This chapter of the Mo Zi gives a critique of Mohist philosophy in terms of its logic. It contrasts Mohist conclusions with the conclusions of "the rest of the world."
All of the
discussions in the "Xiaoqu" chapter that I will discuss have to do
with sets
and sub-sets. Let's establish a convention If I write a pair of
parentheses,
please connect the tops of the parentheses with each other and
connect their
bottoms. That will make an oval, which will represent one set.
If I write
curly braces, then do the same thing. And also do the same thing for
square
braces. So
(animals {dogs})
would be the set of animals and the
subset of dogs, and
[animals { four-legged ( * } hairless)]
would
represent the set of all animals, and two intersecting sub-sets, the set
of
four-legged creatures and the set of hairless creatures. At the * part of
the
diagram are the creatures that are both four-legged and
hairless.