ANCIENT CHINESE THEORIES OF LANGUAGE

It is a commonplace hope of much modern philosophy that philosophy be understood as intimately related to language. The bridge between philosophical doctrines and language is typically erected by explaining various substantive views in e.g. ontology, logic, epistemology, ethics, etc., as presupposing a certain view of language, its function, its significance, etc. Insofar as this view is helpful, understanding Chinese philosophy should be no exception. Behind some of the ethical, metaphysical or epistemo-logical doctrines, we should be able to find views about language which themselves can be explained by certain general features of Chinese language and accepted philosophical practice. These, naturally, would be most interesting and informative where they provide a contrast with the views which historically were dominant in Western philosophy.