On the Epistemology of the Senses in Early Chinese Thought (Monographs of t he Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, No

US: Univ of Hawaii Pr, 2002. Very Good. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Sense perception, which is of enormous importance in Western philosophical traditions, has scarcely attracted the notice of scholars of early China. A s a result of little direct comment on the senses in the Chinese philosophi cal classics, sinologists have generally interpreted their occasional refer ences to sense functions in familiar Western philosophical terms. This orig inal work challenges this tradition, arguing that despite the scarcity of d irect comment on the senses in these sources, it is possible to discern ear ly Chinese views of sensory functions from a close reading of the texts. Wo rking with metaphorical and structural analysis, the author reconstructs an understanding of sense perception that seems to have been taken for grante d by the early Chinese philosophers. By departing from traditional sinologi cal approaches, this method uncovers a detailed picture of certain shared u nderlying 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 in the modern world. It argues that in early Chinese texts the importance of hearing and seeing surpasses that of the other senses. These two modalities--aural and visual--are paired with one another and constitute the sensory foundation for trust and knowledge in the Chinese worldview. The work also dra.