The Prevalence of Mind–Body Dualism in Early China

Cognitive Science 35 (5):997-1007 (2011)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

We present the first large-scale, quantitative examination of mind and body concepts in a set of historical sources by measuring the predictions of folk mind–body dualism against the surviving textual corpus of pre-Qin (pre-221 BCE) China. Our textual analysis found clear patterns in the historically evolving reference of the word xin (heart/heart–mind): It alone of the organs was regularly contrasted with the physical body, and during the Warring States period it became less associated with emotions and increasingly portrayed as the unique locus of “higher” cognitive abilities. We interpret this as a semantic shift toward a shared cognitive bias in response to a vast and rapid expansion of literacy. Our study helps test the proposed universality of folk dualism, adds a new quantitative approach to the methods used in the humanities, and opens up a new and valuable data source for cognitive scientists: the record of dead minds

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 100,154

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Did the Chinese Have a Change of Heart?Esther Klein & Colin Klein - 2012 - Cognitive Science 36 (2):179-182.
A tripartite self: mind, body, and spirit in early China.Lisa Ann Raphals - 2023 - New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press.
Philosophy of mind.William G. Lycan - 1996 - In Eric Tsui-James & Nicholas Bunnin (eds.), Blackwell Companion to Philosophy. Cambridge, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 173–201.
On the Philosophy of Cognitive Science.Henrique de Morais Ribeiro - 1998 - The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy 19:32-36.

Analytics

Added to PP
2011-06-10

Downloads
109 (#193,760)

6 months
8 (#549,811)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?