mantık Anlayışı ile sistematik bir karşılaştırma yapmadan ortaya koymaktır. Bu bağlamda Antik Çağ Çin Felsefesi ve Mantık anlayışının oluşmasına ortam hazırlayan koşullar, tarihi gelişimi içersinde incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Antik Çin’de Felsefe türünden etkinliklerin ve Mantık çalışmalarının geliştirilmesine vesile olan önemli okullar, kurucuları ile birlikte ele alınmıştır.

2023

The monograph "Philosophical Foundations of Legal Knowledge" offers an in-depth exploration into the intricate relationship between legal theory and philosophy, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the underpinnings of legal... more

The monograph "Philosophical Foundations of Legal Knowledge" offers an in-depth exploration into the intricate relationship between legal theory and philosophy, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the underpinnings of legal knowledge. The work covers a wide range of topics including the history of formal methods in law, the significance of rationality in the application of formal methods, and the types of logical systems that are relevant in legal settings. Key focal areas encompass the standardization of legal concepts, logical analysis of legal norms, and the formalization of legal texts. Furthermore, the monograph investigates the practical application of formal methods in legal practice, including possible avenues for automation and optimization. Special emphasis is placed on the role of formal methods in legal education, advocating for the inclusion of logic and formal techniques in the curriculum to foster analytical thinking among law students. The work also addresses limitations and challenges such as the complexities of human rationality and the technical constraints in modeling intricate legal cases. A separate section is dedicated to the distinction between formalization and automation, offering insights into the importance of human factors in legal decision-making processes. By integrating theoretical discussions with practical examples and future prospects, the monograph serves as a vital resource for legal scholars, practitioners, and students alike. It invites ongoing academic and practical discussions, seeking to improve both the quality of legal education and the efficacy of legal practice through the adoption of philosophical and formal methods. This comprehensive study enhances our understanding of the philosophical bases of legal systems and paves the way for more coherent, consistent, and transparent legal reasoning in the future.

2023

These passages are taken from the Xiaoqu chapter of the Mohist Canons. The Canons are a collection of writings by anonymous members of the Mohist school, compiled probably between the late 4th and mid-3 century B.C. This text is... more

These passages are taken from the Xiaoqu chapter of the Mohist Canons. The Canons are a collection of writings by anonymous members of the Mohist school, compiled probably between the late 4th and mid-3 century B.C. This text is particularly interesting for its special attention to logic, language, and argumentation. The hope is that by understanding it properly, we will gain insight into the way in which people thought in ancient times. According to the Mohists, the above examples illustrate an inference pattern called mou 侔, which the noted sinologist A.C. Graham translates as “parallelizing.” Mou is explicitly defined in the Canons as “comparing propositions and letting all ‘proceed’.” The definition is qualified by the admission that “mou is valid only as far as it reaches.” As an inference pattern it is therefore not considered universally valid.

2023, Philosophy

New Books specification that was not vague to the point of vacuity ? I have, I confess, a congenital repugnancy towards such requests for grand sociological generalities; but I fear that the confession only reveals an antiquely romantic... more

New Books specification that was not vague to the point of vacuity ? I have, I confess, a congenital repugnancy towards such requests for grand sociological generalities; but I fear that the confession only reveals an antiquely romantic attachment to the notion that Great Men are the stuff of history.

2023, Routledge

Literary Chinese is the first comprehensive work on the subject that constitutes a new approach to teaching and learning by providing both a reference tool and a reader. This dictionary can serve both as a reference book and as an... more

Literary Chinese is the first comprehensive work on the subject that constitutes a new approach to teaching and learning by providing both a reference tool and a reader. This dictionary can serve both as a reference book and as an anthology for teaching and learning literary Chinese (the premodern written language) and both ancient and contemporary Chinese culture. It differs from the traditional design of dictionaries in that it includes detailed explanations, with examples, for different uses of the graphs most often used to represent function words in literary Chinese. To facilitate teaching and learning through association, the early meaning, extended meanings, and borrowed meanings for each graph are provided, along with explanations supported by the various stages of the historical development of the graph and other relevant research. Each word is grouped into the primary word class to which it belongs, based on its lexical or grammatical meanings, its collocations, and its function in a sentence. Modern idioms derived from words and phrases in the sample passages are provided in order to promote cultural knowledge and show the important role literary Chinese continues to play in everyday life. All Chinese words are provided with Putonghua romanization to facilitate learning and recall through sound; special pronunciations are explained. This book can be used as a textbook, as extended reading, or as a reference work for undergraduate or graduate classes on literary/classical Chinese, Chinese manuscript studies, Chinese language and culture, Putonghua, translation studies, or even linguistics. It can also be used as an anthology from which the teacher can select passages for students to study.

2023, Journal of Greco-Roman Studies 西洋古典學研究 61.1 (2022) 47-77

Chinese philosophy has traditionally developed along a method of knowledge based on moral intuition, while Scholasticism in the West was founded on dialectics (or logic), and thus, the encounter of the two traditions in the Seventeenth... more

Chinese philosophy has traditionally developed along a method of knowledge based on moral intuition, while Scholasticism in the West was founded on dialectics (or logic), and thus, the encounter of the two traditions in the Seventeenth century China was full of promises, but also needed to overcome many difficulties. The Portuguese Jesuit Francisco Furtado (Fu Fanji 傅汎濟, 1589-1653) started a fruitful collaboration with the Chinese literatus Li Zhizao 李之藻 (1571-1630). In 1628, they had already produced Huan you quan 寰有詮 (Explanation on the Universal Being), which is based on the Coimbra commentary on the De coelo (1592). However, a * I would like to express my gratitude to the three reviewers for their suggestions in improving this paper. 【Key words】Coimbra, dialectics, Jesuit, China, translation 【Abstract】The translation into Chinese of Aristotelian logic by Francisco Furtado and Li Zhizao in the Seventeenth century constitutes one of the most ambitious projects in the encounter between Europe and China, which deserves more scholarly attention not only from the point of view of intellectual history, but also because of the philosophical questions that their translation raises. Through a careful reading of the Chinese and Latin texts, this study examines the relevance of logic, or dialectics, for Chinese culture, or in other words, the question of its universality.

2022, Monumenta Serica

Shao Yong's "Inner Chapters on Observing Things" develops a method for understanding the unity of heaven and man, tracing the decline of civilization from antiquity, and determining how the present can return to the ideal socio-political... more

Shao Yong's "Inner Chapters on Observing Things" develops a method for understanding the unity of heaven and man, tracing the decline of civilization from antiquity, and determining how the present can return to the ideal socio-political order of antiquity. Shao's method is based on dividing any topic into fours aspects (for example, four Classics, four seasons, four kinds of rulers, etc.) and generating the systematic relations between these four member sets. Although Shao's method was unusual at the time, the questions he was addressing were shared with mid-eleventh statecraft thinkers. 摘要:邵雍在《觀物內篇》中發展出了一種獨特的方法,用來理解天人合一、追溯三代以 後之衰、並確定如何才能復原三代理想的社會政治秩序。邵雍的方法立足於將任意一個主 題劃分為四個種類(例如,四種經典,四種季節,四種統治者,等等),並賦予這四個種 類之間以系統性的聯繫。雖然邵雍的方法在當時並非尋常,可是他所試圖解決的問題卻是 其他十一世紀中葉的政治制度思想家所共同思考的。 Shao's claim to philosophical importance is based on a single book, the Huangji jingshi shu 皇極 經世書 (Supreme Principles for Governing the World) and the various charts and diagrams associated with it, and to much lesser extent his collection of poems, the Jirang ji 擊壤集. Much of his work drew on the Book of Change and the tradition that explored the systems of "image and number" in the Change. Some of the intellectuals Shao came to know in the 1070s, in

2022, The Gongsun Longzi and Other Neglected Texts

This chapter follows the research of A. C. Graham (1919-1991) and ShěnYǒudǐng 沈有鼎 (1908-1993) on the textual history of the Gōngsūn Lóngzǐ 公孫龍子 (hereafter GSLZ). After a few introductory remarks in the first section, the second section... more

This chapter follows the research of A. C. Graham (1919-1991) and ShěnYǒudǐng 沈有鼎 (1908-1993) on the textual history of the Gōngsūn Lóngzǐ 公孫龍子 (hereafter GSLZ). After a few introductory remarks in the first section, the second section illustrates the secondary nature of the GSLZ by giving a concise overview of the various ways its compilers drew on the "dialectical chapters" of the Mòzǐ (Mohist 'Canons'). In the third section, I gather evidence for the medieval renaissance of Mohist dialectics, which was closely associated with the figure of Gōngsūn Lóng from its beginning, in order to suggest that it was in the light of this renewed interest in language and argument that the extant GSLZ was composed. If the GSLZ is indeed as late as this, its compilation would coincide with a period during which Buddhist scholastics enjoyed increasing influence in China. Thus the main part of the chapter is dedicated to disclosing traces of a Buddhist impact on the argument, structure, and compilation of the GSLZ,o r some of its parts. Even if the GSLZ lacks manifest traces of Buddhist influence, such as quotations of Buddhist works or explicitly Buddhist terminology, there is evidence to suggest that a strong Buddhist background informed the compiler(s) of the work. In section four, I show that the argument in the 'Discourse on Hard and White' (Jiānbái lùn 堅白論, hereafter JBL) closely resembles a line of reasoning in a Buddhist work translated in the early fifth century CE. In section five, I demonstrate how certain Buddhist discourses about the nature of causation, time, and language provide the very rationale that structures the 'Discourse on Penetrating Change' (Tōngbiàn lùn 通變論, hereafter TBL) and the 'Discourse on Names and Substances' (Míngshí lùn 名 實論, hereafter MSL). The sixth section explores the composition of JBL and its pivotal role in the compilation of the entire GSLZ from the perspective of three of its crucial terms and their probable Buddhist implications. Section seven returns to Graham'sa n dS h ěn's arguments for dating the composition of the received GSLZ as late as in the second half of the seventh century CE. On the basis of various Buddhist references, this section attempts to gain additional insights into the possible history of compilation of the GSLZ. The peculiar nature of the parallels in Buddhist texts, along with internal evidence in JBL and TBL, suggest that the GSLZand especially these two chapterspossibly assumed their present shape through two different stages of editorial activity, in the fifth and the late seventh centuries CE, respectively.

2022, Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques

"A white horse is not a horse", 1 "a chicken has three legs", 2 "The center of the world is north of Yan and south of Yue", 3 "that which has no thickness and cannot be piled up may be as great as one thousand miles" 4these are but a few... more

"A white horse is not a horse", 1 "a chicken has three legs", 2 "The center of the world is north of Yan and south of Yue", 3 "that which has no thickness and cannot be piled up may be as great as one thousand miles" 4these are but a few examples of the dazzling and ostentatious statements associated with the so-called "School of Names" (mingjia 名家) of ancient China. It is to two of its alleged main proponents, Hui Shi (惠施, trad. 370-310 BC), presented in the Zhuangzi as Zhuang Zhou's intimate friend and favourite disputant, and Gongsun Long (公孫龍, trad. 320-250 BC) that Solomon dedicates his studies (p. 11). Referring to themselves as bianzhe 辯者, that is, "disputers", people of their ilk were famous and notorious at the same time. Admired for their eloquence and quick-wittedness, they were deprecated for only "winning over people's mouths" instead of "convincing their hearts". 5 The disdain with which their playfulness and nonchalance were met by fogeyish ru-ritualiststhe later "Confucians"like Xunzi and Mengzi is proverbial. And at least in terms of its pointedness and its degree of repudiation such criticism is comparable to Plato's rejection of the sterile logomachy of the sophistsa commonality that has also earned them the designation of "sophists". On the School of Names in Ancient China is a collection of essays composed between 1967 and 1985. Three of these have been published as independent articles some time ago (chapters 1, 2 and 3 6). Its belated publication almost thirty years after completion of the last manuscripts in no respect diminishes this book's invaluable contribution to our understanding of what its author calls the ancient Chinese "School of Names". That the essays have eventually been made available in a single collection is the merit of the editors who in an

2022, Russell: the Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies

2022, Revista Española de Filosofía Medieval / Diálogo Filosófico

This document includes reviews of four works about logic in the classical era and the medieval period. The books reviewed are new editions of Thomas Murner's Carthiludium Logicae, John of Salisbury's Metalogicon, and Ramon Llull's Liber... more

This document includes reviews of four works about logic in the classical era and the medieval period. The books reviewed are new editions of Thomas Murner's Carthiludium Logicae, John of Salisbury's Metalogicon, and Ramon Llull's Liber Correlativorum; Gregor Paul's Logik und Kultur: der Westen, Indien, China und Japan is also reviewed.

2022, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

2022, Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi

The philosophical linkage between Zhuangzi and the Logicians (or the School of Names; “mingjia 名家”) is often overlooked in Chinese philosophy. Although some traditional Daoists and contemporary scholars have pointed out that there is a... more

The philosophical linkage between Zhuangzi and the Logicians (or the School of Names; “mingjia 名家”) is often overlooked in Chinese philosophy. Although some traditional Daoists and contemporary scholars have pointed out that there is a close relationship between Zhuangzi and the Logicians, not many systematic studies have been devoted to the difference and relation between the two philosophies. In this chapter, I argue that a significant part of Zhuangzi’s philosophy in the Qiwulun 齊
物論 is devoted to responding to the Logicians’ discovery of the separation between the name that we use to refer to things (zhi 指) and the things that are referred to by name (wu 物).

2022, MEDITERRANEAN JOURNAL

Brain-challenging puzzles have attracted people for a very long time. Paradoxes constitute a special type of puzzle aimed to reveal and emphasize an inconsistency or contradiction resulting from some mental experiments in mathematics.... more

Brain-challenging puzzles have attracted people for a very long time. Paradoxes constitute a special type of puzzle aimed to reveal and emphasize an inconsistency or contradiction resulting from some mental experiments in mathematics. Their resolution teaches us to stay alert and be aware of possible flaws of various kinds. Many paradoxes, such as those of Zeno and Russell, greatly influenced the shape of mathematics as we know it today. That suggests a possibility to incorporate the study of paradoxes in standard mathematical courses. But how productive may it be? At which stage of their study will students benefit from being exposed to paradoxes? How one can practically do it in the classroom? This paper is an attempt to address some aspects of these important questions. We discuss the nature and role of paradoxes in the process of understanding, along with potential problems and advantages of their use in study. We give several examples of mathematical paradoxes in both the historical and the classroom context. A short survey results outline an idea of the audience reaction and suggests further directions for research. We conclude that the pedagogical payoff of the use of paradoxes in the classroom is currently underestimated and a consistent study of the impact of paradoxes on learners will allow us to develop a teaching portfolio which takes a comprehensive advantage of the natural curiosity of the mind towards puzzles.

2022, Philosophy

New Books specification that was not vague to the point of vacuity ? I have, I confess, a congenital repugnancy towards such requests for grand sociological generalities; but I fear that the confession only reveals an antiquely romantic... more

New Books specification that was not vague to the point of vacuity ? I have, I confess, a congenital repugnancy towards such requests for grand sociological generalities; but I fear that the confession only reveals an antiquely romantic attachment to the notion that Great Men are the stuff of history.

2022, Monumenta Serica

Shao Yong's "Inner Chapters on Observing Things" develops a method for understanding the unity of heaven and man, tracing the decline of civilization from antiquity, and determining how the present can return to the ideal socio-political... more

Shao Yong's "Inner Chapters on Observing Things" develops a method for understanding the unity of heaven and man, tracing the decline of civilization from antiquity, and determining how the present can return to the ideal socio-political order of antiquity. Shao's method is based on dividing any topic into fours aspects (for example, four Classics, four seasons, four kinds of rulers, etc.) and generating the systematic relations between these four member sets. Although Shao's method was unusual at the time, the questions he was addressing were shared with mid-eleventh statecraft thinkers. 摘要:邵雍在《觀物內篇》中發展出了一種獨特的方法,用來理解天人合一、追溯三代以 後之衰、並確定如何才能復原三代理想的社會政治秩序。邵雍的方法立足於將任意一個主 題劃分為四個種類(例如,四種經典,四種季節,四種統治者,等等),並賦予這四個種 類之間以系統性的聯繫。雖然邵雍的方法在當時並非尋常,可是他所試圖解決的問題卻是 其他十一世紀中葉的政治制度思想家所共同思考的。 Shao's claim to philosophical importance is based on a single book, the Huangji jingshi shu 皇極 經世書 (Supreme Principles for Governing the World) and the various charts and diagrams associated with it, and to much lesser extent his collection of poems, the Jirang ji 擊壤集. Much of his work drew on the Book of Change and the tradition that explored the systems of "image and number" in the Change. Some of the intellectuals Shao came to know in the 1070s, in

2022

On October 14 – 16, 2013, a large group of Chinese and foreign logicians gathered at Tsinghua University to present a broad and lively picture of the field of logic in its various ramifications today. As can be seen in the scientific... more

On October 14 – 16, 2013, a large group of Chinese and foreign logicians gathered at Tsinghua University to present a broad and lively picture of the field of logic in its various ramifications today. As can be seen in the scientific program at the webpage www.tsinghualogic.net, topics at the international conference “Logic across the University: Foundations and Applications” ranged from mathematics, philosophy, and linguistics to computer science and the cognitive and social sciences. In addition, two evening lectures highlighted major outside interfaces of logic with society and industry. The interested reader can find the material of this conference in the Proceedings, prepared by the editors of the current piece, that appeared with College Publications London. Moreover, reports for a more general audience on various aspects of the conference have appeared in China Science Daily and Chinese Social Sciences Today. While participants came from a wide range of disciplinary backgroun...

2022, Journal of Chinese Philosophy

In this paper, I challenge previous attempts to allocate Neo-Mohist biun into either an art of inference or an art of description. I claim that Neo-Mohist bian has both aspects of inference and description. Theories of lei"... more

In this paper, I challenge previous attempts to allocate Neo-Mohist biun into either an art of inference or an art of description. I claim that Neo-Mohist bian has both aspects of inference and description. Theories of lei" (classification, kinds) play a central role in such an interpretation. In this regard, an interpretation emphasizing one aspect without the other fails to catch the real nature of Neo-Mohist biun. 1. General Conception of Biun in Ancient China Biun" in Classical Chinese literally means both 'fluency in language' and 'discrimination'. Therefore in its ordinary use, it is interchanged with the term biun' (discrimination). However, in Classical Chinese philosophy especially in the 4th and 3rd centuries B. C., biun is a technical term to refer to an art of disputation or argumentation. As the zhoulz" (the rituals of Zhou dynasty), which had been regarded as the received moral system, weakened at that time, most Chinese philosophical schools freely participated in heated disputations in order to defend their respective moral claims and defeat rival claims. The most negative attitude toward bian is expressed by the later Daoist, Zhuangzi. He claims that no agreement can be reached between disputants through a disputation and therefore does not take a disputation as a positive method of determining objective truth.' The Neo-Mohists, on the other hand, hold a positive attitude toward biun and so claim that a real biun can determine which claim(s) is correct among conflicting claims. This is because their conception of bian presupposes it.2 The Neo-Mohists agree that there are some situations where a disputation cannot reach an agreement between disputants. The Neo-Mohists attribute such failure of reaching an

2022, Journal of Modern Chinese History

This study lays out an overview of the main developments related to the teaching and expounding of logic at the Philosophy Department of Peking University, between the early years of the Republic and the year 1927, when the university was... more

This study lays out an overview of the main developments related to the teaching and expounding of logic at the Philosophy Department of Peking University, between the early years of the Republic and the year 1927, when the university was temporarily dissolved and reorganized into the Provisional Unified University of Peking. The objective here is to interconnect various (some not directly related) developments in the curricula that covered the CONTACT Jan VRHOVSKI

2022, CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE

Aim of research is to find the answers to the questions generated in a curious mind. The discovery, preservation and communication of the historical and present record of human society when combined with scientific deliberation, rewards... more

Aim of research is to find the answers to the questions generated in a curious mind. The discovery, preservation and communication of the historical and present record of human society when combined with scientific deliberation, rewards the seekers and the readers. A lot of efforts can be seen to understand research and its process. Seldom do we find contents pertaining to research in the area of art or humanities. The paper entitled 'Research Methodology' seeks clarity towards an approach to research and is comprised into three parts to generate a bird eye view from general aspects of research to research in humanities stream. Wherein Part I contains basic as well as pertinent aspects related to importance of research, definitions, objectives, stimulus-its significance and types: where the classification is based on general, nature, purpose and design. Research is seldom neutral, but reflects a range Researcher's personal interest, values, abilities, assumptions, aims and ambition. Everyone is a philosopher and has an own concept of the world. The alternative to having a philosophy is not having no philosophy but having a bad philosophy. Part II includes an introduction to Research Theories, Philosophies and Methods with inclination to humanities as the main stream. Research involves a systematic process that contains multiple steps sometimes inter linked as well. Part III probes into the concepts and layers of Research Process along with certain amount of light on aspects pertaining to literary studies.

2022, Philosophy of Language, Chinese Language, Chinese Philosophy

This paper presents an interpretation of Gongsun Long's white horse paradox. The Chinese sentence he uses to state his main thesis (Bai ma fei ma) has two potential readings: (a) The white horses are not horses. (b) The white horses are... more

This paper presents an interpretation of Gongsun Long's white horse paradox. The Chinese sentence he uses to state his main thesis (Bai ma fei ma) has two potential readings: (a) The white horses are not horses. (b) The white horses are not the horses. Although (a) gives the usual and correct reading of the sentence, according to the interpretation, Gongsun Long takes it to state (b). He gives good arguments for (b) while taking them to establish (a) as well, for he fails to distinguish between the two different theses. In presenting this interpretation, the paper gives an account of the function of numeral classifiers and discusses the semantics of count nouns in languages with no grammatical number system, including classical Chinese and classifier languages (e.g., contemporary Chinese). Keywords Gongsun Long, White Horse Dialogue, white horse paradox, numeral classifier, classifier language, mass noun thesis, bare noun Gongsun Long (公孙龙) (ca. 325-250 BC), a Warring States period philosopher in the school of names (名家), is famous for advancing the thesis that white horses are not horses. In a treatise titled the White Horse Dialogue (白马论), he presents dialectical arguments for a thesis he states using a sentence usually taken to mean that white horses are not horses (or the white horses are not horses): (G) Bai ma fei ma (白马非马 white horse not horse).

2022, WISDOM

It is shown that the creation of artificial intelligence systems, gradually approaching human intelligence, cannot be limited by binary logic and the classical interpretation of the category of truth. The nature of human thinking is... more

It is shown that the creation of artificial intelligence systems, gradually approaching human intelligence, cannot be limited by binary logic and the classical interpretation of the category of truth. The nature of human thinking is variable, which requires the use of flexible algorithmic platforms that operate with multivalued logic. It is shown that the existing approaches to the interpretation of the essence of intelligence, going back to the Turing test, are not consistent. More adequate is a criterion built on the ability of the intellect to lie, including creative particulars. It is shown that using multi-valued logic is a promising tool for constructing the algorithmic basis of artificial intelligence. It is shown that the use of just such logic is of interest from the point of view of studying self-organization processes in a telecommunication environment, resulting in the appearance of “spontaneous intelligence”, too. An analogue of such intelligence, for example, is the ph...

2022

ACADEMIC POSITIONS Simultaneously now: Emeritus Professor of Asian Languages: Chinese and Japanese Languages and Literatures Arizona State University 2004Associate, Center for East Asian Studies University of Chicago 2004Associate, Center... more

ACADEMIC POSITIONS Simultaneously now: Emeritus Professor of Asian Languages: Chinese and Japanese Languages and Literatures Arizona State University 2004Associate, Center for East Asian Studies University of Chicago 2004Associate, Center for Chinese Studies University of Michigan 2005Visiting Scholar University of Notre Dame 2012Affiliate, Center for Japanese Studiees University of Michigan 2013Prior appointments: Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor Arizona State University 1978-2003 Visiting Research Scholar University of Tokyo 1999-2000 Exchange Professor Hiroshima Shudo University 1991 Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese (and Japanese) University of Michigan 1977-78 Temporary Lecturer in Chinese Oxford University 1970 Additional positions: President American Oriental Society, Western Branch 1983-85 Acting Director Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies 1988

2022

A presente obra vai oferecer a você, leitor e leitora, um panorama crítico do estado da arte atual do debate acadêmico filosófico de matriz chinesa, seja pelos seus próprios termos ou em perspectiva comparada. Esse é o primeiro volume dos... more

A presente obra vai oferecer a você, leitor e leitora, um panorama crítico
do estado da arte atual do debate acadêmico filosófico de matriz chinesa, seja pelos seus próprios termos ou em perspectiva comparada. Esse é o primeiro volume dos Textos Selecionados de Filosofia Chinesa da Série Investigações Filosóficas, com tradução de vários verbetes especializados em filosofia chinesa publicados originalmente em inglês na The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Esses verbetes foram traduzidos por toda uma equipe brasileira de pesquisadores(as) especialistas em tradições asiáticas e em filosofia acadêmica

2022, Asian Studies

This article addresses some basic methodological problems in the field of transcultural post-comparative studies of ancient logic by comparing the famous flying arrow paradox of Hui Shi (370–c. 310 BCE) with an apparently similar paradox... more

This article addresses some basic methodological problems in the field of transcultural post-comparative studies of ancient logic by comparing the famous flying arrow paradox of Hui Shi (370–c. 310 BCE) with an apparently similar paradox attributed to Zeno of Elea (495–430 BCE). The article proceeds from a general introduction to the basic framework of semantically determined classical Chinese logic, to an illumination of Hui Shi’s specific contributions to the field, and finally to a preliminary explanation that emerges from a contrastive analysis of Zeno’s and Hui Shi’s respective views on the problem of motion and stasis as manifested in their corresponding paradoxes. The contrastive analysis, based on an exposition of some basic problems in the field of transcultural methodology and a description of the so-called sublation method, points to the importance of considering different paradigms and frames of reference in identifying differences between apparently similar theses.