China Social Science Review

No.1, 2021

A Brief Discussion of Problems in Jin Yuelin’s Theory of Knowledge

(Abstract)

Chen Jiaming

As China’s first work of epistemology in the true sense, Jin Yuelin’s Theory of Knowledge (1983) constitutes a milestone. However, some problems still need to be discussed. I have raised five issues regarding this work and appended to them my own views. First, the goal of epistemology should be normative, not just “the achievement of understanding” (tong); second, epistemology cannot start from “true knowledge” (zhengjue); third, “the given” (suoyu) cannot be something external that exists independently; fourth, “representation theory” (the theory of appearances) is not unnecessary or illogical; and fifth, “truth” is not simply an epistemological concept but is also, primarily, an ontological (metaphysical) concept.