On the Epistemology of the Senses in Early Chinese Thought

Sense perception, which is of enormous importance in Western philosophical traditions, has scarcely attracted the notice of scholars of early China. As a result of little direct comment on the senses in the Chinese philosophical classics, sinologists have generally interpreted their occassional references to sense functions in familiar Western philosophical terms. This original work challenges this tradition, arguing that despite the scarcity of direct comment on the senses in these sources, it is possible to discern early Chinese views of sensory functions from a close reading of the texts. Working with metaphorical and structural analysis, the author reconstructs an understanding of sense perception that seems to have been taken for granted by the early Chinese philosophers. By departing from traditional sinological approaches, this method uncovers a detailed picture of certain shared underlying views of sense perception in the Lun Yu, the Mozi (including the Neo-Mohist Canons), the Xunzi, the Mencius, the Laozi, and the Zhuangzi. Based on its assembly of textual evidence, the book presents a conception of sense perception that diverges from the five senses model so prevalent i