Using Contemporary Logic to Analyze Pre­Qin Logic

Studies in Logic, Vol. 14, No. 6 (2021): 92–126   PII: 1674­3202(2021)­06­0092­35

Thierry Lucas

Abstract.

The aim of this article is to sketch how some notions arising from notions or techniques mainly due to contemporary logic and some elements of the theory of argumentation may allow us to reach a better understanding of the logical contributions of the great thinkers of China’s past. It is proposed to extend the usual notion of logic to include some elements of the theory of argumentation, hoping thus to create an open space where “Western logic” and “Chinese logic” may meet (sections 1 and 2). This is exemplified by a detailed study of some important pre­Qin contributions to logic. Sections 3 to 5 analyze some logical contributions in the traditional sense of “logic” : later Mohists and the basic laws of logic; definitions in theory and in practice; classification of names, interdefinability of quantifiers and contemporary explanations of the mou (侔) type of reasoning in the Mohist texts. Section 6 analyzes the phenomenon of sentence parallelism to show that it hides some partially formalizable elements of the theory of argumentation such as arguments by generalization, and that it contains some implicit but perfectly valid arguments. Section 7 presents a detailed analysis of examples of reasoning by analogy in the Mencius and suggests some formal ways of evaluating their strength.