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Chen Bo

Wuhan University, Philosophy, Faculty Member

Peking University, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty Member

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Chen Bo, Ph.D, September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University; 2021, Titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles). (By election); 2018, Permanent titular member of IIP: Institut International de Philosophie. (By election).
Address: School of Philosophy,
Wuhan University
Wuchang District, Wuhan City
P. R. China 430072

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Papers by Chen Bo

我们为什么“必须”和“应该”（终稿）

中国社会科学, 2024

The division and gap between "is" and "ought", between "fact" and "value" plus "norm" proposed by... more The division and gap between "is" and "ought", between "fact" and "value" plus "norm" proposed by Hume, Moore and others are fictional for two reasons: there are no purely objective facts, because facts have subjective intervention from cognitive subjects; there are no purely subjective norms, because norms must have objective foundations and theoretical bases. Why do we "must" and "should"? This is determined by a combination of the following factors: firstly, our needs, intentions, and goals, where intentions and goals originate from needs, and the strength of intentions often depends on the strength of needs, but needs have their objective bases; Secondly, the current reality often deviates greatly from our needs and intentions. We strive to change the status quo and create a vision that meets our needs and intentions; Thirdly, the relevant broad scientific principles (including natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities) and social consensus (cultural traditions and conventions, etc.); Fourthly, human's rational thinking ability: in the face of the current situation, according to relevant theories and social consensus, we rationally think what we must or should do and how we can meet our needs, achieve our goals, and turn our vision into reality. Therefore, there is a common bond that links our needs, interests, intentions, goals, distant reality, and human's rational thinking ability, thus bridging the gap from "facts" to "values" and "norms".

Logical Exceptionalism: Development and Predicaments

THEORIA, 2024

This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ay... more This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer, and regards the six philosophers as the representatives of logical exceptionalism. From their standpoints, this paper refines the tenets of logical exceptionalism as follows: logic is exceptional to all other sciences because of four reasons: (i) logic is formal, neutral to any domain and any entities, and general; (ii) logical truths are made true by the meanings of logical constants they contain or by logicians' rational insight to consequence relations; (iii) logical truths are analytical, a prior and necessary, so not-revisable; (iv) logical laws are normative for how to correctly think. However, logical exceptionalism has encountered difficult open problems: What are logical constants? How to justify basic laws of logic? How are logical laws accessible to us? How to explain the reasonability of rival logics and select from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logical laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? This paper concludes that logical antiexceptionalism is more hopeful to successfully answer these questions than logical exceptionalism.

The KK Principle and the Strong Notion of Knowledge: Hintikka's Arguments for KK Revisited

History and Philosophy of Logic, 2024

In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the K... more In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the KK (Knowing that One Knows, in symbols, KpKKp) principle (KK for short). However, his system of epistemic logic and the KK principle are grounded upon his strong notion of knowledge, which requires that knowledge is infallible, that is, it makes further inquiry pointless, and becomes 'discussion-stopper'; knowledge implies truth, to wit, cognitive agents will not be mistaken in their knowledge; cognitive agents will be 'perfect logicians', i.e. they have infinitive capability of logical inference. Hintikka calls the argument for KK from the strong notion of knowledge as the

德国明斯特AIPS年会纪实

中国社会科学网, 2023

A Record of the AIPS-Muenster Meeting in Germany

中国社会科学网 China Social Science Net, 2023

Remembrance of Oxford

布宜诺斯艾利斯纪行

中国社会科学报 China social science today, 2023

A Conference Journey to Buenos Aries

哲学：知识还是智慧？

中国社会科学, 2023

Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice... more Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice. In fact, philosophy can and must combine knowledge and wisdom. Philosophy has always been regarded as "the love for wisdom", and it naturally pursues wisdom. Wisdom at least consists of four elements: good motivation, extensive knowledge, considerate judgment, and sincere action. Philosophy is also regarded as the pursuit of truth. According to traditional understanding, knowledge is justified true belief. Therefore, philosophy also pursues knowledge, which is a true understanding of nature, society, and human life. Although knowledge does not necessarily lead to wisdom, wisdom must be grounded on knowledge, since wisdom without knowledge is unimaginable. Wisdom also transcends knowledge, providing guidance for knowledge, transforming knowledge into wisdom, precipitating it into a way of life, implementing it into an ideal personality, and sublimating it to the realm of human life. Philosophy is a learning that pursues both knowledge and wisdom, and it is precisely through its pursuit of knowledge that its striving for wisdom is realized. Philosophy is almost a necessity for everyone's survival and well-being.

哲学的目标：追求真理

Social Science Frontier, 2023

The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually posse... more The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually possess truth, let alone proclaim truth from above, it always advances towards truth, aiming to gain a more authentic understanding of nature, society, and human life, because truth is the fundamental appeal for human survival in the world and also reflects human characteristics, value, and dignity. Correspondence is the fundamental and core meaning of truth, coherence is the internal element of truth, and utility is the external effect of truth. Both scientific truth and humanistic truth are not exceptional. If there is no goal, dimension, and constraint to seek truth, philosophical research will be confused with whimsical thinking, sophistry, and deception. Philosophers are able to achieve overlapping consensus and fusion of perspectives because their research converges towards a common dimension-truth. The difficulty of obtaining truth cannot be naturally inferred that the pursuit of truth should not be our cognitive goal.

How to Account for the Falsehood of an Affirmative Proposition and the Truth of a Negative Proposition

Axiomathes

There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence the... more There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Some scholars have put forward their objections to my rejection of the concept of a fact and their defence of that concept. But their arguments are not cogent, since they haven't clarified the relation between facts and propositions, haven't successfully argued for the necessity and feasibility of introducing the concept of a fact, and haven't provided an acceptable standard of identity for facts. Under the framework of the fact-based correspondence theory, a "negative fact" is usually introduced to explain the falsehood of an affirmative proposition and the truth of a negative proposition. But, after careful analysis, we find that the positing of negative facts is the result of the concurrence of three factors: the positive states of objects, the expectations of cognitive subjects, and certain kinds of inferences,

New Correspondence Theory of Truth without the Concept of Fact

The Philosophicl Forum

The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious d... more The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious difficulties, the main one of which is that it is too difficult to explain clearly the concept of ‘fact’ and how propositions ‘correspond’ to facts. This does not mean that we should abandon the correspondence theory of truth and turn to some other type of theory. In order to guarantee the objectivity of truth, any reasonable theory of truth must adhere to the core insight of the traditional theory: it is not something in our language, nor in our mind, but something in the external world, that makes the propositions we use to describe the states of affairs in the world either true or false. It is entirely possible to formulate a new correspondence theory of truth without the concept of fact but still adhere to the core insights of the traditional theory. The new theory has its own metaphysical and epistemological assumptions, and also its assumptions in the philosophy of language. Because of the generativity of language, in defining the concept of truth, the new theory must resort to a Tarskian recursive procedure. Coherence is the intrinsic element of the new theory. Contrary to deflationism about truth, the new theory maintains that the concept of truth is by no means trivial and insignificant, rather it is very substantive, and that the pursuit of truth is our cognitive mission.

A CLARIFICATION AND DEFENSE OF QUINE'S NATURALISM

Journal of Chinese Philosophy

Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more compr... more Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine's naturalized epistemology (NE for short), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to it: replacement (Quine's NE is the replacement of traditional epistemology), circularity (Quine's NE is viciously circular), and non-normativity (Quine's NE is devoid of normative dimension), and to Williamson's three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine's brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson's three charges are mainly due to misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine's NE, which are worthy of further development.

邏輯例外論及其困境

UNIVERSITAS-MONTHLY REVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE, 2022

Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionali... more Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, necessary and a prior, so it is not revisal; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. The representative figures of logical exceptionalism are Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer. Logical exceptionalism has encountered at least four problems: how to justify logical laws? How to explain the appearance of deviant and competitive logics and choose from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logic laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? The conclusion of this paper is that logical exceptionalism is like sort of evasion, based on many presuppositions without serious clarification and critical examination, and has many insurmountable theoretical difficulties.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, logical truth, analyticity, necessity, apriority, normativity

逻辑例外论的演变

Studies in Logic, 2022

The Development of Logical Exceptionalism Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalis... more The Development of Logical Exceptionalism

Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, a prior and necessary, so it is not revisable; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. This article takes Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer as the representative figures of logical exceptionalism, outlines their viewpoints and arguments about logic, and exposes the internal difficulties of their positions.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer

Philosophy as a Cognitive Enterprise 1

Interpretations of a Common World: from Antiquity to Modernity Essays in honour of Jure Zovko Evandro Agazzi, Andreas Arndt and Hans-Peter Grosshans (Hg./Ed.) Münster: Lit Verlag 2022, 2022

Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences, and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense, and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods, and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on "what is" and philosophy focuses on "what it should be".

Philosophy as a Cognitive Enterprise

Interpretations of a common world: From Antiquity to Modernity: Festschrift for Jure Zovko’s 65th Birthday, Lit Verlag (German), 2022

Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject-matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on “what is” and philosophy focuses on “what it should be”.

Thinking Deeply, Contributing Originally : An Interview with Timothy Williamson(Special Contribution)

Annals of the Japan Association for Philosophy of Science, 2009

7L}Le editoT' of this ,iou･T'naZ asked Tne to uJT'ite a short fbr'ward of this inte7n)ieuJ articl... more 7L}Le editoT' of this ,iou･T'naZ asked Tne to uJT'ite a short fbr'ward of this inte7n)ieuJ article .t'or ,Japanese readeTs to ea;pZain how its originat Engtish version came to be pmblished 'in Japan. It all goes back to rrby Oxford days in the summe'r' of 2008. I met P7ofttssor' crLeTe Bo foT' the fi･r'st time in a tectur'e theater near St. Cross CoZlege, tvheT-thc fir'st lectuT'c o.f' the .Johrt Lock;e Lecture serties was delivered. Later, Ifoun[l hi7n i'n the gecttLre Tz}om on the secoTtcl .fiooT' at 10 Mar'torb wher'e Pr'ofkssoT' Ti7n,othy Hlilliamson conducted his senLinar' on philosophy of tanguage, C7ben Bo anci I then began to discuss vario'us kinds ofprobZems in phigosophy in various pgaces in OuifoT'ct. Sorrietim,es our discussion took place in his o,tfice iTt. the base･rrbent o,f' the philosophy foculty buigdiny. On svmc other occasions, he invited rne to his house to continue o･ur discussions over the dinner table. When we met and discussed phigosophy, J had occasions to look throztgh the drojZ's of the present i･nte7"vie･w a'rticle. At first the drcoft was ??,ot so long. [lihen, graduatly, i,t became gonger anci cleeper. PVIien the droft was atmDst co77ipleted, Che･n Bo told ･rrLc that thc C7Linese trunslatio･n uJas c'urrentZy being prepared, and pToposcd to publish the original English version i･n Ja･pan. Through him, l obtained agreemenl/ fro7n PrcLfessor Wtlli･amson con,cerning its pubtication in Japan. I thank both of them for their kind offkr. Jt is 7ny pZea,sure to see th,e o7tiginal English versi,on puubtished in this p'ournal. This paper is a p'oint collaboration between tu)o phitosophers. 77),e intervi,ew is structured as a guestion and ansu,reT session. CTLen Bo asks guestions and U"itliamsoTe o,nswers. 7ihe reader wilt see ho?ll the questions are carofully and skit4flLlly aTv'anged, so that the ansuJers sometimes go [leep, and becorTie .f'ar-reaching. Jt takes the foTTrt･ of h,s/pothetical discussions uJhi･ch occ?tTy'ed betuJeen one phitosopheT' in OxfoTd an{l thc otheT' philosopheT' in Beby'ing, Jt consists o.f questions and anszc,ers whi･ch were curried out with the tacit assumption that the readers are pramariZy students, Tesearchers

History of Logic in Contemporary China (1949–2021)

by Jan Vrhovski and Chen Bo

Asian Studies, 2022

Editorial to the special issue of Asian Studies journal, devoted to the history of logic in conte... more

70 Years of Logic in China, 1949-2019

Asian Studies, 2022

This article outlines the history of logic in China from 1949 to 2019. Firstly, it presents a rou... more 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.

中国哲学家能够从分析哲学那里学到什么？

哲学分析 Philosophical Analysis, 2021

What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy? CHEN BO ABSRACT: Analytic philoso... more What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy?
CHEN BO

ABSRACT: Analytic philosophy does not contain some schools or a movement with continuous histories, nor a set of philosophical issues and doctrines shared by all analytic philosophers, but it develops a special approach to philosophy. Its prominent features consist in its methodology: pursuing truth and knowledge, respecting science and common sense, using logic and reflecting language, avoiding grand issues and systems of philosophy, paying attention to clarity and precision, focusing on argumentation and justification, and engaging in academic debate with other colleagues. Chinese philosophers can learn how to do philosophy from analytic philosophy, such as: weakening apprentice status, opening up dialogue mode; doing less grand narration, doing more specific research; reducing rhetoric strategy and the presentation of textual materials, and constructing more careful arguments. Through studying the methodology of analytic philosophy, we may be able to do contemporary Chinese philosophy better.

KEY WORDS: doing philosophy, philosophical questions, independent approach, dialogue mode, argumentation, justification

CHEN BO-CV (2021)

September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy,... more September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University; 2021, Titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles) (By election); 2018, Permanent titular member of IIP : Institut International de Philosophie (By election)

我们为什么“必须”和“应该”（终稿）

中国社会科学, 2024

The division and gap between "is" and "ought", between "fact" and "value" plus "norm" proposed by... more The division and gap between "is" and "ought", between "fact" and "value" plus "norm" proposed by Hume, Moore and others are fictional for two reasons: there are no purely objective facts, because facts have subjective intervention from cognitive subjects; there are no purely subjective norms, because norms must have objective foundations and theoretical bases. Why do we "must" and "should"? This is determined by a combination of the following factors: firstly, our needs, intentions, and goals, where intentions and goals originate from needs, and the strength of intentions often depends on the strength of needs, but needs have their objective bases; Secondly, the current reality often deviates greatly from our needs and intentions. We strive to change the status quo and create a vision that meets our needs and intentions; Thirdly, the relevant broad scientific principles (including natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities) and social consensus (cultural traditions and conventions, etc.); Fourthly, human's rational thinking ability: in the face of the current situation, according to relevant theories and social consensus, we rationally think what we must or should do and how we can meet our needs, achieve our goals, and turn our vision into reality. Therefore, there is a common bond that links our needs, interests, intentions, goals, distant reality, and human's rational thinking ability, thus bridging the gap from "facts" to "values" and "norms".

Logical Exceptionalism: Development and Predicaments

THEORIA, 2024

This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ay... more This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer, and regards the six philosophers as the representatives of logical exceptionalism. From their standpoints, this paper refines the tenets of logical exceptionalism as follows: logic is exceptional to all other sciences because of four reasons: (i) logic is formal, neutral to any domain and any entities, and general; (ii) logical truths are made true by the meanings of logical constants they contain or by logicians' rational insight to consequence relations; (iii) logical truths are analytical, a prior and necessary, so not-revisable; (iv) logical laws are normative for how to correctly think. However, logical exceptionalism has encountered difficult open problems: What are logical constants? How to justify basic laws of logic? How are logical laws accessible to us? How to explain the reasonability of rival logics and select from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logical laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? This paper concludes that logical antiexceptionalism is more hopeful to successfully answer these questions than logical exceptionalism.

The KK Principle and the Strong Notion of Knowledge: Hintikka's Arguments for KK Revisited

History and Philosophy of Logic, 2024

In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the K... more In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the KK (Knowing that One Knows, in symbols, KpKKp) principle (KK for short). However, his system of epistemic logic and the KK principle are grounded upon his strong notion of knowledge, which requires that knowledge is infallible, that is, it makes further inquiry pointless, and becomes 'discussion-stopper'; knowledge implies truth, to wit, cognitive agents will not be mistaken in their knowledge; cognitive agents will be 'perfect logicians', i.e. they have infinitive capability of logical inference. Hintikka calls the argument for KK from the strong notion of knowledge as the

德国明斯特AIPS年会纪实

中国社会科学网, 2023

A Record of the AIPS-Muenster Meeting in Germany

中国社会科学网 China Social Science Net, 2023

Remembrance of Oxford

布宜诺斯艾利斯纪行

中国社会科学报 China social science today, 2023

A Conference Journey to Buenos Aries

哲学：知识还是智慧？

中国社会科学, 2023

Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice... more Is philosophy knowledge or wisdom?" This questioning method seems to imply an incompatible choice. In fact, philosophy can and must combine knowledge and wisdom. Philosophy has always been regarded as "the love for wisdom", and it naturally pursues wisdom. Wisdom at least consists of four elements: good motivation, extensive knowledge, considerate judgment, and sincere action. Philosophy is also regarded as the pursuit of truth. According to traditional understanding, knowledge is justified true belief. Therefore, philosophy also pursues knowledge, which is a true understanding of nature, society, and human life. Although knowledge does not necessarily lead to wisdom, wisdom must be grounded on knowledge, since wisdom without knowledge is unimaginable. Wisdom also transcends knowledge, providing guidance for knowledge, transforming knowledge into wisdom, precipitating it into a way of life, implementing it into an ideal personality, and sublimating it to the realm of human life. Philosophy is a learning that pursues both knowledge and wisdom, and it is precisely through its pursuit of knowledge that its striving for wisdom is realized. Philosophy is almost a necessity for everyone's survival and well-being.

哲学的目标：追求真理

Social Science Frontier, 2023

The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually posse... more The goal of philosophy is to pursue truth. Although philosophy may not necessarily actually possess truth, let alone proclaim truth from above, it always advances towards truth, aiming to gain a more authentic understanding of nature, society, and human life, because truth is the fundamental appeal for human survival in the world and also reflects human characteristics, value, and dignity. Correspondence is the fundamental and core meaning of truth, coherence is the internal element of truth, and utility is the external effect of truth. Both scientific truth and humanistic truth are not exceptional. If there is no goal, dimension, and constraint to seek truth, philosophical research will be confused with whimsical thinking, sophistry, and deception. Philosophers are able to achieve overlapping consensus and fusion of perspectives because their research converges towards a common dimension-truth. The difficulty of obtaining truth cannot be naturally inferred that the pursuit of truth should not be our cognitive goal.

How to Account for the Falsehood of an Affirmative Proposition and the Truth of a Negative Proposition

Axiomathes

There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence the... more There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Some scholars have put forward their objections to my rejection of the concept of a fact and their defence of that concept. But their arguments are not cogent, since they haven't clarified the relation between facts and propositions, haven't successfully argued for the necessity and feasibility of introducing the concept of a fact, and haven't provided an acceptable standard of identity for facts. Under the framework of the fact-based correspondence theory, a "negative fact" is usually introduced to explain the falsehood of an affirmative proposition and the truth of a negative proposition. But, after careful analysis, we find that the positing of negative facts is the result of the concurrence of three factors: the positive states of objects, the expectations of cognitive subjects, and certain kinds of inferences,

New Correspondence Theory of Truth without the Concept of Fact

The Philosophicl Forum

The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious d... more The traditional correspondence theory of truth with the concept of fact encounters many serious difficulties, the main one of which is that it is too difficult to explain clearly the concept of ‘fact’ and how propositions ‘correspond’ to facts. This does not mean that we should abandon the correspondence theory of truth and turn to some other type of theory. In order to guarantee the objectivity of truth, any reasonable theory of truth must adhere to the core insight of the traditional theory: it is not something in our language, nor in our mind, but something in the external world, that makes the propositions we use to describe the states of affairs in the world either true or false. It is entirely possible to formulate a new correspondence theory of truth without the concept of fact but still adhere to the core insights of the traditional theory. The new theory has its own metaphysical and epistemological assumptions, and also its assumptions in the philosophy of language. Because of the generativity of language, in defining the concept of truth, the new theory must resort to a Tarskian recursive procedure. Coherence is the intrinsic element of the new theory. Contrary to deflationism about truth, the new theory maintains that the concept of truth is by no means trivial and insignificant, rather it is very substantive, and that the pursuit of truth is our cognitive mission.

A CLARIFICATION AND DEFENSE OF QUINE'S NATURALISM

Journal of Chinese Philosophy

Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more compr... more Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine's naturalized epistemology (NE for short), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to it: replacement (Quine's NE is the replacement of traditional epistemology), circularity (Quine's NE is viciously circular), and non-normativity (Quine's NE is devoid of normative dimension), and to Williamson's three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine's brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson's three charges are mainly due to misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine's NE, which are worthy of further development.

邏輯例外論及其困境

UNIVERSITAS-MONTHLY REVIEW OF PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE, 2022

Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionali... more Logical Exceptionalism and Its Predicaments
Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, necessary and a prior, so it is not revisal; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. The representative figures of logical exceptionalism are Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer. Logical exceptionalism has encountered at least four problems: how to justify logical laws? How to explain the appearance of deviant and competitive logics and choose from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logic laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? The conclusion of this paper is that logical exceptionalism is like sort of evasion, based on many presuppositions without serious clarification and critical examination, and has many insurmountable theoretical difficulties.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, logical truth, analyticity, necessity, apriority, normativity

逻辑例外论的演变

Studies in Logic, 2022

The Development of Logical Exceptionalism Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalis... more The Development of Logical Exceptionalism

Abstract: The main viewpoints of logical exceptionalism are that logic is exceptional with respect to all other sciences, including natural science, social science and humanities, because logical propositions say nothing about the world, and are true or false based on the meanings of logical constants; that logical truth is analytical, a prior and necessary, so it is not revisable; and that logical laws are normative for how to think correctly. This article takes Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer as the representative figures of logical exceptionalism, outlines their viewpoints and arguments about logic, and exposes the internal difficulties of their positions.
Key Words: logical exceptionalism, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein, Ayer

Philosophy as a Cognitive Enterprise 1

Interpretations of a Common World: from Antiquity to Modernity Essays in honour of Jure Zovko Evandro Agazzi, Andreas Arndt and Hans-Peter Grosshans (Hg./Ed.) Münster: Lit Verlag 2022, 2022

Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences, and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense, and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods, and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on "what is" and philosophy focuses on "what it should be".

Philosophy as a Cognitive Enterprise

Interpretations of a common world: From Antiquity to Modernity: Festschrift for Jure Zovko’s 65th Birthday, Lit Verlag (German), 2022

Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (i... more Philosophy is a cognitive enterprise. In multiple senses, it is continuous with other sciences (including natural sciences, social sciences and Humanities). (1) As far as its subject-matter is concerned, like other sciences, philosophy is also a part of the overall efforts of human beings to understand the world in which we live. (2) In terms of their methodologies, there is no substantive difference between philosophy, common sense and science. Just as scientific methodology is the refinement of common-sense methodology, philosophical methodology is also the refinement and summary of common sense and scientific methodologies. (3) In terms of their utilities, philosophy and science are both designed to help people live better in the world, and to lead a decent and dignified life, especially a meaningful and valuable life. (4) It is the correct attitude and practice of dealing with the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy to study and enter philosophy through the history of philosophy, to critically reflect on the previous philosophical theories, to open up new fields, to use new methods and to put forward new theories to develop philosophy. (5) The following two assertions about philosophy and science are just taken for granted, and specious: science relies on observation and experiment, and philosophy resorts to interpretation and understanding, while science focuses on “what is” and philosophy focuses on “what it should be”.

Thinking Deeply, Contributing Originally : An Interview with Timothy Williamson(Special Contribution)

Annals of the Japan Association for Philosophy of Science, 2009

7L}Le editoT' of this ,iou･T'naZ asked Tne to uJT'ite a short fbr'ward of this inte7n)ieuJ articl... more 7L}Le editoT' of this ,iou･T'naZ asked Tne to uJT'ite a short fbr'ward of this inte7n)ieuJ article .t'or ,Japanese readeTs to ea;pZain how its originat Engtish version came to be pmblished 'in Japan. It all goes back to rrby Oxford days in the summe'r' of 2008. I met P7ofttssor' crLeTe Bo foT' the fi･r'st time in a tectur'e theater near St. Cross CoZlege, tvheT-thc fir'st lectuT'c o.f' the .Johrt Lock;e Lecture serties was delivered. Later, Ifoun[l hi7n i'n the gecttLre Tz}om on the secoTtcl .fiooT' at 10 Mar'torb wher'e Pr'ofkssoT' Ti7n,othy Hlilliamson conducted his senLinar' on philosophy of tanguage, C7ben Bo anci I then began to discuss vario'us kinds ofprobZems in phigosophy in various pgaces in OuifoT'ct. Sorrietim,es our discussion took place in his o,tfice iTt. the base･rrbent o,f' the philosophy foculty buigdiny. On svmc other occasions, he invited rne to his house to continue o･ur discussions over the dinner table. When we met and discussed phigosophy, J had occasions to look throztgh the drojZ's of the present i･nte7"vie･w a'rticle. At first the drcoft was ??,ot so long. [lihen, graduatly, i,t became gonger anci cleeper. PVIien the droft was atmDst co77ipleted, Che･n Bo told ･rrLc that thc C7Linese trunslatio･n uJas c'urrentZy being prepared, and pToposcd to publish the original English version i･n Ja･pan. Through him, l obtained agreemenl/ fro7n PrcLfessor Wtlli･amson con,cerning its pubtication in Japan. I thank both of them for their kind offkr. Jt is 7ny pZea,sure to see th,e o7tiginal English versi,on puubtished in this p'ournal. This paper is a p'oint collaboration between tu)o phitosophers. 77),e intervi,ew is structured as a guestion and ansu,reT session. CTLen Bo asks guestions and U"itliamsoTe o,nswers. 7ihe reader wilt see ho?ll the questions are carofully and skit4flLlly aTv'anged, so that the ansuJers sometimes go [leep, and becorTie .f'ar-reaching. Jt takes the foTTrt･ of h,s/pothetical discussions uJhi･ch occ?tTy'ed betuJeen one phitosopheT' in OxfoTd an{l thc otheT' philosopheT' in Beby'ing, Jt consists o.f questions and anszc,ers whi･ch were curried out with the tacit assumption that the readers are pramariZy students, Tesearchers

History of Logic in Contemporary China (1949–2021)

by Jan Vrhovski and Chen Bo

Asian Studies, 2022

Editorial to the special issue of Asian Studies journal, devoted to the history of logic in conte... more

70 Years of Logic in China, 1949-2019

Asian Studies, 2022

This article outlines the history of logic in China from 1949 to 2019. Firstly, it presents a rou... more 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.

中国哲学家能够从分析哲学那里学到什么？

哲学分析 Philosophical Analysis, 2021

What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy? CHEN BO ABSRACT: Analytic philoso... more What can Chinese Philosophers Learn from Analytic Philosophy?
CHEN BO

ABSRACT: Analytic philosophy does not contain some schools or a movement with continuous histories, nor a set of philosophical issues and doctrines shared by all analytic philosophers, but it develops a special approach to philosophy. Its prominent features consist in its methodology: pursuing truth and knowledge, respecting science and common sense, using logic and reflecting language, avoiding grand issues and systems of philosophy, paying attention to clarity and precision, focusing on argumentation and justification, and engaging in academic debate with other colleagues. Chinese philosophers can learn how to do philosophy from analytic philosophy, such as: weakening apprentice status, opening up dialogue mode; doing less grand narration, doing more specific research; reducing rhetoric strategy and the presentation of textual materials, and constructing more careful arguments. Through studying the methodology of analytic philosophy, we may be able to do contemporary Chinese philosophy better.

KEY WORDS: doing philosophy, philosophical questions, independent approach, dialogue mode, argumentation, justification

CHEN BO-CV (2021)

September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy,... more September, 2021- present, Chair Professor of Humanities and Social Science, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University; 2021, Titular member of AIPS: Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences (Bruxelles) (By election); 2018, Permanent titular member of IIP : Institut International de Philosophie (By election)

Quine's Naturalism: Clarification and Vindication

Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more compr... more Naturalism is the dominant characteristic of Quine's philosophy. This paper presents a more comprehensive and sympathetic clarification of Quine's naturalized epistemology (NE for short), and vindicates its main positions by critically responding to the three objections to it: replacement (Quine's NE is the replacement of traditional epistemology), circularity (Quine's NE is viciously circular), and non-normativity (Quine's NE is devoid of normative dimension), and to Williamson's three charges to naturalism (mainly Quine's brand), finally concludes that the three objections and Williamson's three charges are mainly due to misreading or misinterpretation, so all of them failed, and that there are quite many illuminating, reasonable, and valuable insights in Quine's NE, which are worthy of further development.

Susan Haack in China

This draft outlines the influence of Susan Haack's academic works in China.

How to Teach Logic at Peking University

HISTORY OF LOGIC IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA

by Jan Vrhovski and Chen Bo

Asian Studies, 2022

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

Fifteen Lectures on Logic

PHILOSOPHY OF LOGIC

INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC

Studies on Paradoxes

Studies on Philosophy of Logic

Analytic Philosophy Retrospection and Reflection

Studies on Philosophy of W V Quine

Analytic Philosophy Critical Review and Construction