The Gongsunlongzi and Other Neglected Texts: Aligning Philosophical and Philological Perspectives

Conference, August 27–29, 2014

Convenors

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Behr, Dr. Lisa Indraccolo, and Dr. Rafael Suter

Organization

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies – Chinese Studies and URPP Asia and Europe

Locations

Museum Rietberg, Park-Villa Rieter, Lecture Hall, Seestrasse 110, 8002 Zurich (August 27, 2014)
Room KO2 F-174, University of Zurich, Main Building, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich (August 28–29, 2014)

Description

The Gongsunlongzi is one of the few early Chinese received texts dealing with problems of logic and epistemology. Unfortunately, philological inquiries suggest that most probably huge parts were only composed during the Chinese Medieval period (3rd–7th centuries AD). Philosophical studies on the text usually take its authenticity for granted and consider the Gongsunlongzi as if it actually were a Warring States text (453–221 BC). Philological evidence speaking against this widely shared assumption tends to be ignored. Yet, the materials included in the received text are rather heterogeneous and any information about the context or reading instructions are lacking. As a consequence, any interpretation heavily relies on the premises of the reader. A more accurate philological study might not only provide a clearer picture of the process of composition of the Gongsunlongzi and the dating of the different textual layers that compose the text, but might also provide useful information about the context and valuable clues for its interpretation. The workshop aims at bringing together several scholars both in philosophical and philological studies, sharing an interest in the Gongsunlongzi. By contributing their complementary expertise, it is hoped that the workshop will provide ideal conditions for developing a more comprehensive perspective on the text, yielding new insights on the Gongsunlongzi and shedding light on the modalities in which questions of logic and epistemology were addressed in early and medieval China.

Wednesday, 27^th August 2014
Museum Rietberg, Park-Villa Rieter, Lecture Hall, Seestrasse 110, 8002 Zurich
18.30		Welcome and opening speech (Rafael Suter / Lisa Indraccolo / Wolfgang Behr, University of Zurich)

Thursday, 28^th August 2014
Room KO2 F-174, University of Zurich, Main Building, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich
9.00		Session 1 Bo Mou(San José State University) An Examination of Gongsun Long’s Double-Reference Thought: Engaging Fregean and Kripkean Approaches to How Reference is Possible Fung Yiu-ming 馮耀明 (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) Reference and Ontology in the Gongsun Longzi
10.30		Coffee break
10.45		Session 2 Thierry Lucas (Université Catholique de Louvain [Louvain-la-Neuve], Belgium) Logically significant words in the Gongsunlongzi Rafał Jan Felbur (Stanford University) The Logic of Identity in Sengzhao
12.30		Lunch break
14.00		Session 3 Dennis Schilling (University of Munich/National Chengchi University Taipei) Place as a category in the ‘Treatise on Names and Reality’ (名實論) Liu Tisheng (Canton Huanan Normal University) 公孙龙《指物论》篇悬解 (Preliminary Title)
15.30		Coffee break
15.45		Session 4 Ernst-Joachim Vierheller (University of Hamburg) On Classifying (Declassifying) Things 指〔齊〕物論: Reading the Gongsun Longzi in the light of the Zhuangzi Zhou Changzhong (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences) “白马论”: 实质的语言分析哲学思想 –– 兼论今本《公孙龙子》作为残真本
18.00–19.00		Roundtable discussion

Friday, 29^th August 2014
Room KO2 F-174, University of Zurich, Main Building, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich
9.00		Session 5 Ian Johnston The Relationship of the Gongsun Longzi to the Dialectical Chapters of the Mozi Wang Ping (The University of New South Wales, Australia) Interpretations of the Gongsun Longzi – A Historical Overview
10.30		Coffee break
10.45		Session 6 Jiang Xiangdong (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing) 《公孫龍子·白馬論》新詮 Lukáš Zádrapa (Charles University, Prague) Linguistic Affinities of the Yinwenzi Text in the Light of Basic Corpus Data
12.15–13.00		Roundtable discussion