The Cultural Relativity of Logic: From the Viewpoint of Ethnography and Historiography

Abstract

广义论证概念扩大了逻辑家族成员，使之包括现代文化之外其他文化的逻辑，对 阿赞得（Azande）人的田野考察报告，以及中国古代逻辑和佛学逻辑的研究成果，从 描述的角度为“逻辑相对于文化”这一命题提供事实根据；采用演绎论证作为元方法 说明现代文化中的逻辑和其他文化的逻辑在现代文化中的译本具有文化相对性；借助 民族志和历史学研究成果说明其他文化的逻辑本身也具有的文化相对性；通过语言博 弈和生活形式概念说明作为元方法的演绎论证同样具有文化相对性。 关键词: 广义论证 非形式逻辑 逻辑学的合理性 文化相对性 The concept of general argumentation has expanded the family of logic so that it incorporates the logic of other cultures besides modern culture. Based on reports of fieldwork among the Azande and the fruits of research on ancient Chinese logic and the logic of Buddhism, this paper attempts to provide a factual foundation for the proposition “the cultural relativity of logic” from a descriptive perspective. Adopting deductive argument as a meta‐method, this paper argues for the existence of the cultural relativity of logic in modern culture and of the translated version of the logic of other cultures in modern culture. With the aid of ethnography and the historical research findings, we show that the logic of other cultures also has its own cultural relativity. We also seek to show through the concepts of language games and life forms that deductive argumentation as a meta‐method likewise possesses cultural relativity.