Gongsun Long
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Gongsun Long (Traditional Chinese: 公孫龍; Hanyu Pinyin: Gōngsūn Lóng; Wade-Giles: Kung-sun Lung, c. 320 B.C.–250 B.C.[1]) was a member of the Logicians school of ancient Chinese philosophy. He also ran a school and enjoyed the support of rulers, and supported peaceful means of resoving disputes in contrast to the wars which were common in the period (the so-called Warring States Period). However, little is known about the particulars of his life, and furthermore many of his writings have been lost.[1] All of his extant essays are included in the book Gongsun Longzi (Traditional Chinese: 公孫龍子; Hanyu Pinyin: Gōngsūn Lóngzǐ; Wade-Giles: Kung-sun Lung Tzu).
He is best known for a series of paradoxes in the tradition of Hui Shi. His most famous work is White Horse Dialogue (《白馬論》), structured as conversation between two parties, with one party proclaiming truth in the statement and the other questioning. The argument plays upon the dual semantic meanings of informal language, in particular the dual interpretations of 'is', being either:
- "Is a member of the class entitled (x)"
- "Is identical to concept (x)"
Thus a white horse is not a horse, because the concept of a white horse is not the same as the concept of a horse.
Two other paradoxes attributed to him are:
- Only the features of things can be pointed out (named), and yet the world (and other wholes) can be named even though the world (or a whole thing) is not itself a feature of anything.
- One and one cannot become two, since neither becomes two.[2]
[edit] Works
- 白馬論 (Bái mǎ lùn) "White Horse Dialogue"
- 指物論 (Zhǐ wù lùn)
- 通變論 (Tōng biàn lùn)
- 堅白論 (Jiān bái lùn)
- 名實論 (Míng shí lùn)
- 跡府 (Ji fǔ) "Storehouse of Traces"
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Works by Gongsun Longzi at Project Gutenberg (In Chinese)
- Full text of Gongsun Longzi
