The Natural Philosophy Foundation of Mohist Knowledge of Science and Technology

Abstract

During the pre-Qin period, the Mohists uniquely devoted considerable attention to science, achieving outstanding results in fields such as geometry, mechanics, and optics. Science and natural philosophy are deeply interconnected, and the scientific achievements of the Mohists are fundamentally grounded in their natural philosophy. From an epistemological standpoint, the Mohists insisted that the world is knowable, that knowledge is a reflection of objective things, and that cognition is a process progressing from perceptual knowledge to rational understanding. Methodologically, they developed systematic approaches to classification, conceptual definition, and logical reasoning, applying these tools to the investigation of the natural world and thereby pioneering a unique path to scientific knowledge. Overall, Mohism represents what can be termed a “physical type” of epistemology and methodology—one that insists on a subject-object dichotomy, explains nature through naturalistic principles, and shares key similarities with Western natural philosophy.

Keywords

Mohists / knowledge of science and technology / epistemology / methodology / physical type

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Higher Education Press