Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 29 No. 1, 2014.
Original scientific paper
Specific Features of Chinese Logic: Analogies and the Problem of Structural Relations in Confucian and Mohist Discourses
Jana S. Rošker
; University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Asian and African Studies, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
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 classical Chinese sentences tends towards the intrinsic connection among the individual parts of the sentence, and rarely applies morphological signs. This particular feature of the Chinese 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.
Keywords
Chinese analogy; semantic meanings; kinds; inferences; structure
Hrčak ID:
138229
URI
Publication date:
26.11.2014.
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