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Greatest Asian Philosopher
Greatest Asian Philosopher
Kong Qui, better known as Confucius, was born in 551 B.C. in the Lu state of China
(near present-day Qufu). His teachings, preserved in the Analects, focused on
creating ethical models of family and public interaction, and setting educational
standards. He died in 479 B.C. Confucianism later became the official imperial
philosophy of China, and was extremely influential during the Han, Tang and Song
dynasties.
JIN YUELIN(1895
1984)
Jin Yuelin was a leading philosopher in Republican-era China, yet he remains
virtually unknown in the West. His major publications include a textbook on logic
( Luoji ), an epistemology ( Zhishilun ) and an ontology ( Lun dao ). Like many other
Chinese intellectuals of his time, he was greatly influenced by Western ideas and
terms. Most importantly, he considered the problem of induction, which was central to
his thought, from the perspectives of epistemology and ontology. In his response to
this problem, Jin employed terms drawn from Chinese tradition, as well as
neologisms, thus creating a unique philosophy of process.
Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina (AVICENNA) (c. 9801037)
He is probably the most significant philosopher in the Islamic tradition and arguably
the most influential philosopher of the pre-modern era. Born in Afshana near Bukhara
in Central Asia in about 980, he is best known as a polymath, as a physician whose
major work the Canon ( al-Qanun fil-Tibb ) continued to be taught as a medical
textbook in Europe and in the Islamic world until the early modern period, and as a
philosopher whose majorsumma the Cure ( al-Shifa ) had a decisive impact upon
European scholasticism and especially upon Thomas Aquinas(d. 1274).
Wang Yangming, courtesy name Bo'an, was a Chinese idealist Neo-Confucian philosopher, official,
educationist, calligraphist and general during the Ming dynasty Wang was the leading figure in the
Neo-Confucian School of Mind, founded by Lu Jiuyuan of Southern Song. This school championed
an interpretation of Mencius, a Classical Confucian who became the focus of later interpretation,
that unified knowledge with action. Their rival school, the School of Principle treated gaining
knowledge as a kind of preparation or cultivation that, when completed, could guide action.
Feng Youlan was a Chinese philosopher who was instrumental for reintroducing
the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. In 1935 Feng, on his way to
a conference in Prague, stopped briefly in the Soviet Union and was impressed
with the radical social changes and cultural ferment.
Republic of China, and medical practitioner. As the foremost pioneer of the Republic of
China, Sun is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the Republic . Sun played an
instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the years leading up to the
Double Ten Revolution.
Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)
Gerald Regondola
Mou Zongsan was a Chinese New Confucian philosopher. He was born in Shandong province
and graduated from Peking University. In 1949 he moved to Taiwan and later to Hong Kong,
and he remained outside of mainland China for the rest of his life. Over the last 40 years of his
life, Mou wrote histories of "Neo-Daoist,"Confucian, andBuddhistphilosophy (totaling six
volumes) a group of constructive philosophic treatises, culminating in his 1985 work.