Philosophy East and West 57 (4):420-456 (2007)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
: This essay critiques Chad Hansen’s "mass noun hypothesis," arguing that though most Classical Chinese nouns do function as mass nouns, this fact does not support the claim that pre-Qin thinkers treat the extensions of common nouns as mereological wholes, nor does it explain why they adopt nominalist semantic theories. The essay shows that early texts explain the use of common nouns by appeal to similarity relations, not mereological relations. However, it further argues that some early texts do characterize the relation between individuals and collections as a mereological relation.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1353/pew.2007.0045 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
Two Syllogisms in the Mozi: Chinese Logic and Language.Byeong-uk Yi - 2019 - Review of Symbolic Logic 12 (3):589-606.
Movement and Ming (Names): A Response to “Incongruent Names: A Theme in the History of Chinese Philosophy”.Jane Geaney - 2020 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 19 (4):635-644.
View all 6 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Do Differences in Grammatical Form Between Languages Explain Differences in Ontology Between Different Philosophical Traditions?: A Critique of the Mass-Noun Hypothesis.Xiaomei Yang - 2011 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 10 (2):149-166.
Mass Nouns, Count Nouns and Non-Count Nouns.Henry Laycock - 2005 - In Alex Barber (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Elsevier.
Action and Agency in Early Chinese Thought.Chris Fraser - 2009 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy and Culture 5:217–39.
Did Buddhism Ever Go East?: The Westernization of Buddhism in Chad Hansen's Daoist Historiography.Douglas L. Berger - 2011 - Philosophy East and West 61 (1):38-55.
Is There Anything Characteristic About the Meaning of a Count Noun?David Nicolas - 2002 - Revue de la Lexicologie 18.
Knowledge and Error in Early Chinese Thought.Chris Fraser - 2011 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 10 (2):127-148.
The Structure of the Chinese Language and Ontological Insights: A Collective-Noun Hypothesis.Bo Mou - 1999 - Philosophy East and West 49 (1):45-62.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
562 ( #15,170 of 2,506,345 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #277,420 of 2,506,345 )
2009-01-28
Total views
562 ( #15,170 of 2,506,345 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
2 ( #277,420 of 2,506,345 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads