Dai Zhen | |
|---|---|
 Dai Zhen | |
| Born | (1724-01-19)January 19, 1724 |
| Died | July 1, 1777(1777-07-01) (aged 53) |
| Other names | Tai Chen, Shenxiu, Dongyuan |
| Occupation | Philosopher |
Dai Zhen (Chinese:戴震;pinyin:Dài Zhèn;Wade–Giles:Tai Chen, January 19, 1724 – July 1, 1777),courtesy nameShenxiu(慎修),art nameDongyuan(東原), was aChinese philosopher of theQing dynasty. Hailing fromXiuning, Anhui Dai was a versatile scholar who made great contributions tomathematics,geography,phonology andphilosophy.[1] His philosophical and philological critiques ofNeo-Confucianism continue to be influential. In 1733, Dai was recruited by scholarJi Yun to be one of the editors of the official encyclopedia and collection of books,Siku Quanshu.
Dai's philosophical contributions included those to theHan Learning school ofEvidential Learning (Evidentialism) which criticized the Song Learning school of Neo-Confucianism. In particular, two criticisms that Dai made were: First, Neo-Confucianism focused too much on introspective self-examination whereas truth was to be found in investigation of the external world.
Second, he criticized the Neo-Confucian drive to eliminate human desire as an obstacle to rational investigation. Dai argued that human desire was a good and integral part of the human experience, and that eliminating human desire from philosophy had the bad effect of making it difficult to understand and control one's emotions as well as making it impossible to establish empathy with others.
Dai Zhen's best-known works include:
