Famous family - Meika

One of the Hundred Schools of Thought in ancient China. At the end of the Zhou Dynasty, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a debate took place over names. This is recorded in most philosophical books of the time, including those by Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi. Examples include Confucius's correct name and Laozi's anonymous name, and there were no thinkers who only discussed the issue of names. However, when schools of thought were classified and organized in the Han Dynasty, thinkers who were considered to have specialized in the issue of names at the end of the Zhou Dynasty were lumped together and named the famous schools. These include Deng Seki, Hui Shi, Yin Wen, and Gongsun Long. From today's perspective, it cannot be said that these people shared the same ideas. The central issue of names is the theory of name and reality. In other words, it is about considering the relationship between names and reality (objects), which corresponds to today's semantics (one of the three branches of semiotics). It is also the theory of concepts in logic. This semantics and theory of concepts became the mainstream of Chinese logic, so in that sense the famous schools who played a pioneering role can be seen as the logic school. However, the famous scholars are not familiar with the theory of judgment or inference, which is rather the work of the contemporary Mohist school.

[Nobuyuki Kaji]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国古代、諸子百家の一つ。周末春秋戦国期に名（ことば）をめぐる論争が行われた。孔子、老子、荘子をはじめ当時のほとんどの思想書にそのことが記されている。孔子の正名、老荘の無名がその例であり、名の問題だけを論じていた思想家などはいなかった。ところが漢代になって学派の分別整理が行われたとき、周末に名の問題を専門的に論じていたと判断された思想家をひとまとめにして名家と名づけた。鄧析(とうせき)、恵施(けいし)、尹文(いんぶん)、公孫竜(こうそんりゅう)などである。今日からみれば、これらの人たちが同じ思想であったとはいいきれない。名の中心問題は名実論である。すなわち名と実（対象）との関係を考えることであり、今日の意味論（記号論三部門の一つ）に相当する。また論理学における概念論でもある。この意味論、概念論が中国論理学の主流となるので、その意味で先駆的役割を果たした名家を論理学派とみることができよう。ただし名家は判断論、推理論について詳しくない。それはむしろ同時代の別墨(べつぼく)（墨家の一派）である。

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