Cool Logic

Bonan Zhao (ILLC)

Paradoxes in Chinese Logic: Name, Category, and Argumentation

April 8th at 18:00, in F1.15 (ILLC seminar room)

Born around 6th BC - 3rd BC, logic in ancient Chinese literature has developed it's own schools and traditions. Different from the highly formalized system in the west, discussions about logic in ancient China treated more practical issues, and enjoyed a close relationship with ethics and politics. Paradoxes are used every often, and theories of name, category and argumentation turned out to be three most important themes connecting ancient Chinese logic and modern western logic studies. In this talk, I'll discuss several most famous paradoxes in Chinese logic, and present a brief history about how the theories of names, category and argumentation has developed, and how they are connected to Chinese people's everyday life besides pure formalization.