According to a speaker in a famous historical dialogue, “A white horse is not a horse.” In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Lisa Indraccolo (Tallinn University) to unpack one of the most intriguing discourses in early Chinese philosophy—the White Horse Dialogue from the Gongsun Longzi. Together, we explore what this paradoxical statement reveals about language, logic, and categorization in early China, from the connection between words and reality to the ways that set theory, semantics, and metaphysics might be used to help us understand this fascinating text. Continue reading →
Category Archives: Logic
The Mojing: New Translation of Sun Zhongyuan’s Research on Mohist Logic
Brill has recently published the English translation of Sun Zhongyuan’s work on Mohist Logic, The Mojing. In this book, Sun investigates the historical contributions made to the research of logic in China, its modern value, its significance to the world, and how the form of logic developed in China is united with those from the rest of the world, focusing on Mohist (mojia 墨家) logic in particular as its core concern. The book is accessible here.
ToC: History of Logic in Contemporary China
The journal Asian Studies has recently published a new special issue (Vol. 10 No.2) titled “History of Logic in Contemporary China”. This issue contains 18 different articles; read below for the table of contents. This journal’s contents are fully available on-line.
Workshop on Tsinghua Logic School
WORKSHOP: Legacy of the Tsinghua Logic School
Time: April 21, 2022
Venue: Hybrid
Organizer: The Joint Research Center for Logic, Tsinghua University
In 1926, recently graduated from Columbia University, Jin Yuelin came back to China and founded the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University. With new appointments of Shen Youding and Wang Xianjun in subsequent years, the logic group grew very fast and attracted many young talents. One prominent student of Jin Yuelin was Wang Hao, who later took his PhD degree at Harvard and became a well-known logician worldwide. This pioneering history was recorded in a recent article by Jan Vrhovski: “The Qinghua Logic School: Mathematical Logic at Qinghua University in Peking, 1926–1945”. In 1952, due to the policy of “reorganization of colleges and departments”, Tsinghua’s philosophy department was moved to Peking University. Wang Xianjun stayed there ever since, while Jin Yuelin and Shen Youding soon moved once more, to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In this way the logic tradition spread. In 2000 Tsinghua officially restored its philosophy department with a focus in logic. In the last two decades, Tsinghua has been making lots of progress in logic, with several major appointments. (for more information see the website: www.tsinghualogic.net/JRC). On the occasion of Tsinghua University’s anniversary in April this year, we are organizing a small workshop to discuss the Tsinghua logic tradition, the ideas of the early founding logicians, and plans for our future development.
On-line Conference: “Textual Analysis as the Basis for Understanding Chinese Logical Thought”
The logic research centre of Tsinghua University warmly invites you to join us in attending the “Textual Analysis as the Basis for Understanding Chinese Logical Thought” international workshop.
Keynote speeches will be delivered by Jana S. Rošker, Christoph Harbsmeier, Yiu-ming Fung, Fenrong Liu, Dirk Meyer, and Joachim Gentz in order of presentation.
For the full program, please check our workshop website: http://tsinghualogic.net/JRC/?page_id=3876
The conference will be held online on January 15-17, 2022, 16:30-21:00PM (Beijing Standard Time).
The conference will be held on Zoom platform (Meeting ID:894 1963 2234). Registration is required from here: http://tsinghualogic.net/JRC/?page_id=3878
New Article: Beaney, Swimming Happily in Chinese Logic
Michael Beaney has recently published “Swimming Happily in Chinese Logic” in the Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society; full text is available on-line here. The abstract:
Dipping in Chinese waterspulled and pushed by Mowe see how Zhuangzi caught uslike the happy fish we knowwe follow their flowwords matching as they sort us
Enjoy!
Aristotelian Society Talk by Michael Beaney
“Swimming Happily in Chinese Logic” By Michael Beaney
MONDAY, 21 JUNE 2021 17.30 – 19.15
More information here: https://www.aristoteliansociety.org.uk/the-proceedings/the-2020-21-programme/michael-beaney/ (including the Zoom link)
(Brought to my attention by an ex-student)
New Book: Fung, Dao Companion to Chinese Philosophy of Logic
Huang Yong writes to share this news:
Dao Companion to Chinese Philosophy of Logic (volume 12 in the series of Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy), edited by Yiuming Fung, has just been published by Springer. Below is an overview of the book. Here is a link to the Dao Companions series.
CFP: Logic Conference
The Organisers of the 2nd World Congress on Logic and Religion, to be held at the University of Warsaw (Poland), 18-22 June, 2017, have the pleasure of inviting you to the Congress: http://logicandreligion.uw.edu.pl/
The Congress will have a separate section on Logic in the religions of East Asia. As with the other sections of the Congress (such as Logic in the religions of South Asia, Logic in Arabic philosophy and the Islamicate world, etc.), we are seeking papers that concern the relation between logic and East Asian philosophies/religions in all possible aspects. We would welcome both established and early-career researchers working in the field to participate. In keeping with our practice in the other sections of the Congress, we welcome papers that concern the relation between the logic and religions of East Asia and South East Asia, taken in the broadest sense of those terms.
The registration form can be found at: http://logicandreligion.uw.edu.pl/registration/
Irene Cronin (UCLA): The Notion of Accepted Contradiction in Early Chinese Daoism. 12 Dec 2016 at CUNY Graduate Center
FALL 2016 Logic and Metaphysics Workshop
Date: Monday December 12, 4.15-6.15
Place: Room 5382, CUNY Graduate Center.
Speaker: Irena Cronin, UCLA
Title: The Notion of Accepted Contradiction in Early Chinese Daoism
Abstract: Although the representation of the Dao differs a little between the representative Early Chinese Daoist works Zhuangzi and Dao de jing, the differences are one of degree, rather than “substance”. In Zhuangzi, the common man as possible master craftsman, whether it be as a cook, woodmaker, or fisherman, or other kind of craftsman, has the capability of understanding and embracing the Dao (although these occurrences would be relatively rare), while in Dao de jing, it is only the Sage, a rare man of extreme ability that can do so; all others do not have this capability and have minor, shadowy and totally indeterminable experiences of the Dao, and are “condemned” to live an ignorant and almost animal-like existence, finding solace in creature comforts.
