Chen Bo, Ph.D, September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University; 2021, Titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles). (By election); 2018, Permanent titular member of IIP: Institut International de Philosophie. (By election). Address: School of Philosophy, Wuhan University Wuchang District, Wuhan City P. R. China 430072
This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ay... more This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer, and regards the six philosophers as the representatives of logical exceptionalism. From their standpoints, this paper refines the tenets of logical exceptionalism as follows: logic is exceptional to all other sciences because of four reasons: (i) logic is formal, neutral to any domain and any entities, and general; (ii) logical truths are made true by the meanings of logical constants they contain or by logicians' rational insight to consequence relations; (iii) logical truths are analytical, a prior and necessary, so not-revisable; (iv) logical laws are normative for how to correctly think. However, logical exceptionalism has encountered difficult open problems: What are logical constants? How to justify basic laws of logic? How are logical laws accessible to us? How to explain the reasonability of rival logics and select from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logical laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? This paper concludes that logical antiexceptionalism is more hopeful to successfully answer these questions than logical exceptionalism.
In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the K... more In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the KK (Knowing that One Knows, in symbols, KpKKp) principle (KK for short). However, his system of epistemic logic and the KK principle are grounded upon his strong notion of knowledge, which requires that knowledge is infallible, that is, it makes further inquiry pointless, and becomes 'discussion-stopper'; knowledge implies truth, to wit, cognitive agents will not be mistaken in their knowledge; cognitive agents will be 'perfect logicians', i.e. they have infinitive capability of logical inference. Hintikka calls the argument for KK from the strong notion of knowledge as the
Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice... more Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice. In fact, philosophy can and must combine knowledge and wisdom. Philosophy has always been regarded as "the love for wisdom", and it naturally pursues wisdom. Wisdom at least consists of four elements: good motivation, extensive knowledge, considerate judgment, and sincere action. Philosophy is also regarded as the pursuit of truth. According to traditional understanding, knowledge is justified true belief. Therefore, philosophy also pursues knowledge, which is a true understanding of nature, society, and human life. Although knowledge does not necessarily lead to wisdom, wisdom must be grounded on knowledge, since wisdom without knowledge is unimaginable. Wisdom also transcends knowledge, providing guidance for knowledge, transforming knowledge into wisdom, precipitating it into a way of life, implementing it into an ideal personality, and sublimating it to the realm of human life. Philosophy is a learning that pursues both knowledge and wisdom, and it is precisely through its pursuit of knowledge that its striving for wisdom is realized. Philosophy is almost a necessity for everyone's survival and well-being.
The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually posse... more The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually possess truth, let alone proclaim truth from above, it always advances towards truth, aiming to gain a more authentic understanding of nature, society, and human life, because truth is the fundamental appeal for human survival in the world and also reflects human characteristics, value, and dignity. Correspondence is the fundamental and core meaning of truth, coherence is the internal element of truth, and utility is the external effect of truth. Both scientific truth and humanistic truth are not exceptional. If there is no goal, dimension, and constraint to seek truth, philosophical research will be confused with whimsical thinking, sophistry, and deception. Philosophers are able to achieve overlapping consensus and fusion of perspectives because their research converges towards a common dimension-truth. The difficulty of obtaining truth cannot be naturally inferred that the pursuit of truth should not be our cognitive goal.
There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence the... more There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Some scholars have put forward their objections to my rejection of the concept of a fact and their defence of that concept. But their arguments are not cogent, since they haven't clarified the relation between facts and propositions, haven't successfully argued for the necessity and feasibility of introducing the concept of a fact, and haven't provided an acceptable standard of identity for facts. Under the framework of the fact-based correspondence theory, a "negative fact" is usually introduced to explain the falsehood of an affirmative proposition and the truth of a negative proposition. But, after careful analysis, we find that the positing of negative facts is the result of the concurrence of three factors: the positive states of objects, the expectations of cognitive subjects, and certain kinds of inferences,
The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious d... more The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious difficulties, the main one of which is that it is too difficult to explain clearly the concept of ‘fact’ and how propositions ‘correspond’ to facts. This does not mean that we should abandon the correspondence theory of truth and turn to some other type of theory. In order to guarantee the objectivity of truth, any reasonable theory of truth must adhere to the core insight of the traditional theory: it is not something in our language, nor in our mind, but something in the external world, that makes the propositions we use to describe the states of affairs in the world either true or false. It is entirely possible to formulate a new correspondence theory of truth without the concept of fact but still adhere to the core insights of the traditional theory. The new theory has its own metaphysical and epistemological assumptions, and also its assumptions in the philosophy of language. Because of the generativity of language, in defining the concept of truth, the new theory must resort to a Tarskian recursive procedure. Coherence is the intrinsic element of the new theory. Contrary to deflationism about truth, the new theory maintains that the concept of truth is by no means trivial and insignificant, rather it is very substantive, and that the pursuit of truth is our cognitive mission.
Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more compr... more Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine's naturalized epistemology (NE for short), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to it: replacement (Quine's NE is the replacement of traditional epistemology), circularity (Quine's NE is viciously circular), and non-normativity (Quine's NE is devoid of normative dimension), and to Williamson's three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine's brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson's three charges are mainly due to misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine's NE, which are worthy of further development.
UNIVERSITAS-MONTHLY REVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE, 2022
Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionali... more Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, necessary and a prior, so it is not revisal; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. The representative figures of logical exceptionalism are Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer. Logical exceptionalism has encountered at least four problems: how to justify logical laws? How to explain the appearance of deviant and competitive logics and choose from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logic laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? The conclusion of this paper is that logical exceptionalism is like sort of evasion, based on many presuppositions without serious clarification and critical examination, and has many insurmountable theoretical difficulties. Key Words: logical exceptionalism, logical truth, analyticity, necessity, apriority, normativity
The Development of Logical Exceptionalism
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalis... more The Development of Logical Exceptionalism
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, a prior and necessary, so it is not revisable; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. This article takes Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer as the representative figures of logical exceptionalism, outlines their viewpoints and arguments about logic, and exposes the internal difficulties of their positions. Key Words: logical exceptionalism, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer
Interpretations of a Common World: from Antiquity to Modernity Essays in honour of Jure Zovko Evandro Agazzi, Andreas Arndt and Hans-Peter Grosshans (Hg./Ed.) Münster: Lit Verlag 2022, 2022
Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences, and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense, and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods, and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on "what is" and philosophy focuses on "what it should be".
Interpretations of a common world: From Antiquity to Modernity: Festschrift for Jure Zovko’s 65th Birthday, Lit Verlag (German), 2022
Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject-matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on “what is” and philosophy focuses on “what it should be”.
Editorial to the special issue of Asian Studies journal, devoted to the history of logic in conte... more Editorial to the special issue of Asian Studies journal, devoted to the history of logic in contemporary China.
This article outlines the history of logic in China from 1949 to 2019. Firstly, it presents a rou... more This article outlines the history of logic in China from 1949 to 2019. Firstly, it presents a rough picture of Chinese logic before 1949 using broad brushstrokes. Secondly, it divides the whole process of development into two stages. In the first 30 years from 1949 to 1979, Chinese logic made some achievements, but also went along some detours, and its overall situation was unsatisfactory. In the latter 40 years from 1979 to 2019, due to Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up, many Chinese logicians went abroad for academic visits or to study degrees in foreign universities or research institutes, gradually became familiar with and even integrated into the international mainstream of logic teaching and research, and ushered in the great flourishing of logic in China we see today. Finally, it draws four lessons from this process of development, as follows. 1) Let politics and academia live in peace, by respecting and adhering to the idea of academic freedom. 2) Academic advances cannot be achieved in isolation from the world, so we should fully embrace the international academic community, while insisting on our own independent thinking. 3) We should always adhere to the policy of "letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend", so that different academic viewpoints and tendencies can be improved and developed in their mutual collision. 4) We should cultivate academic self-confidence, gradually make the change from pure follow-up learning to original work in some fields of logic.
What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy?
CHEN BO
ABSRACT: Analytic philoso... more What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy? CHEN BO
ABSRACT: Analytic philosophy does not contain some schools or a movement with continuous histories, nor a set of philosophical issues and doctrines shared by all analytic philosophers, but it develops a special approach to philosophy. Its prominent features consist in its methodology: pursuing truth and knowledge, respecting science and common sense, using logic and reflecting language, avoiding grand issues and systems of philosophy, paying attention to clarity and precision, focusing on argumentation and justification, and engaging in academic debate with other colleagues. Chinese philosophers can learn how to do philosophy from analytic philosophy, such as: weakening apprentice status, opening up dialogue mode; doing less grand narration, doing more specific research; reducing rhetoric strategy and the presentation of textual materials, and constructing more careful arguments. Through studying the methodology of analytic philosophy, we may be able to do contemporary Chinese philosophy better.
September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy,... more September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University; 2021, Titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles) (By election); 2018, Permanent titular member of IIP : Institut International de Philosophie (By election)
There are two forms of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory... more There are two forms of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Li Zhubin's defense of the concept of "fact" and his objections of the author's challenges to the concept of fact are not cogent. Under the framework of fact-based correspondence theory, "negative fact" is usually introduced to explain the false of affirmative proposition and the true of negative proposition. but after careful analysis, it can be found that the positing of negative facts is the result of the following three factors: the positive states of things, the expectation of cognitive subject, and inference, so negative facts at most are a kind of inferential "existence" without independent ontological status. Positing of negative facts has faced many criticisms, such as ontology expansion, supervenience, imperceptibility and lack of causal force. Many replies to these criticisms have been put forward, such as dilemma argument, self-defeating argument, and the making roles of negating facts: constitution (e.g. hole-making), causation (event-making), chance-making, and truth-making. However, these replies can be reasonably rejected again.
This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ay... more This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer, and regards the six philosophers as the representatives of logical exceptionalism. From their standpoints, this paper refines the tenets of logical exceptionalism as follows: logic is exceptional to all other sciences because of four reasons: (i) logic is formal, neutral to any domain and any entities, and general; (ii) logical truths are made true by the meanings of logical constants they contain or by logicians' rational insight to consequence relations; (iii) logical truths are analytical, a prior and necessary, so not-revisable; (iv) logical laws are normative for how to correctly think. However, logical exceptionalism has encountered difficult open problems: What are logical constants? How to justify basic laws of logic? How are logical laws accessible to us? How to explain the reasonability of rival logics and select from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logical laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? This paper concludes that logical antiexceptionalism is more hopeful to successfully answer these questions than logical exceptionalism.
In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the K... more In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the KK (Knowing that One Knows, in symbols, KpKKp) principle (KK for short). However, his system of epistemic logic and the KK principle are grounded upon his strong notion of knowledge, which requires that knowledge is infallible, that is, it makes further inquiry pointless, and becomes 'discussion-stopper'; knowledge implies truth, to wit, cognitive agents will not be mistaken in their knowledge; cognitive agents will be 'perfect logicians', i.e. they have infinitive capability of logical inference. Hintikka calls the argument for KK from the strong notion of knowledge as the
Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice... more Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice. In fact, philosophy can and must combine knowledge and wisdom. Philosophy has always been regarded as "the love for wisdom", and it naturally pursues wisdom. Wisdom at least consists of four elements: good motivation, extensive knowledge, considerate judgment, and sincere action. Philosophy is also regarded as the pursuit of truth. According to traditional understanding, knowledge is justified true belief. Therefore, philosophy also pursues knowledge, which is a true understanding of nature, society, and human life. Although knowledge does not necessarily lead to wisdom, wisdom must be grounded on knowledge, since wisdom without knowledge is unimaginable. Wisdom also transcends knowledge, providing guidance for knowledge, transforming knowledge into wisdom, precipitating it into a way of life, implementing it into an ideal personality, and sublimating it to the realm of human life. Philosophy is a learning that pursues both knowledge and wisdom, and it is precisely through its pursuit of knowledge that its striving for wisdom is realized. Philosophy is almost a necessity for everyone's survival and well-being.
The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually posse... more The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually possess truth, let alone proclaim truth from above, it always advances towards truth, aiming to gain a more authentic understanding of nature, society, and human life, because truth is the fundamental appeal for human survival in the world and also reflects human characteristics, value, and dignity. Correspondence is the fundamental and core meaning of truth, coherence is the internal element of truth, and utility is the external effect of truth. Both scientific truth and humanistic truth are not exceptional. If there is no goal, dimension, and constraint to seek truth, philosophical research will be confused with whimsical thinking, sophistry, and deception. Philosophers are able to achieve overlapping consensus and fusion of perspectives because their research converges towards a common dimension-truth. The difficulty of obtaining truth cannot be naturally inferred that the pursuit of truth should not be our cognitive goal.
There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence the... more There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Some scholars have put forward their objections to my rejection of the concept of a fact and their defence of that concept. But their arguments are not cogent, since they haven't clarified the relation between facts and propositions, haven't successfully argued for the necessity and feasibility of introducing the concept of a fact, and haven't provided an acceptable standard of identity for facts. Under the framework of the fact-based correspondence theory, a "negative fact" is usually introduced to explain the falsehood of an affirmative proposition and the truth of a negative proposition. But, after careful analysis, we find that the positing of negative facts is the result of the concurrence of three factors: the positive states of objects, the expectations of cognitive subjects, and certain kinds of inferences,
The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious d... more The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious difficulties, the main one of which is that it is too difficult to explain clearly the concept of ‘fact’ and how propositions ‘correspond’ to facts. This does not mean that we should abandon the correspondence theory of truth and turn to some other type of theory. In order to guarantee the objectivity of truth, any reasonable theory of truth must adhere to the core insight of the traditional theory: it is not something in our language, nor in our mind, but something in the external world, that makes the propositions we use to describe the states of affairs in the world either true or false. It is entirely possible to formulate a new correspondence theory of truth without the concept of fact but still adhere to the core insights of the traditional theory. The new theory has its own metaphysical and epistemological assumptions, and also its assumptions in the philosophy of language. Because of the generativity of language, in defining the concept of truth, the new theory must resort to a Tarskian recursive procedure. Coherence is the intrinsic element of the new theory. Contrary to deflationism about truth, the new theory maintains that the concept of truth is by no means trivial and insignificant, rather it is very substantive, and that the pursuit of truth is our cognitive mission.
Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more compr... more Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine's naturalized epistemology (NE for short), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to it: replacement (Quine's NE is the replacement of traditional epistemology), circularity (Quine's NE is viciously circular), and non-normativity (Quine's NE is devoid of normative dimension), and to Williamson's three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine's brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson's three charges are mainly due to misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine's NE, which are worthy of further development.
UNIVERSITAS-MONTHLY REVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE, 2022
Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionali... more Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, necessary and a prior, so it is not revisal; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. The representative figures of logical exceptionalism are Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer. Logical exceptionalism has encountered at least four problems: how to justify logical laws? How to explain the appearance of deviant and competitive logics and choose from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logic laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? The conclusion of this paper is that logical exceptionalism is like sort of evasion, based on many presuppositions without serious clarification and critical examination, and has many insurmountable theoretical difficulties. Key Words: logical exceptionalism, logical truth, analyticity, necessity, apriority, normativity
The Development of Logical Exceptionalism
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalis... more The Development of Logical Exceptionalism
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, a prior and necessary, so it is not revisable; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. This article takes Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer as the representative figures of logical exceptionalism, outlines their viewpoints and arguments about logic, and exposes the internal difficulties of their positions. Key Words: logical exceptionalism, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer
Interpretations of a Common World: from Antiquity to Modernity Essays in honour of Jure Zovko Evandro Agazzi, Andreas Arndt and Hans-Peter Grosshans (Hg./Ed.) Münster: Lit Verlag 2022, 2022
Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences, and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense, and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods, and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on "what is" and philosophy focuses on "what it should be".
Interpretations of a common world: From Antiquity to Modernity: Festschrift for Jure Zovko’s 65th Birthday, Lit Verlag (German), 2022
Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject-matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on “what is” and philosophy focuses on “what it should be”.
Editorial to the special issue of Asian Studies journal, devoted to the history of logic in conte... more Editorial to the special issue of Asian Studies journal, devoted to the history of logic in contemporary China.
This article outlines the history of logic in China from 1949 to 2019. Firstly, it presents a rou... more This article outlines the history of logic in China from 1949 to 2019. Firstly, it presents a rough picture of Chinese logic before 1949 using broad brushstrokes. Secondly, it divides the whole process of development into two stages. In the first 30 years from 1949 to 1979, Chinese logic made some achievements, but also went along some detours, and its overall situation was unsatisfactory. In the latter 40 years from 1979 to 2019, due to Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up, many Chinese logicians went abroad for academic visits or to study degrees in foreign universities or research institutes, gradually became familiar with and even integrated into the international mainstream of logic teaching and research, and ushered in the great flourishing of logic in China we see today. Finally, it draws four lessons from this process of development, as follows. 1) Let politics and academia live in peace, by respecting and adhering to the idea of academic freedom. 2) Academic advances cannot be achieved in isolation from the world, so we should fully embrace the international academic community, while insisting on our own independent thinking. 3) We should always adhere to the policy of "letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend", so that different academic viewpoints and tendencies can be improved and developed in their mutual collision. 4) We should cultivate academic self-confidence, gradually make the change from pure follow-up learning to original work in some fields of logic.
What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy?
CHEN BO
ABSRACT: Analytic philoso... more What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy? CHEN BO
ABSRACT: Analytic philosophy does not contain some schools or a movement with continuous histories, nor a set of philosophical issues and doctrines shared by all analytic philosophers, but it develops a special approach to philosophy. Its prominent features consist in its methodology: pursuing truth and knowledge, respecting science and common sense, using logic and reflecting language, avoiding grand issues and systems of philosophy, paying attention to clarity and precision, focusing on argumentation and justification, and engaging in academic debate with other colleagues. Chinese philosophers can learn how to do philosophy from analytic philosophy, such as: weakening apprentice status, opening up dialogue mode; doing less grand narration, doing more specific research; reducing rhetoric strategy and the presentation of textual materials, and constructing more careful arguments. Through studying the methodology of analytic philosophy, we may be able to do contemporary Chinese philosophy better.
September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy,... more September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University; 2021, Titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles) (By election); 2018, Permanent titular member of IIP : Institut International de Philosophie (By election)
There are two forms of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory... more There are two forms of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Li Zhubin's defense of the concept of "fact" and his objections of the author's challenges to the concept of fact are not cogent. Under the framework of fact-based correspondence theory, "negative fact" is usually introduced to explain the false of affirmative proposition and the true of negative proposition. but after careful analysis, it can be found that the positing of negative facts is the result of the following three factors: the positive states of things, the expectation of cognitive subject, and inference, so negative facts at most are a kind of inferential "existence" without independent ontological status. Positing of negative facts has faced many criticisms, such as ontology expansion, supervenience, imperceptibility and lack of causal force. Many replies to these criticisms have been put forward, such as dilemma argument, self-defeating argument, and the making roles of negating facts: constitution (e.g. hole-making), causation (event-making), chance-making, and truth-making. However, these replies can be reasonably rejected again.
Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more compr... more Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine's naturalized epistemology (NE for short), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to it: replacement (Quine's NE is the replacement of traditional epistemology), circularity (Quine's NE is viciously circular), and non-normativity (Quine's NE is devoid of normative dimension), and to Williamson's three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine's brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson's three charges are mainly due to misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are quite many illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine's NE, which are worthy of further development.
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Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, necessary and a prior, so it is not revisal; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. The representative figures of logical exceptionalism are Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer. Logical exceptionalism has encountered at least four problems: how to justify logical laws? How to explain the appearance of deviant and competitive logics and choose from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logic laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? The conclusion of this paper is that logical exceptionalism is like sort of evasion, based on many presuppositions without serious clarification and critical examination, and has many insurmountable theoretical difficulties.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, logical truth, analyticity, necessity, apriority, normativity
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, a prior and necessary, so it is not revisable; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. This article takes Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer as the representative figures of logical exceptionalism, outlines their viewpoints and arguments about logic, and exposes the internal difficulties of their positions.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer
CHEN BO
ABSRACT: Analytic philosophy does not contain some schools or a movement with continuous histories, nor a set of philosophical issues and doctrines shared by all analytic philosophers, but it develops a special approach to philosophy. Its prominent features consist in its methodology: pursuing truth and knowledge, respecting science and common sense, using logic and reflecting language, avoiding grand issues and systems of philosophy, paying attention to clarity and precision, focusing on argumentation and justification, and engaging in academic debate with other colleagues. Chinese philosophers can learn how to do philosophy from analytic philosophy, such as: weakening apprentice status, opening up dialogue mode; doing less grand narration, doing more specific research; reducing rhetoric strategy and the presentation of textual materials, and constructing more careful arguments. Through studying the methodology of analytic philosophy, we may be able to do contemporary Chinese philosophy better.
KEY WORDS: doing philosophy, philosophical questions, independent approach, dialogue mode, argumentation, justification
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, necessary and a prior, so it is not revisal; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. The representative figures of logical exceptionalism are Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer. Logical exceptionalism has encountered at least four problems: how to justify logical laws? How to explain the appearance of deviant and competitive logics and choose from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logic laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? The conclusion of this paper is that logical exceptionalism is like sort of evasion, based on many presuppositions without serious clarification and critical examination, and has many insurmountable theoretical difficulties.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, logical truth, analyticity, necessity, apriority, normativity
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, a prior and necessary, so it is not revisable; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. This article takes Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer as the representative figures of logical exceptionalism, outlines their viewpoints and arguments about logic, and exposes the internal difficulties of their positions.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer
CHEN BO
ABSRACT: Analytic philosophy does not contain some schools or a movement with continuous histories, nor a set of philosophical issues and doctrines shared by all analytic philosophers, but it develops a special approach to philosophy. Its prominent features consist in its methodology: pursuing truth and knowledge, respecting science and common sense, using logic and reflecting language, avoiding grand issues and systems of philosophy, paying attention to clarity and precision, focusing on argumentation and justification, and engaging in academic debate with other colleagues. Chinese philosophers can learn how to do philosophy from analytic philosophy, such as: weakening apprentice status, opening up dialogue mode; doing less grand narration, doing more specific research; reducing rhetoric strategy and the presentation of textual materials, and constructing more careful arguments. Through studying the methodology of analytic philosophy, we may be able to do contemporary Chinese philosophy better.
KEY WORDS: doing philosophy, philosophical questions, independent approach, dialogue mode, argumentation, justification