Discussion with Mr. Chou Ku-Ch'eng Concerning Formal Logic and Dialectics

Abstract

Recently I have read in succession the four articles on formal logic and dialectics in the current year's Hsin chien-she: Mr. Chou Ku-ch'eng's and Dialectics in the second issue, Mr. I Chih's A Criticism of Confused Concepts on Problems of Logic in the fourth issue, Mr. Shen Ping-yuan's A Discussion of ‘Formal and Dialectics,’ and Mr. Chou Ku-ch'eng's Further Discourse on Formal and Dialectics, both in the seventh issue. In my opinion, in Mr. Chou's articles, several main theses on formal logic and on the relationship between formal logic and dialectics are erroneous; basically, I agree with the criticisms of Messrs. I and Shen. Nonetheless, I believe that Mr. Chou's errors have had their source in the theory of cognition in that he has unilateralized and absolutized certain aspects that were originally correct, thus leading himself in the wrong direction. In criticizing Mr. Chou, both Messrs. I and Shen failed to proceed from this premise, so they could not make others s...