Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 7, The Social Background; Part 1, Language and Logic in Traditional China

Needham Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China Vol. 7 The Social Background - Part 1 Language and Logic 1998 [pdf 502sc 479+1c. 54.40mb] Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 7 Part 1 is the first book in the final volume of this unique resource. The Chinese culture is the only culture in the world that has developed systematic logical definitions and reflections on its own and on the basis of a non-Indo-European language. Christoph Harbsmeier discusses the basic features of the classical Chinese language that made it a suitable medium for science in ancient China, discussing in detail a wide range of abstract concepts that are crucial for the development of scientific discourse. There is special emphasis on the conceptual history of logical terminology in ancient China, and on traditional Chinese views on their own language. Finally the book provides an overview of the development of logical reflection in ancient China, first in terms of the forms of arguments that were deployed in ancient Chinese texts, and then in terms of ancient Chinese theoretical concerns with logical matters. Cover......Page 1 Title page......Page 8 Contents......Page 12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......Page 13 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 14 FOREWORD......Page 16 AUTHOR'S NOTE......Page 19 a) METHOD......Page 23 b) THE LANGUAGE......Page 48 c) LOGICAL FEATURES OF THE CLASSICAL CHINESE LANGUAGE......Page 129 d) LOGICAL CONCEPTS......Page 195 e) LOGICAL PRACTICE......Page 283 f) LOGICAL THEORY......Page 308 g) CHINESE BUDDHIST LOGIC......Page 380 BIBLIOGRAPHIES......Page 443 ABBREVIATIONS......Page 444 A. CHINESE AND JAPANESE BOOKS BEFORE +1800......Page 445 B. CHINESE AND JAPANESE BOOKS AND JOURNALARTICLES SINCE + 1800......Page 454 C. BOOKS AND JOURNAL ARTICLES IN WESTERN LANGUAGE S......Page 462 GENERAL INDEX......Page 480 TABLE OF CHINESE DYNASTIES......Page 502 The theory and practice of science and technology are inextricably bound up with language and logic.