Language and sense discrimination in ancient China.

摘要

The dissertation examines the intersection of language and sense discrimination in the texts of classical Chinese philosophy (with separate chapters on Laozi, Xunzi, Mencius, the NeoMohist Canons and Zhuangzi). Through an analysis of the figures of speech related to language and sense discrimination, it argues that the pair 'aural and visual' forms a significant dualism within the Chinese cosmos.;The significance of the aural/visual dualism is threefold. First, it clarifies classical Chinese epistemology. The dissertation argues that classical Chinese epistemology is a matter of matching many levels of parallels between the aural and the visual. In other words, knowledge in classical China is verified through correspondences between the aural and visual.;Second, the aural/visual dualism challenges a common assumption that in classical China sense discrimination is natural while language is conventional. The aural and visual are two aspects of sense discrimination, but they are also two aspects of language. That is, the category 'language' extends over both sides of the dualism. It is both aural (heard as speech) and visual (seen as writing). As a result, the contrast of 'language as conventional' in opposition to 'sense discrimination as natural' does not develop in classical China. Both language and sense discrimination are to some extent both natural and conventional.;Thirdly, the importance of the aural and visual is connected to the pair ming/shi. Ming/shi is typically translated 'names and reality' or 'names and objects' on the assumption that shi is more substantial and therefore more real. But as a form of the aural/visual dualism, there seems to be no justification for taking shi as 'reality'. Shi is what is seen by the eyes, just as ming is what is heard by the ears, but neither appears more intrinsically 'real'. Thus, the dissertation argues that in light of the aural/visual dualism we must reconsider what constitutes the notion of reality in classical China.