Aristotle in China

In this book, Robert Wardy, a philosopher and classicist, turns his attention to the relation between language and thought. He explores this huge topic in an analysis of linguistic relativism, with specific reference to a reading of the ming li t’an (‘The Investigation of the Theory of Names’), a seventeenth-century Chinese translation of Aristotle’s Categories. Throughout his investigation, Wardy addresses important questions. Do the basis structures of language shape the major thought-patterns of its native speakers? Could philosophy be guided and constrained by the language in which it is done? What factors, from grammar and logic to cultural and religious expectations, influence translation? And does Aristotle survive rendition into Chinese intact? His answers will fascinate philosphers, Sinologists, classicists, linguists and anthropologists, and will make a major contribution to the existing literature.

• Author offers an interpretation of the relation between language and thought from the vantage point of a philosopher and classicist • The work will therefore be of interest to a range of scholars from a range of disciplines • Well written and reader friendly

Preface; Part I. The China Syndrome: Language, Logical Form, Translation: 1. Introduction; 2. Guidance and constraint; 3. On the very idea of translation; 4. Case-study 1: conditionals; 5. Case-study 2: Chinese is a list; 6. Logical form; 7. Case-study 3: being; 8. Case-study 4: truth; 9. Case-study 5: nouns and ontology; 10. Conclusion; Part II. Aristotelian whispers: 11. Introduction; 12. What’s in a name?; 13. Disputation, discrimination, inference; 14. The need for logic; 15. Finite and infinite; 16. The simple and the complex; 17. All the things there are; 18. How many questions? 19. Relatively speaking; 20. Particular and general; 21. Translating the untranslatable; Epilogue; Glossary; References; Index.