The Moral Mind: Metaphor and Meaning in Early China

1. The Moral Mind:Metaphor and Meaning in Early China Edward Slingerland Professor of Asian Studies Canada Research Chair in Chinese Thought and Embodied Cognition University of British Columbia

2. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse

3. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse analytic philosophical approach “imagistic” approach

4. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach

5. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach • metaphor as figure of speech, philosophically insignificant

6. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach • metaphor as figure of speech, philosophically insignificant • reduce any metaphors noted in early Chinese texts to literal equivalents • (ideally) to a set of propositions that can be formally modeled

7. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach • “imagistic” approach

8. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach • “imagistic” approach • take metaphor as an irreducible bearer of philosophical meaning

9. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach • “imagistic” approach • take metaphor as an irreducible bearer of philosophical meaning • texts can only be understood by focusing on, unpacking specific metaphors and images deployed

10. Metaphor in early Chinese discourse • analytic philosophical approach • “imagistic” approach • take metaphor as an irreducible bearer of philosophical meaning • texts can only be understood by focusing on, unpacking specific metaphors and images deployed • Oshima, Allinson, Munro

11. Significance of analytic vs. imagistic divide

12. Significance of analytic vs. imagistic divide • strong view

13. Significance of analytic vs. imagistic divide • strong view • weaker view

14. Significance of analytic vs. imagistic divide • strong view • weaker view • weakest view

15. Significance of analytic vs. imagistic divide • strong view • weaker view • weakest view **

16. Strong view • divide represents fundamentally different ways of thought

17. Strong view • divide represents fundamentally different ways of thought • logical, analytical, abstract mode is particularly “Western” mode of discourse / thought

18. Strong view • divide represents fundamentally different ways of thought • logical, analytical, abstract mode is particularly “Western” mode of discourse / thought • metaphor, analogy, image-thinking is a unique feature of “Chinese” or “Eastern” thought

19. Strong view • divide represents fundamentally different ways of thought • logical, analytical, abstract mode is particularly “Western” mode of discourse / thought • metaphor, analogy, image-thinking is a unique feature of “Chinese” or “Eastern” thought • Wu Kuang-ming, Roger Ames, François Jullien • Very common in secondary literature in modern East Asia

20. Strong view • problem: absolutely wrong

21. Strong view • problem: absolutely wrong • metaphor, analogy employed in all of the world’s known philosophical traditions

22. Strong view • problem: absolutely wrong • metaphor, analogy employed in all of the world’s known philosophical traditions • early Chinese perfectly capable of many “Western” philosophical tricks: • distinguishing reality from appearance • engaging in logical analysis (Harbsmeier) • defining terms (e.g., Xunzi) • making “arguments” (Gentz, Loy)

23. Strong view • bigger problem: “neo-Orientalism”

24. Neo-Orientalism

25. Neo-Orientalism

26. Strong view • bigger problem: “neo-Orientalism” • reifying very complex and diverse cultural traditions into monolithic wholes

27. Strong view • bigger problem: “neo-Orientalism” • reifying very complex and diverse cultural traditions into monolithic wholes • reiterate specific claims about “the Orient” as classic Orientalists, but with normative flip (“flipped Orientalism”) • not “slavish” or infantile, but precisely the medicine we alienated Westerners need

28. Strong view • bigger problem: “neo-Orientalism” • reifying very complex and diverse cultural traditions into monolithic wholes • reiterate specific claims about “the Orient” as, e.g., Hegel, but with normative flip • not “slavish” or infantile, but precisely the medicine we alienated Westerners need • heirs to Voltaire, Leibniz

29. Weaker view • Both Western and Chinese philosophers used metaphors

30. Weaker view • Metaphor / analogy universal human cognitive capacity

31. Weaker view • Metaphor / analogy universal human cognitive capacity • but, viewed and utilized very differently in the different traditions

32. Weaker view • Metaphor / analogy universal human cognitive capacity • West: remains suspicious of metaphor, never takes conflation of ontological domains seriously

33. Weaker view • Metaphor / analogy universal human cognitive capacity • West: remains suspicious of metaphor, never takes conflation of ontological domains seriously • China: embraces metaphor, sees “convergence” of ontological realms, fully “lives” in the metaphor

34. Weaker view • Metaphor / analogy universal human cognitive capacity • West: remains suspicious of metaphor, never takes conflation of ontological domains seriously • China: embraces metaphor, sees “convergence” of ontological realms, fully “lives” in the metaphor • Sarah Allan, Jean-Paul Reding • [Pauline Yu]

35. Weaker view • Problem

36. Weaker view • Problem • takes Western philosophers self-conception at face value

37. Weaker view • Problem • takes Western philosophers self-conception at face value • in fact, Western philosophers / scientists /politicians / etc. have always taken, and continue to take, their metaphors quite seriously

38. Weaker view • Problem • takes Western philosophers self-conception at face value • in fact, Western philosophers / scientists /politicians / etc. have always taken, and continue to take, their metaphors quite seriously • Lakoff & Johnson 1999 on philosophers • Hesse 1966, Brown 2003, Dunbar 1999 & 2001 on scientists

39. Weaker view • Problem • takes Western philosophers self-conception at face value • in fact, Western philosophers / scientists /politicians / etc. have always taken, and continue to take, their metaphors quite seriously • Lakoff & Johnson 1999 on philosophers • Hesse 1966, Brown 2003, Dunbar 1999 & 2001 on scientists • the “convergence of ontological domains” is an everpresent feature of Western intellectual life

40. Weaker view • Problem (alternate take)

41. Weaker view • Problem (alternate take) • accepts idea of clear distinction between literal and metaphorical

42. Weaker view • Problem (alternate take) • accepts idea of clear distinction between literal and metaphorical • in turn, involves taking seriously the “objectivist” or “representational” model of the language / world relationship

43. Weaker view • Problem (alternate take) • accepts idea of clear distinction between literal and metaphorical • in turn, involves taking seriously the “objectivist” or “representational” model of the language / world relationship • abstract, amodal concepts mapping on to clearly marked categories in the world

44. Weaker view • Problem (alternate take) • accepts idea of clear distinction between literal and metaphorical • in turn, involves taking seriously the “objectivist” or “representational” model of the language / world relationship • abstract, amodal concepts mapping on to clearly marked categories in the world • reasoning involves logical, algorithmic manipulation of these concepts

45. Weaker view • Problem (alternate take) • accepts idea of clear distinction between literal and metaphorical • in turn, involves taking seriously the “objectivist” or “representational” model of the language / world relationship • abstract, amodal concepts mapping on to clearly marked categories in the world • reasoning involves logical, algorithmic manipulation of these concepts • this model of human cognition is becoming increasingly empirically untenable

46. Weakest (or strongest) view

47. Weakest (or strongest) view • all humans think in images, metaphors, analogies

48. Weakest (or strongest) view • all humans think in images, metaphors, analogies • traditional Western conceit to get completely beyond this is nothing more than a conceit

49. Weakest (or strongest) view • all humans think in images, metaphors, analogies • traditional Western conceit to get completely beyond this is nothing more than a conceit • leads Western thought down some strange alleyways

50. Weakest (or strongest) view • all humans think in images, metaphors, analogies • traditional Western conceit to get completely beyond this is nothing more than a conceit • leads Western thought down some strange alleyways • Chinese thought did not come to center around such a conceit