History of Logic in Contemporary China (1949–2021)

Asian Studies, 2022

Special issue of the Asian Studies journal. Guest edited by Prof. Chen Bo and Dr. Jan Vrhovski.

Asian Studies, 2022

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.

Since China adopted the policy of reform and openness in 1978, Chinese logicians have made a great effort to promote logical research and education in China, and we have achieved great success in our endeavor. We have established a substantive engagement with international logic circles, and many Chinese logicians publish their research in international journals indexed by SCI, SSCI, and A&HCI, or in prestigious international presses, while also attending and hosting international conferences, workshops, and seminars. We have set up institutes for logic research and education, some of which have developed very rapidly and have taken on an international flavor. We also have made advancements in the sub-disciplines of logic, including history of logic (especially of Chinese logic), logic of induction and probability, decision and game theory, logic of natural language, philosophy of logic, informal logic, critical thinking, argumentation theory, legal logic, and so on. We have also built a relatively complete system for logic research and education. However, we still have disadvantages and shortcomings in our pursuit of logic research and education: the level of our international engagement is quite low; our educational and training situation is not so good, awaiting further promotion; and we need competent Chinese logicians to write and publish a set of high-quality basic logic textbooks covering all branches of logic.

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 2011

Dao Companion to Chinese Philosophy of Logic, 2020

This paper reports a general picture of the present state of logic studies in contemporary mainland China.

Philosophy Compass, 2015

The present article provides an introduction to classical Chinese logic, a term which refers to ancient discourses that were developed before the arrival of significant external inf luences and which f lourished in China until the first unification of China, during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC). Taking as its premise that logic implies both universal and culturally conditioned elements, the author describes the historical background of Chinese logic, the main schools of Chinese logical thought, the current state of research in this area and the crucial concepts and methods applied in classical Chinese logic. The close link between Chinese logic and the Chinese language is also stressed.

The present article provides an introduction to classical Chinese logic, a term which refers to ancient discourses that were developed before the arrival of significant external influences and which flourished in China until the first unification of China, during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC). Taking as its premise that logic implies both universal and culturally conditioned elements, the author describes the historical background of Chinese logic, the main schools of Chinese logical thought, the current state of research in this area and the crucial concepts and methods applied in classical Chinese logic. The close link between Chinese logic and the Chinese language is also stressed.

Asian studies 10(2), 2022

All articles are double blind peer-reviewed.

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