Perspectives on Social Science

Chinese
SOSC 1000 6.0
Lecture 13
Jan Krouzil PhD
June 29, 2021
 Agenda
PART I ‘Oriental’ modernization and Chinese
experience
PART II Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’ –
ontology and epistemology
PART III Methodological commensurability of Chinese
and Western thought
Keywords
 PART I
Oriental modernization and Chinese experience (1)

Internationalizing social science in China

• social sciences are assuming growing significance against a backdrop of
increasing problems within and between societies
• while cultural diversity has permeated into various dimensions of social
life, the paradigms of the social science have remained dominated by the
West, failing to meet new demands (Meng 2015)
• major Western societies set standards, provide models, and give
directions as the pinnacles for social sciences in the global system
• non-Western societies adopt these standards, models and directions in their
social sciences in various ways
 Oriental modernization and Chinese experience (2)

•in an era of globalization, a more multi-polarized academic system is

emerging, enabling non-Western societies to challenge the hegemony
of Euro-American models in the social science field
•modern social sciences in China are ‘foreign transplants’ from Western
cultures and their models have been dominated by Western academic
systems throughout the 19th and 20th centuries
•for China a fundamental issue in developing social sciences is to
integrate Chinese and Western patterns (Meng 2015)
• China’s social sciences develop in a global context of the co-existence of the
continuing dominance of Western paradigms and a rising Chinese power
 Oriental modernization and Chinese experience (3)

Why speak of ‘oriental modernization’?

• addressing the question of ‘modernization’ remains crucial
for Eastern and non-European societies such as India and
China (Li 2015)
o ‘modernization’ and ‘Westernization’ are not synonymous
o many paths and a great variety of possible experiences of
‘modernization’
o evoking the notion of ‘Eastern modernization’ as a way of
enriching the debate on post-Western social science
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (4)
Why to link the East and ‘modernization’?
• Eastern society - by its status as a counter-model of Western
society - offers Westerners an important stock of
representations enabling them to imagine themselves as
Westerners (Li 2015)
• the term ‘oriental’ has many cultural and political meanings
(Hu 1993)
• giving the Chinese experience the possibility of being heard
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (5)
From Oriental Modernization to Chinese Experience
• the ability of non-European societies to produce or develop
their own modern institutions
• Confucianism is now again recognized as a transformational
force that can lead to the modernization of some traditional
Asian countries (Tu, 2000)
• the need to resist the Eurocentric sociology and social
sciences
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (6)
Origins and characteristics of the Chinese experience of
‘Eastern modernization’
• the political independence of the colonies necessitated the intellectual
independence of these postcolonial societies
o new projects started to replace the old intellectual order that was based on the Western
social sciences
o the term ‘intellectual imperialism’ (Alatas 2000) accounts for the unequal relationship
between the dominant social sciences and the dominated social sciences
o political gesture to question Western domination of the social sciences and to establish
an autonomous discipline
o the theoretical premise that Western society is universal and is the only example of a
modern society to follow and imitate is now completely obsolete
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (7)
osince the Reform and the policy of openness, mainland China
experiencing continuous economic growth (Li 2015)
orapid development of China, Russia, India among other
countries has created the possibility of ‘Eastern
modernization’
oemergence of China and other ‘Oriental’ countries profoundly
affects the transformations of the global economic and political
system
oa new path, that of ‘Eastern modernization’, differs from
‘Western modernization’
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (8)
Characteristics of the Chinese experience
• the ‘Chinese experience’ not be confused with the ‘Chinese model’
(Tian2005) or the ‘Chinese miracle’ (Lin, Cai and Li, 2003)
o presupposes a ‘success’ but also includes ‘teachings’, esp. those taken
from previous development paths
• the term refers to new development modalities related to China's
specific characteristics
o the size of its population, its social structure, its cultural accumulation,
the characteristics of its demography etc
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (9)
• to be pursued as an open, inclusive, pragmatic experience;
changeable and evolving
o proclaims to respect other experiences and other choices
o not being constructed as the antithesis of ‘Western experience’
o does not emphasize universal values
o the possibility of a perfect harmony between unification and diversity
Significant changes
• economic - transition from a planned economy to a socialist
market economy (‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’)
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (10)
• social - the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization
pushes China to move from a traditional dual urban-rural structure to a
modern social structure
o a driving force behind the restructuring of Chinese society, profoundly
transforming lifestyles, the employment structure and the general face of the
whole Chinese community
• relationships of interest – Reform is a process of adjustment
of interest relations
o widens the income gap between rural and urban areas as well as
between members of society (Cai, 2003)
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (11)
• values - development of the market economy, democracy and civic
life affects
o lifestyles, job opportunities, demands, orientations in relation to values, as
well as ideology and many others aspects of
o differences between regions, classes and generations making social
identification and social consensus increasingly difficult (Li 2015)
o civil and political unrest in some regions prompting some to rethink the
concept of ‘modernity’ itself (Tao and Sun, 2011).
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (12)
Key features of Chinese economic and social development
otemporal and spatial compression since the mid-1990s
• the transformation of social structures and economic transition
o the transformation of social structures has forced economic reform to decline in
order to take into account not only the harmonization of interests and social
justice, but also a complete reorientation of social reforms (Li 2015)
Main phases of development (Li 2015)
o the phase of accumulation of capital - typical of the beginnings of
industrialization
o the intermediate phase of industrial reinforcement
o the phase of structural transformation corresponding to late industrialization
 Oriental modernization and Chinese
experience (13)
• changes of priority - finding a new consensus and making new choices
o addressing disparities in the distribution of income
o the widening gap is difficult to control, leading to questions about the link between efficiency
and equality (Chen, 1999)
o from an emphasis at the beginning of the policy of reform and openness on the shortage of
(private) goods to that of ‘public goods’
o social governance - the coordination of the emerging mechanisms
 different interest groups, different social classes and groups of individuals whose claims are not the same
the co-ordination of these claims becomes in itself a new mechanism, separate from the governmental and
market mechanism
Discourse on Eastern/Chinese ‘modernization’
• imperative to question and transcend the ‘Orientalism’ of the word ‘Orient’ by
adding new positive meanings to it (Li 2015)
 PART II
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’ (1)
Chinese thought in context
• developed on the basis of ontological, epistemological and metaphysical
paradigms that differ from those of Western theoretical discourses
• concepts and categories used in Chinese thought cannot be easily transferred from
one socio-cultural context into another
• often difficult to understand the Chinese worldview through the lens of traditional
Western thought
• exclusive application of Western methods can lead to severe misunderstandings
and false interpretations of Chinese discourses
• important to use caution so as not to diminish the richness and depth of Chinese
thought or turn it into a weak version of Western thought
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’ (2)
Chinese ontology
• fundamental questions on the nature and composition of ‘reality’
o what is ‘reality’ composed of?
o is ‘reality’ a single type of thing (monism), two types of things (dualism, such as
minds and bodies; matter and spirit), or many kinds of things (pluralism)?
o is ‘reality’ composed only of transient things in constant change or are there eternal
substances that form its content?
o is ‘reality’ actually as it appears to us, or is it something different than what we think
it is?
o is ‘reality’ teleological; that is, is it ‘purposing’ or going toward an end?
o do humans attach meaning or purpose to a ‘reality’ that is devoid of any inherent
meaning?
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’ (3)
Basic points of the ‘New Credo’
o ‘The Naturalistic Conception of Life and the Universe’ (Hu 1923)
• on the basis of knowledge of astronomy and physics – recognition that the world of space is
infinitely large
• on the basis of geological and paleontological knowledge – recognition that the universe
extends over infinite time
o what is ‘natural’ is, in the Chinese sense, ‘being so of its self’ and hence there is no need for the concept
of a supernatural Ruler or Creator
• on the basis of the biological sciences – recognition of the wastefulness and brutality in the
struggle for existence
• on the basis of the biological, physiological, and psychological sciences – recognition that
humans is only one species in the animal kingdom that differs from the other species only in
degree, but not in kind
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(4)
• on the basis of the knowledge derived from anthropology, sociology, and the
biological sciences – understanding the history and causes of the evolution
of living organisms and of human society
• on the basis of the biological and psychological sciences – recognition that
all psychological phenomena could be explained through the law of
causality
• on the basis of biological and historical knowledge – recognition that
morality and religion are subject to change and that the causes of such
change can be scientifically studied
• on the basis of newer knowledge of physics and chemistry – recognition that
matter is full of motion and not static
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(5)
• on the basis of biological, sociological, and historical knowledge –
recognition that the ‘individual self’ is subject to death and decay
o that the sum total of individual achievement, for better or for worse, lives on in the
immortality of the ‘Larger Self’
o that to live for the sake of the species and posterity is ‘religion’ of the highest kind
o that those religions that seek a future life either in Heaven or in the Pure Land are
selfish religions
Confusianism
• a system of social and ethical philosophy rather than a religion
• built on an ancient religious foundation to establish the social values,
institutions, and transcendent ideals of traditional Chinese society
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(6)
• sense of religious identity and common moral understanding
• institutions were not a separate church, but those of society, family, school,
and state
• part of the Chinese social fabric and way of life
Daoism/Taoism (also called ‘the other way’)
• understood and practised in many ways, each reflecting the historical,
social, or personal situation of its adherents
• adaptable, evolving to fill spiritual gaps created by the vagaries of life
• offered a range of alternatives to the Confusian way of life and point of view
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(7)
Chinese epistemology
• fundamental questions on the nature and scope of ‘knowledge’
o what is it ‘to know’?
o can we ‘know’ something to be true, or do we only believe things to be true
(skepticism)?
o are all knowledge claims of the same sort?
o are they justified in the same way?
o what are the tools we use to know something (reason, senses, direct apprehension,
and so forth)?
o do we possess innate knowledge?
o is there a limit to what we can know?
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’ (8)
Ancient Chinese epistemology
o ‘knowledge’ in traditional European epistemologies is gained through
observation and reasoning
• ‘knowledge’ in traditional Chinese thought stems from moral
contents and cannot be separated from (social) practice
• based on a holistic world view and directed towards a comprehension
achieved through education and learning
• rooted in the premises of pragmatic and utilitarian ethics
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(9)
• classic Chinese epistemology is relational (Rošker 2012)
o understands the external world to be ordered structurally while the human
mind is also structured in accordance with its all-embracing but open, organic
system (li)
o the relational correspondence between the cosmic and mental structures
represents the basic precondition of human perception and comprehension
Basic epistemological categories
The Heart-Mind and the Things-Events
• the meaning of the Chinese word xin (literally refers to the physical
heart), but is not limited to its common connotations
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(10)
• unlike Western definitions, the Chinese metaphorical understanding of this notion
denotes this organ as the center of emotions and also as the center of perception,
understanding, intuition and even rational thought
• as ancient Chinese believed that the heart is the center of human cognition, the
notion of xin is most commonly translated as ‘heart-mind’
• determined by the absence of the contrast between cognitive (representative ideas,
reasoning, beliefs) and affective (sensation, feelings, desires, emotions) states
• each person’s self-awareness was based upon a holistic understanding of the world
structured as an interactive relationship between humanity and nature (tianren heyi)
• the unity of all cosmic beings is seen in terms of the organismic and dynamic
wholeness of nature and society
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(11)
• self-awareness as the basis of any kind of comprehension originates with the
awareness that one’s own being was organically embedded and interwoven with
(rational) indeterminate, constitutive cosmic structures
• the heart-mind which represents the crucial part of this self-awareness is innately
equipped with the basic structure of (moral) recognition
• the human heart-mind is not only posited as the seat of the concept of mind or
consciousness and thus the source of both emotions and reasoning, but also perceived
as a kind of sense organ
• the body-mind relationship is seen as an organic unity determined by the principle
of complementarity
• the establishment of bodily recognition (tiren or tiyan) that belongs to the
fundamental methods of perception (Ni 2002: 287)
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(12)
• instead of establishing a clear demarcation line between the subject and the object of comprehension,
human perception and recognition of ‘reality’ are seen as a product of a coherent, structurally ordered
and complementary interaction between the ‘heart-mind’ and the ‘things-events’
• this continuity of internal and external worlds prevailed in classical Chinese epistemology until the
11th century
Names and actualities, language and meaning
• the relation between actualities (shi) and proper naming (ming) became the basic
epistemological question in ancient China
• even though names do not comprise the meanings of an original Heavenly essence they
should not be regarded as arbitrary
• naming of ‘reality’ to be performed in accordance to the objective and generally valid
principles
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(13)

Knowledge and action

•in traditional China ‘knowledge’ and the way in which it is obtained (method
of comprehension) was viewed as an important element of human existence
•the dispute as to which of the elements forming the binary categorical pair of
‘knowledge’ and ‘action’ (zhi, xing) has priority, constitutes one of the crucial
debates in traditional as well as modern Chinese epistemology
•the classical holistic worldview is inherently permeated with ethical values
•recognition of reality is linked to the active involvement of humanity in their
interactive relationship with their social and natural environment
Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(14)
o ‘knowledge’ (zhi) linked to human activities and the implementation of
social practice (xing)
o any separation of knowledge and (social) practice is equated with the
separation of human beings from the world in which they have found
themselves
o close proximity between knowledge and action is seen as the close
proximity between an individual and the world because action is a
means for his/her self-transformation and the transformation of the
world
o the unity or non-unity of knowledge and action seen as a measure of
the unity or non-unity of humanity and the world (Cheng 1989: 207)
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(15)
Chinese relational epistemology
o naturalistic epistemologies in Western discourses deal with the external world (or
objective reality) independent from the subject of comprehension
• from the relational perspective the world is seen as a complex structure
composed of relations, intersections and interacting feedback loops
• in this worldview the human mind is structured in accordance with the all-
embracing but open organic system
• the relation as a central object and goal of any recognition manifests itself on
all levels of comprehension and transmission of being
• the relational aspect as a core of is based upon the holistic unity of humanity
and nature (tian ren heyi)
 Formation of the Chinese ‘worldview’(16)
Chinese onto-epistemology
• in the Chinese holistic tradition epistemology is inseparable from
ontology
o as in its view of the world every object of cognition is also cognition itself; the
manner of its existence is thus linked to our understanding of it
o because this connection goes both ways, i.e., their relation is not a relation of
single sided dependency and determination but an interaction that includes mutual
co-dependency
• attempts to revive, modernize and re-establish the classical Chinese view
of structural, organic and dynamic links between ontology and
epistemology
 PART III
Methodological commensurability of Chinese and Western thought
(1)
Radical incommensurability
• the view that the questions and answers in one tradition cannot
sustain meaningful statements in the other tradition
o recognition of radical difference in basic concepts and modes of
inquiry
o there can be no cross-traditional reference to a common subject
matter and to a truth about that subject matter that is independent of
the basic conceptual vocabulary and theories and justificatory
practices of a particular tradition (see Rorty, 1989, and Shweder,
1989)
Methodological commensurability of Chinese
and Western thought (2)
‘Evaluational’ incommensurability
o the centrality and stringency of filial duties in the Confucian tradition
o the idea that one must keep one's body intact as a duty of gratitude to
one's parents remains a central idea in Chinese culture
• moral difference may consist in the differing emphases given to
values that are shared across cultural traditions (Wong, 1996b)
• what is foreground in one culture may be background in
another culture (Thomas Kasulis 2002)
Methodological commensurability of Chinese
and Western thought (3)
Does the Chinese tradition recognize individual rights?
•depends on how one defines the notion of a right
•if one defines a right ‘thinly’ - as what one has whenever one has
justifiable claims on others to assure one's possession of things or
one's exercise of certain capacities - then one can plausibly argue that
there is a common notion of rights between the Chinese and Western
traditions (Wong, 2004)
•if, on the other hand, one ‘thickens’ one's definition of rights with the
idea that they are justifiable independently of what is a good and
worthwhile life for human beings, then one plausibly argue against
a common notion of rights
 Keywords
Eastern modernization
Chinese worldview
‘New Credo’
Chinese ontology
epistemological categories
Chinese relational epistemology
Chinese onto-epistemology
radical incommensurability
‘evaluational’ incommensurability
common notion of rights