Pragmatics without deception: towards a hermeneutics of speech activities in the Lunyu and Mengzi

Abstract

The Ruist emphasis upon the role-specificity of appropriate conduct affects the way language is employed in the Lunyu and Mengzi, as well as the hermeneutics we ought to adopt in our interpretation of these texts. In the Lunyu, for instance, reputable teachers, rulers, ministers, sons, and other persons employ language that must seem dishonest or duplicitous if measured by the rubrics of accuracy. Chad Hansen and Steven Geisz have argued, however, that such passages depict language used with an eye to its pragmatic significance, rather than a moral failure on the part of the speaker. If we agree with their assessment, we face the unique hermeneutic challenge of preserving constraints upon our interpretation of the early Ruist texts—a challenge I seek to meet by appealing to the aims, methods, and social roles governing the use of such language.