Volume 3: With a blow of destiny, the king appears. Chapter 25: A white horse is not a horse, but it is solid and white. They have the same appearance but different appearances.
One of the Demonic Rebels: The Floating Pot Space - Gongsun Long
Gongsun Long (320 B.C-250 B.C.), also known as Zi Bing, was a native of the Zhao state during the Warring States Period in China. He was once a retainer of Lord Pingyuan and a representative figure of the famous family. He is famous for his arguments such as "A White Horse Is Not a Horse" and "Li Jian Bai".
His main work is "Gongsun Longzi", which has 14 chapters in the Western Han Dynasty and three volumes in the Tang Dynasty. Eight chapters were lost in the Northern Song Dynasty. Up to now, only six chapters remain in one volume, which are preserved in the "Tao Zang" of the Ming Dynasty.
The spread of this book is complicated. After the Song Dynasty, some people doubted its authenticity. They believed that the current version of "Gongsun Longzi" was compiled by Jin Dynasty people based on fragmentary materials, and to a certain extent, the original appearance of "Gongsun Longzi" in the pre-Qin Dynasty was lost. .
The first chapter of "Gongsun Longzi", "Jifu", describes his life and deeds. Chapter 2 "White Horse Theory" proposes that a white horse is not a horse, and discusses the relationship of equality and inclusion between concepts, which has something in common with modern set theory thinking.
Chapter 3, "Theory of Pointing to Objects," proposes that things cannot refer to things, and discusses the relationship between the real world and subjective concepts. The fourth chapter "Tongbian" proposes Ji Zusan, and the fifth chapter "Jianbai Theory" proposes Li Jianbai, which discusses the relationship between objects and their attributes. Sixth "The Theory of Name and Reality".
As famous as Gongsun Long is another famous family named Hui Shi.
According to "Historical Records and Biography of Zhongni's Disciples", there was another disciple of Confucius, also named Gongsun Long, whose courtesy name was Zishi, who was fifty-three years younger than Confucius.
The traditional view of materialist dialectics holds that Gongsun Long is a representative of sophistry, proposing the interrelationship between the particular and the general in logic, but exaggerating the difference between them. Cutting off the connection between the two is a metaphysical thought system.
Various schools of thought generally believe that Gongsun Long is a sophist, but they seem unable to win the debate. The first chapter of "Gongsun Longzi" "Jifu" records the story of Kong Chuan, a descendant of Confucius, who tried to refute Gongsun Long but failed.
"Zhuangzi, Tianxia Chapter" said that Gongsun Long can decorate people's hearts, change people's ideas, be able to win people's words, but cannot convince people's hearts. "Xunzi, Bugou Chapter" believes that gentlemen do not value the eloquence of famous figures such as Hui Shi, because It is inconsistent with etiquette. It¡¯s not that a gentleman cannot refute Jian Baili¡¯s point of view, it¡¯s that he doesn¡¯t argue with it.
"Xunzi, Correcting Names" believes that the white horse is not a horse because of confusion in using names to confuse the facts.
"Zizhi Tongjian" records that Zou Yan believed that Gongsun Long used falsehoods in his writings, used rhetoric to support each other, and used clever metaphors to shift phases. It's distracting and confusing. This is harmful to the Dao, so I don't argue with Gongsun Long.
Zhou Changzhong's "New Treatise on Gongsun Longzi" compared Gongsun Long's thoughts with Western philosophy and believed that Gongsun Long constructed a quite rich philosophical theory about language itself, no less than Aristotle.
Zhang Yuanshan believes in his book "The Code of Fables". Gongsun Long pioneered the rational school in China. But all the scholars failed to understand his point of view.
"Gongsun Longzi": "Hanshu Yiwenzhi" records 14 chapters of "Gongsun Longzi". There are only 6 chapters left; the first of them, "Jifu", is a record of Gongsun Long's deeds and life by later generations. The remaining five are recognized as Gongsun Long's works.
? Among them, the two propositions that the white horse is not a horse put forward in "The Theory of White Horse" and the theory of Li Jianbai put forward in "The Theory of Jianbai" are the essence of Gongsun Long's thought. Except the above two articles. There are also "The Theory of Referring to Things" (discussing the relationship between the concept or name of a thing and the thing itself), "Theory of Tongbian" (discussing changes in movement), and "Theory of Names and Reality" (discussing the name and reality).
Regarding the books that annotated "Gongsun Longzi", there are Xie Xishen's annotations from the Song Dynasty, "Gongsun Longzi's Annotations" by Chen Li from the Qing Dynasty, and various annotations by contemporary people.
The white horse is not a horse: It is a famous logic problem. It is close to the problem of universals in ancient Greek philosophy. The story of "White Horse Theory" is probably this:
During the Warring States Period, a city ordered horses not to leave the city.
One day, Gongsun Long, a diner of Lord Pingyuan of Zhao State, was about to leave the city with a white horse. The soldier guarding the gate told him: No horses are allowed to leave the city.
Gongsun Long had a plan in mind, trying to distort the fact that a white horse is not a horse, hoping to convince the soldiers.
Gongsun Long said: The white horse is not a horse. Because the white horse has two characteristics, one is white, and the other is the appearance of a horse, but the horse only has one characteristic, which is the appearance of a horse. How can a white horse with two characteristics be a horse with only one characteristic? So the white horse is not a horse at all.
The foolish soldiers were unable to deal with it, so they had no choice but to let him go.
Gongsun Long¡¯s argument is as follows:
The white horse has two characteristics: 1. It has the characteristics of a horse, 2. It is white. The horse has only one characteristic: 1. It has the characteristics of a horse. Therefore, a white horse with two characteristics is not the same as a horse, so a white horse is not a horse.
"White horse is not a horse" is sophistry. His statement seems reasonable at first glance. Things that need to be defined by two characteristics should not be equivalent to things that can be defined by one characteristic.
But people always think that a white horse is a horse, just like a black cat is a cat, a woman is a human being, and an apple is a fruit. It is impossible that the white horse is not a horse after reading this story.
If Gongsun Long¡¯s theory is correct, wouldn¡¯t it mean that yellow dogs are not dogs, apples are not fruits, and even black people, white people, men, women and children are not human beings. What exactly is the problem?
From the perspective of set theory, the concept of horse can be regarded as the set of all horses. The concept of white horse can be seen as the collection of all white horses. The sentence "white horse is a horse" can be interpreted in two ways:
1. The concept of white horse is equivalent to the concept of horse. That is, the set of white horses and the set of horses are equal.
2. The concept of white horse is subordinate to the concept of horse. Every white horse is a horse. That is, the set of white horses is a subset of the set of horses.
The concepts of white horse and horse are different. In this sense, the white horse is not a horse. But white horses are indeed a subset of horses, that is, white horses are a type of horse. So the white horse is a horse. Gongsun Long cleverly used the ambiguity of the sentence "white horse is a horse".
Li Jian Bai, also known as Jian Bai Shi, is a view of famous figures in the Warring States Period in China. It is opposite to the contract. The representative figure is Gongsun Long. Li Jian Bai separates Jian and Bai.
? This discussion begins with a question: Is it okay to divide solid, white, and stone into three categories? Gongsun Long thinks that there is nothing to discuss if we separate, so it is not possible. So is it okay to separate? Gongsun Long thought it was okay.
Ask why? Gongsun Long replied: If the stone is not strong, it will be white. In this case, it will be divided into two points. If the stone is not white, it will be strong. In this way, it will be divided into two points. (Three solid, white, and stone, is it possible? He said: No. He said: Two, is it possible? He said: Yes. He said: Why? He said: Without firmness, it is white, and the move is two. Without whiteness, it is firm, and it is a move. Also two)
He then argued that the eye cannot see the hardness of the stone, but can only see the whiteness of the stone, so there is no hardness (those who cannot see the hardness of the stone but can see the whiteness of the stone have no hardness); the hand cannot touch the whiteness of the stone, only the whiteness of the stone. You can touch the hardness of the stone, so it is not white (you cannot touch the whiteness, but you can find the hardness, and you can find the hardness, so there is no whiteness); when you see the whiteness, you cannot feel the hardness; when you cannot see the whiteness, you can feel it. Hardness, seeing or not seeing, results in separation. From this, it can be inferred that the hardness and whiteness in the stone are not related to each other, so they are separated from each other. (To obtain its whiteness, to obtain its firmness, it is seen that separation is not seen, separation is not seen, one by one does not complement each other, so separation).
This argument specifically analyzes the particularity of the way various sense organs feel things, and believes that the various attributes of things that people feel and come into contact with can only be absolutely separated and independent entities.
Principle - Gongsun Long has an object a, which has two properties: b and c. If we want to discuss one of b and c, their properties are properties of a, so a cannot be separated from b or c. But b and c can be separated.
Common misunderstanding - Later, some people thought that Gongsun Long's separation of senses and sense organs was a wrong argument method. However, the senses and senses are superficially equal, but vision and touch are different. On the contrary, they fall into Li Jianbai's trap and cannot refute Gongsun Long's argument.
Some people think that Li Jianbai is deliberately completely separated from everything. This is wrong because Jian, Bai, and Shi are three, is that okay? Said: No. is a crucial prerequisite. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!