William Matthews
LSE Fellow in the Anthropology of China
PhD Anthropology (UCL, 2016) - 'The Homological Cosmos: Ontology, Epistemology, and Ethics in 'Yi Jing' Prediction
BSc Anthropology (UCL, 2011)
My PhD research concerned the role of analogical reasoning in the formation of cosmological ideas among individuals concerned with the the 'Yi Jing' ('Book of Changes') in Hangzhou, China. Research focused on cognitive operations of analogical transfer in making predictions and the role of analogy and similarity in elaborating cosmological theory and linking it to modern physics. I combined ethnography with textual analysis of the 'Yi Jing' and other classical Chinese cosmological texts to examine ontological, epistemological, and ethical assumptions of cosmological experts.
My research interests focus on the relationship between the content of cosmological beliefs and the cognitive means by which they are developed, broadly within a cognitive anthropological framework. Anthropologically, I am concerned with the role cognition plays in culturally variant ontological, epistemological, and ethical assumptions, and the coherence of beliefs across these domains. I have a strong regional specialism in China, being interested in contemporary and historical engagements with the country's classical tradition and attempts to identify it with alternative worldviews, especially science. I am further concerned with the historical development of correlative cosmology in China and individual variation in its conceptualisation.
我在伦敦经济学院(LSE)是中国人类学讲师。我2016年在伦敦大学学院(UCL)取得了人类学博士学位。博士论文基于本人十个月在杭州的田野调查以及对于汉初经典的分析。本人研究着眼于现代易者对《易经》宇宙观的理解和预测过程中的比喻性推演。我专业的学术方面包括古代与现代中国的宇宙论、比喻性推演、关于宇宙论和本体论的人类学、关于信仰的认知人类学、以及占卜人类学的研究。我的研究理论上特别侧重社会人类学与认知科学的一体化。强调民族志与文本理论的结合。
Phone: (+44) 020 7106 1209
Address: LSE Department of Anthropology,
Houghton Street,
London WC2A 2AE
PhD Anthropology (UCL, 2016) - 'The Homological Cosmos: Ontology, Epistemology, and Ethics in 'Yi Jing' Prediction
BSc Anthropology (UCL, 2011)
My PhD research concerned the role of analogical reasoning in the formation of cosmological ideas among individuals concerned with the the 'Yi Jing' ('Book of Changes') in Hangzhou, China. Research focused on cognitive operations of analogical transfer in making predictions and the role of analogy and similarity in elaborating cosmological theory and linking it to modern physics. I combined ethnography with textual analysis of the 'Yi Jing' and other classical Chinese cosmological texts to examine ontological, epistemological, and ethical assumptions of cosmological experts.
My research interests focus on the relationship between the content of cosmological beliefs and the cognitive means by which they are developed, broadly within a cognitive anthropological framework. Anthropologically, I am concerned with the role cognition plays in culturally variant ontological, epistemological, and ethical assumptions, and the coherence of beliefs across these domains. I have a strong regional specialism in China, being interested in contemporary and historical engagements with the country's classical tradition and attempts to identify it with alternative worldviews, especially science. I am further concerned with the historical development of correlative cosmology in China and individual variation in its conceptualisation.
我在伦敦经济学院(LSE)是中国人类学讲师。我2016年在伦敦大学学院(UCL)取得了人类学博士学位。博士论文基于本人十个月在杭州的田野调查以及对于汉初经典的分析。本人研究着眼于现代易者对《易经》宇宙观的理解和预测过程中的比喻性推演。我专业的学术方面包括古代与现代中国的宇宙论、比喻性推演、关于宇宙论和本体论的人类学、关于信仰的认知人类学、以及占卜人类学的研究。我的研究理论上特别侧重社会人类学与认知科学的一体化。强调民族志与文本理论的结合。
Phone: (+44) 020 7106 1209
Address: LSE Department of Anthropology,
Houghton Street,
London WC2A 2AE
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Papers by William Matthews
Keywords: divination, Yijing, science, superstition, legitimacy, epistemology, cosmology, PRC
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
https://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/hau7.1.020/2699
Conference Presentations by William Matthews
Book Reviews by William Matthews
Keywords: divination, Yijing, science, superstition, legitimacy, epistemology, cosmology, PRC
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
https://www.haujournal.org/index.php/hau/article/view/hau7.1.020/2699