Abstract
This chapter explores the nature and role of the reasoning in ancient Chinese logic, and especially analyzes five kinds of reasoning pattern: “illustrating” (pi 譬), “parallelizing” (mou 侔), “adducing” (yuan 援), “inferring” (tui 推), and “stopping” (zhi 止). Among them, I argue, “illustrating” and “parallelizing” are used for the proof of a proposition, i.e., asserting the truth of a proposition; but “adducing” (yuan 援) and “inferring” (tui 推) are used for refutation, i.e., asserting the falsity of a proposition. In addition, I will point out that the last reasoning pattern includes two kinds of “stopping” (zhi 止), that is, inductive and deductive “stopping” inferences.
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Notes
- 1.
Most translations in this paper will be from Johnston2010, with certain adaptions. For example, here I translate 說 as “reasoning” rather than “explanation.” All the departures from Johnston’s translation will be noted.
- 2.
Here, I don’t agree with the translation of Ian Johnston. It is an error to translate “square” (fang方) into “method.”
- 3.
Replacing Johnston’s “being told” by “reasoning.”
- 4.
This translation differs importantly from Johnston’s translation: “Stopping: If another, by enumerating this is so, just considers these are so, then I will ask him by enumerating that is not so” (Johnston2010: 463).
- 5.
This translation differs importantly from Johnston’s translation: “Stopping: Another, on the basis of these being so, says this is so. I, on the basis of these not being so, call in question this being so” (Johnston2010: 466–7).
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Yang, W. (2020). Reasoning (Pi 譬, Mou 侔, Yuan 援, Tui 推). In: Fung, Ym. (eds) Dao Companion to Chinese Philosophy of Logic. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29033-7_9
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