In Vanishing into Things: Knowledge in Chinese Tradition I posed the question of empiricism in traditional Chinese thought.
I did not profile empiricism to the extent I have here, and my conclusions are not easily detached from the former context. Of course, just posing the question raises concerns about comparative philosophy, its methods and assumptions, including the delicate problem of translation, and the tenuous relation between philosophical concepts and the vocabulary of traditional Chinese thought.
I responded to these issues in my earlier book and will not revisit them. Instead, I want to take a fuller look at Chinese thought on the value of experience, including observation and experiment. Do not expect an overview of China's innovations in science and technology, however, as the work has been done in the incomparable volumes of Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China. I also set aside the so-called Needham Problem, the question why a scientific revolution did not happen in China. I concur with Nathan Sivin that the sole value of this question is to prompt scholars to locate its fallacies. My question concerns philosophical empiricism in this scientific and technical culture, and in the traditions of Chinese philosophy. Is there empiricism, empiricism of what variety, bearing what relation to European experience?1
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