Contrasting tools of thought: Chinese correlations and Western analogies. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Walker, Travis
• Is Part Of: Asian philosophy. Volume 31:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 78
• Page End: 87
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Chinese Philosophy -- Western Philosophy -- Analogy -- Comparative Philosophy -- Yin-Yang; Philosophy, Asian -- Periodicals; 181
• DOI: 10.1080/09552367.2021.1872825
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0955-2367

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Typical modes of reasoning in the Chinese tradition have often been described by Western thinkers as 'correlative' or 'analogical' in contrast with the supposedly rational, Western mode of reasoning. However, analogical reasoning has a prominent place in much of pre-modern writing in the West, including philosophical, medical, and theological treatises. At a glance, some readers may note a similarity between Western analogical thinking and Chinese correlative ( tongbian ) thinking. However, closer inspection reveals that analogies in the Western tradition and Chinese correlations had very little in common. Analogical thinking in the West often relied on deeper causal relations (as in the Hippocratic tradition) or on underlying principles of similarity (as with Plato's analogies). In contrast, Chinese tongbian thought often constructed correlative arguments based on patterns of similarity inherent in the world.